Online foreign exchange trading platforms are mainly divided into two types: DD with processing platform and NDD without processing platform.

A foreign exchange trading platform with processing platform mode (DD) is also called market maker (MM).

Foreign exchange trading platforms without NDD can be subdivided into STP, DMA/STP and ECN+STP.

DD foreign exchange trading platform, also known as MM (market maker), usually has a trader platform or trading desk to process orders, and the spread type is set to fixed.

DD or market makers make profits through spreads and trade in reverse with customers when necessary. Market maker, as its name implies, is to "make market" and "build market" for customers. Under certain conditions, when traders want to buy, market makers sell to traders, and when traders want to sell, market makers buy. In other words, when necessary, the market maker will always be on the opposite side of the trader, contrary to the trader's position, and "market making" in this way. Traders see that the buying and selling prices in the inter-bank foreign exchange market are different from the actual prices. In order to complete the trader's order, the market maker has the opportunity to reverse the transaction when necessary to control the price. Because the market maker can control the price, if the market maker fixes the price difference, the risk is very small.

NDD foreign exchange trading platform, as its name implies, has no trading desk, that is, no processing platform. Brokers do not do door-to-door transactions of traders, but only connect traders with the interbank market, so traders can trade directly at the level of the interbank foreign exchange trading market. The trading scale of individual traders is too small to refer to the foreign exchange transactions in the inter-bank foreign exchange trading market. NDD's foreign exchange trading platform plays a bridge role, connecting the two directly and giving individual traders the opportunity to trade. The real NDD foreign exchange trading platform will not require re-quotation, and there will be no unnecessary pause when the order is confirmed, so there will be no restrictions when trading according to the news.

NDD-type foreign exchange brokers can keep profits by charging commissions or making them free, but further widening the spread. NDD foreign exchange trading platforms are divided into two categories, one is STP and DMA/STP, and the other is ECN+STP.