What is the difference between STP, ECN and market-maker forex brokers?

STP, ECN and market‑maker describe how a broker handles your orders. An STP broker routes trades straight to one or more liquidity providers and usually earns from spreads or small markups. ECN brokers connect many participants in a shared order book, letting traders access raw interbank prices plus a clear commission per trade; spreads can be very tight but costs show up as separate fees. Market‑maker brokers quote their own bid and ask and may internalize client orders rather than sending every trade to the market. Each model has pros and cons in terms of spreads, commissions, execution speed and transparency, so the practical quality depends more on the individual broker than the label alone.