My broker added stop-limit orders on MT5. I tested them on demo and then live with small size before relying on them.
What I found:
The stop-limit triggers on the stop price, then places a limit order at the limit price. If price jumps past the limit, there's no fill.
On news, about half my test orders didn't fill, which is the point: no slippage, but no trade.
Outside news, they filled like normal stops.
So they're good for entries where I'd rather miss than get a bad fill. For stop losses, they're dangerous, because a gap past the limit leaves the position open.
Has anyone used stop-limit orders for exits? I wouldn't.
A stop-limit order sounds like the perfect tool: trigger at a level, but don't accept a worse price than a given limit. It would prevent bad fills on stops.
Many retail forex platforms don't support it properly. MT4 doesn't offer it at all. MT5 does, but behaviour varies by broker, and execution can differ in fast markets.
There's a reason. A stop-limit that fails to fill leaves the position open and exposed, which is the opposite of what a stop is for. For brokers, supporting it adds complexity and risk.
For scalpers, the stop-limit is mostly a trap anyway. In the moments when slippage is worst, the limit gets skipped, and the trade stays open while price keeps moving.
Brokers that advertise order types beyond the basics are worth testing with tiny positions. Place a stop-limit far from the market, move it closer, and check what the server does when price crosses the trigger but not the limit. Some platforms leave the order sitting as a pending limit, others cancel it, and a few simply reject it with an unhelpful error.
Is a stop-limit ever the better choice, or is a plain stop with a smaller position always safer?
