In recent times, the craze for discount broking has reached a new high with a large number of people have shown a strong inclination towards discount brokerage. One major reason behind the shift is the increasing internet penetration in the country that has made internet available to a large portion of the population.
To meet the increasing demand of rising number of investors, many discount brokers are look to seize the opportunity by offering improved services and exciting deals. Considering the rising popularity of discount broking in the country, we have decided to provide great insights on the top 10 discount brokers in India. Since, discount brokerage largely depends on the large volume of trade performed, the investors need to pay a very less amount as compared to conventional stock brokers in India.
How top discount brokers work?
Discount brokers, as the name refers, are cost effective to engage in comparison to full-service brokers. Because you’re advising on your own (or getting advice and information from third parties such as newsletters, hotlines, or independent advisors), you tend to save on costs that you’d suffer if you consult a full-service broker.
For some time, the typical investor had two kinds of discount brokers to pick from: conventional discount brokers and Internet discount brokers. But the two are essentially identical now. Through industry alliance, most of the conventional discount brokers nowadays have fully grown websites, while Internet discount brokers have modified by including more telephonic and face-to-face services.
Best Discount Brokers in India
Here is a list of some of the most trending and top discount brokers in India along with the basic details about them.
- Zerodha
Primarily a harbinger of discount broking in India, it was Zerodha that introduced the notion of discount broking in the year 2010. Today, it is the most popular discount broker India and in fact, one of the biggest stock brokers in India. Its flat-fee pricing model has not match. This has made Zerodha a pioneer in the field of discount broking.
For all intraday, Futures & Options, currency, and commodity trades across NSE, BSE, MCX, it charges a brokerage of Flat ₹20 regardless of the trading volume. Whether you trade for Rs 1 lakh or 10 crores, you need to pay a flat low brokerage of Rs 20 per trade. This way, you can save a lot of brokerage charges on your trades using Zerodha as your broker.
Zerodha is one of the top 10 discount brokers in India in terms of regular trading volume, overall growth and client base. It is one of the most technologically enriched and reasonably-priced stockbrokers. Zerodha has over +1 million clients and backs to more than 10% of daily retail trading volumes across NSE, BSE, MCX.
Paradoxically, the term ‘Zerodha’ is sourced from the combination of an English and Sanskrit word. ‘Zero’+’Rodha’ where ‘Rodha’ means barrier. In short, Zerodha refers to ‘Zero Barrier’.
Zerodha was conceptualized by Nitin Kamath in 2010. Nitin bootstrapped and discovered Zerodha in 2010 to come over the barriers he encountered during his decade long role as a trader. He was named one of the “Top 10 Businessmen to Watch Out for in 2016 in India” by The Economic Times for ground-breaking concept and climbing discount broking in India.
Active Client Base – 1598948
| Transaction | Fees |
| Trading & Demat Account Opening Charges | Rs.200 (One time) for Online Account Opening |
| Trading Account Maintenance Charges (AMC) | Free |
| Demat Account Maintenance Charges (AMC) | Rs.300 |
- 5Paisa
5Paisa is one of the best stock brokers in India and offers investors a platform to trade in stocks, futures, and options at the lowermost cost of Rs 20 flat per trade, irrespective of the trade volume.
It has its headquarters in Mumbai and is backed by India Infoline (IIFL), a pioneering non-banking financial institution in India which has expertise of over two decades. 5paisa was re-launched with a fresh brokerage model for web-based retail broking services in late 2016. Later, it got de-merged from IIFL in order to get featured on the stock exchanges. 5Paisa Capital kicked off trading on NSE/BSE in November 2017, turning it the first such listed financial digital market.
5 Paise Capital enables a trading platform for all financial offerings including equities, derivatives, mutual funds, commodities, AIFs, bonds & debentures, insurance, and personal loans. The account opening process for 5Paisa is completely paperless. It provides the trading facility in mobile, browser, and desktop platforms.
Active Client Base – 489661
| Transaction | Fees |
| Trading Account Opening Charges | Rs.650 (One time) |
| Trading Account Maintenance Charges | Free |
| Demat account opening charges | Free |
| Demat Account Maintenance Charges | Rs.400 |
- ICICI Securities Limited
ICICI Securities enable a trading platform in the stock market and other financial elements. ICICI Securities also provides appropriate pay-in and payout, payments, and most importantly several personalized services.
ICICI Securities provide equity capital market instruments, including IPO, rights, and convertible products. It also offers competent institutional placements, non-convertible debentures, buyback, delisting, open and international services for unlisted and listed firms. They offer their services to corporates, financial institutions, HNIs, and retail investors. The brokerage firm is managed through ICICIdirect.com, an online stockbroking platform for interested investors to invest in Equity, Derivatives, Currency Futures, MF, and other financial products. Besides offering trading services, it also provides accessibility to research information, stock choices, and mutual fund suggestions.
Active Client Base – 1081960
| Transaction | Charges |
| Trading Account Opening Charges (One Time) | ₹975 |
| Trading Annual maintenance charges (AMC) | ₹0 |
| Demat Account Opening Charges (One Time) | ₹0 |
| Demat Account Annual Maintenance Charges AMC (Yearly Fee) | ₹700 |
- HDFC Securities Ltd.
A subsidiary of HDFC Bank, India’s premier private sector bank, HDFC Securities has been in the field of broking for more than a decade and offers a wide range of services to both retail and institutional investors.
It offers 3-in-1 account feature which means your trading account will be linked directly to your bank account. One major benefit of this is that it allows for seamless transfer of funds between the accounts.
HDFC securities Limited is known to over 2.0 million customers for its innovation and straightforwardness. HDFC securities Limited is backed by over 270 branches and is present in over 185 locations.
Active Client Base – 726197
Brokerage
Brokerage – Resident Indians – 0.50% or min Rs.25/- or ceiling of 2.5% on transaction value (Both Buy & Sell)
For NRI’s – Brokerage 0.75% or min Rs. 25 or ceiling of 2.5% on transaction value (Both Buy & Sell)
- Angel Broking Limited
One of the top 10 discount brokers in India, Angel Broking is counted among the best performing retail brokers of India. Having over one million client base, the full-service stockbroker recently altered its business model in November 2019 and started offering a flat brokerage charge on all its offerings and equity delivery as free of cost which is certainly a great move. Earlier they used to charge some percentage of the transaction amount on every trade.
- Account Opening Charges: FREE (Current Rs 699 Waived)
- Account Maintenance Charges (AMC): Rs 450 + GST
AMC (Annual Maintenance Charges) Non-BSDA Clients ₹ 450 + Tax / Year
For BSDA (Basic Services Demat Account) Clients:
– Holding Value Less Than 50,000 : NIL
– Holding Value Between 50,000 To 2,00,000 : ₹ 100 + Tax / Year
- RKSV Securities India Private Limited (Upstox)
Whenever it comes to find the top 10 stock brokers in India, the list would be incomplete without Upstox which was earlier known as RKSV Securities India Private Limited.
Founded by Raghu Kumar, Ravi Kumar, and Shriniwas Vishwanath, Upstox encountered amazing growth and rapidly become the most popular stock brokers in India preceded by Zerodha. You would be surprised to know that Upstox is backed by leading industrialists like Mr. Ratan Tata, Kalari Group and GVK Davix.
Brokerage
| Type | Brokerage Charges |
| Equity Delivery | ₹0 |
| Equity Intraday | Lower of ₹20 per executed order or 0.05% |
| Equity Futures | Lower of ₹20 per executed order or 0.05% |
| Equity Options | ₹20 per executed order |
| Currency Futures | Lower of ₹20 per executed order or 0.05% |
| Currency Options | ₹20 per executed order |
| Commodity Futures | Lower of ₹20 per executed order or 0.05% |
| Commodity Options | ₹20 per executed order |
- Sharekhan Limited
Sharekhan is one of the best stock brokers India and offers a wide range of services including trading, portfolio management, research and mutual funds along with investor education.
If you are an active high-value trader using a high brokerage account such as “ICICI Direct” and looking for substitute with same trading features, you can choose to go with Sharekhan.
Sharekhan charges a brokerage of 0.10% per transaction. The brokerage of Sharekhan is 0.20% for intraday trading.
- IIFL Securities
IIFL Securities was found in the year 1995 and at present it enjoys a rich presence at more than 4000 locations spread across over 900 cities in India.
It is a full-service broker and offers trading in equity, derivatives, currency, mutual funds, IPOs, bonds and commodities.
Active Client Base – 224450
Brokerage
| Segment | Charges |
| Monthly Fee (Fixed) | |
| Equity Delivery | 0.50% |
| Equity Intraday | 0.05% |
| Equity Futures | 0.05% |
| Equity Options | Rs 100 per lot |
| Currency Futures | 0.05% |
| Currency Options | Rs 10 per lot |
| Commodity Futures | 0.05% |
| Commodity Options | Nil |
- Axis Securities Limited
Axis Direct is a full-service Indian stock broker, sponsored by none other than banking giant – Axis Bank. It a stock brokering expansion of Axis Securities Limited, which offers retail brokering and investment options.
It was established in 2005, has a system of over 75 branches and over 4 lakhs client base (highest client base in Indian stock brokering sector). It is a enumerated member at NSE, BSE, MCX-SX and depository participant with CDSL. It is a one-point destination for all the investment and trading services including equities, IPOs, F&O, SIPs, ETFs, mutual funds, derivatives, bonds, NCDs and company FDs.
Brokerage:
| Equity Delivery | 0.50% |
| Equity Intraday | 0.05% |
| Equity Futures | 0.05% |
| Equity Options | Intraday Rs 0.01; carry forward Rs 10/lot |
| Currency Futures | 0.05% |
| Currency Options | Intraday Rs 0.01; carry forward Rs 10/lot |
| Commodity | NA |
- Indiabulls Securities Limited
Indiabulls Shubh is a discount broking firm offering subscription-based trading plans for limitless trading. The investors can pick from a wide range of preset monthly trading plans to enjoy Zero Brokerage on both Intraday and Delivery & Zero Interest Charges on Margin Funding. Subscription Plan start at Rs. 1000/- only for 30 days.
Indiabulls Shubh offers trading plans in Equity, F&O& Currency segment, which provide accessibility to trading across NSE, BSE, NSE F&O, and Currency derivatives segments.
Brokerage:
F&O plans: Unlimited trading @ Zero Brokerage in both Equity and Currency derivative market at a fee of just Rs. 1000/- only for 30 days.
Equity plans: Unlimited trading @ Zero Brokerage in the equity markets on both delivery & intraday with 5X intraday exposure. Plans starting at Rs. 1000/- only for 30 days.