Best Discount Brokers in India

Best Discount Brokers in India provide value to their clients in terms of Pricing, Trading Platforms, Service and more. Primarily, the whole concept of discount broking is based on low brokerage charges with no frills attached. It is somewhat similar to economy flights where the focus is primarily on low-cost travel.

Similarly, in discount broking, the primary focus is on low-cost trading.

In this detailed review, we will have a look at some of the best discount brokers in India and their corresponding pros and cons you must be aware of.

Discount Brokers in India Review

For more than 5 decades till 2010, Indian stock broking space had been working through full-service stockbrokers that charged clients a specific percentage of the trade value as brokerage. For instance, if you traded for a value of ₹1,00,000 then you’d be required to pay as high as ₹500 for brokerage only for that particular trade.

Yea, that is totally true!

Furthermore, this has nothing to do with the kinds of profits or losses you make on such trades, the brokerage is a
definite amount that needs to be given to the stockbroker. Thus, it ended up eating a major chunk of profits made by traders and investors in the stock market. 

This is where Discount broking concept was introduced in India.

In 2010, Zerodha brought this concept and started charging a flat rate of ₹20 per executed trade at the intraday level and ZERO brokerage for delivery trades.

This was first of its kind of a solution where the stockbroker did not ask you about your trade value. Thus, whether you traded for ₹10,000 or ₹10,00,000 for a specific trade, the brokerage will stay at maximum ₹20 for that particular trade.

Quite a revolutionary move, ain’t it?

Having said that, the concept was met with a lot of doubts and scepticism from the traders’ community initially, thinking of how can a stockbroker charge almost nothing in brokerage charges. But the business model was set at the volume or scale level.

Gradually, the stockbroking industry in India saw an inflow of numerous such businesses that charged a flat rate or brought subscription-based pricing for unlimited trades and so on.

Today, there are more than 50 discount stock brokers in India with different pricing plans to go along with a focus on Technology and customer education.

Some of these best discount brokers have worked so hard in recent times that they are among the 25 best demat accounts overall! Isn’t that staggering?

Let’s have a quick look at some of the best discount brokers in India in this list of 10 such brokers.

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Best Discount Brokers in India List

Here, in this review, we list down 10 best discount stock brokers in India that offer reasonable value to its clients, not just in pricing but in multiple facets of stock trading.

Let’s understand these brokers and the corresponding value they provide to their clients one by one:

1. Zerodha

As mentioned above, Zerodha is the first discount broking company in India launched back in 2010. The broker comes up with a few technology-based innovations on a regular basis to go along with some of the complementary partnerships for traders’ benefits.

Known for:

• First discount Stock Broker and is certainly one of the best discount brokers in India
• Free delivery trades with ₹20 maximum brokerage in other segments
• High tech trading platforms such as Zerodha Kite Web, Kite Mobile, Zerodha Pi etc
• Trading education initiatives such as Zerodha Varsity, Zerodha Open trade (discontinued now)
• Recently launched Zerodha Coin, a platform that allows the direct SIP investment in Zerodha mutual funds.
• Partnership with Smallcase Investment for thematic investments
• Zerodha Sentinel is useful for setting up alerts and notifications based on specific conditions.
• Zerodha Streak helps the clients in algo-trading (seen as the future of stock market investments).
• Partnership with Thomson Reuters’ that provide research reports to Zerodha’s clients.
• Active Client base: 9,60,992

Concerns:

• Investment in IPOs is cumbersome
• Average customer service in terms of turnaround time and resolutions.

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2. Fyers

The brokerage model of Fyers is similar to that of Zerodha but it offers relatively low account related charges with a high focus on its terminal trading software.

Known for:

• High focus on Fyers One which is one of the top trading applications among the best discount brokers in India along with Fyers Markets, its mobile trading app.
• Free account opening and low maintenance charges
• Low Brokerage at 0.01% or ₹20, whichever is lesser
• Technical and fundamental analysis tools available for clients
• Active Client base: 6,518

Although it does not have a huge client base, still this broker has a good enough reputation to be part of the best discount brokers in India.

Concerns:

• Trading in commodities not allowed
• Investments in Insurance or IPOs not available
• Below Average customer service

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3. Tradejini

This 2012 launched discount broker offers low brokerage and high exposure to its clients and this aspect remains its primary differentiator among other discount brokers in India. This is also a major reason for Tradejini being listed among the best discount brokers in India as well.

Known for:

• First 50 trades are free (a good move to acquire new clients)
• Low brokerage charges with maximum ₹20 brokerage across segments.
• Provide high exposure or leverage, especially in intraday trading
• Works towards client education in the stock market space through initiatives such as Jiniversity.
• Multiple trading and investment products offered to clients.
• Provides NRI Demat Account services to non-resident clients as well.
• Active Client base: 7,992

Concerns:

• Low focus on in-house developed trading platforms
• Only non-agriculture based commodities allowed
• Relatively high account opening charges

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4. Upstox

Upstox is more or less a carbon copy of what Zerodha does in the share market. Be it the brokerage model, the exposure levels or the web application offering, Upstox has always been a follower of the market leader.

Having said that, it has done a reasonable job in maintaining its position among the best discount brokers in India and is currently one of the top stockbrokers overall.

Known for:

• Free Delivery Trades i.e. no brokerage charges.
• Offering Upstox 3 in 1 account by collaborating with Indusind bank.
• Maximum ₹20 brokerages in other segments with no minimum brokerage levels.
• Decent performing trading platforms, especially Upstox Pro Web – the web-based browser trading application to go along with Upstox Pro.
• Free Demat account opening and maintenance.
• Sometimes offers brokerage cashback as well, however, such discounts are offered on a seasonal basis.
• Offers a referral model but has not been that successful yet to a reasonable level.
• Developer API tools for setting up intraday trading strategies before placing trades.
• Integration with third-party tools such as Amibroker allowed.
• Active Client base: 1,63,085

Concerns:

• Investment in Mutual funds and IPOs relatively cumbersome
• More or less copies Zerodha in its strategy, so keep limited innovation expectations.

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5. 5Paisa

5Paisa was launched by IIFL a few years back and today it falls among the best discount brokers in India with some very unique selling propositions. It works as a separate entity from its parent company now and is in fact listed on the stock market as well.

Quite a journey!

Known for:

• Easily one of the best discount brokers as it comes with low brokerage charges at ₹10 per executed order.
• Child of India Infoline or IIFL, one of the most prominent full-service stock broking houses in India. Thus, the trust factor comes inherently.
• Decent performing desktop and Web-based trading platforms – 5Paisa Trade Terminal and 5Paisa Trade Station
• Free Research and Reports provided, on offering generally not provided by discount brokers.
• Integration with MarketSmith India, thus, provides research tools for traders using positional trading strategies and intraday trading strategies.
• Only Discount broker that is listed on the stock market.
• Free Sharemarket basics education through 5Paisa School.
• 5Paisa Auto Investor is another unique offering which provides automated recommendations for mutual fund investments.
• Active Client base: 1,21,542

Concerns:

• Average performing mobile trading app
• Complaints of hidden charges reported by a few clients.
• Customer service is a bit laggy, the turnaround time can be quickened.

To get a Free Callback, provide your details in the form here.

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6. My Value Trade

It is the discount broking arm of Master Trust, a veteran name in the stockbroking space in India. Although My Value Trade offers low brokerage charges, its primary differentiator is the fixed brokerage plans it offers.

This is the primary of it being part of this list of the best discount brokers in India.

Known for:

• Low brokerage charges at flat ₹10 brokerage per executed trade
• Unlimited trading plans available for ₹1000 per month or ₹10,000 per year. It is one of the very few discount brokers in India that offer unlimited trading plans.
• Gradually improving trading platforms.
• Easy provisions for mutual funds investments.
• Multiple types of order placement allowed using the trading platforms.
• High margin values for Equity Intraday traders.
• Active Client base: 44,612

Concerns:

• Not much margin offered in other segments except equity Intraday where it goes as high as 20 times.
• Average customer service

To get a Free Callback, provide your details in the form here.

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7. Trade Plus Online

TradePlus Online is the discount broking brand from the house of Navia Markets. This is among the best discount brokers in India for the kind of customer service it provides, which generally is not expected from a discount broker.

Apart from that, the stockbroker has specific plans to save annual maintenance charges if the client can commit for long-term.

Known for:

• Percentage based and monthly subscription plans available for brokerage
• Zero brokerage charges for delivery trading, zero brokerage for derivatives trading for NRI Demat account holders.
• AMC for 5 years and 10 years provided at a nominal cost.
• A Wide range of trading and investment products offered.
• Initiatives for customer service including Twitter Bots making the overall service quality level at above-average industry standard.
• Active Client base: 10,802

Concerns:

• Not much exposure offered across segments
• Call and trade facility is a little troublesome

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8. RK Global

Like 5Paisa, RK Global also offers free research and recommendations to its clients even though it is a discount broker. This aspect certainly helps it to cut the crowd and be listed as one of the best discount brokers in India.

Known for:

• Low account opening and annual maintenance charges
• Plans at trade and subscription level available with the brokerage as low as ₹9 per executed trade
• Even though its a discount stock broker, it offers research reports and trading calls
• Decent customer service.
• Active Client base: 8,384

Concerns:

• No mobile app for trading available
• Limited brand equity.
• Low exposure offered across segments

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9. Astha Trade

Although Astha Trade can be seen as a relatively smaller stockbroker, the major reason for it being one of the best discount brokers in India is its margin range. For instance, for Equity intraday trading, you can get margin as high as 40 times of your trading account balance.

Known for:

• Charges 0.01% at the intraday level and other segments, delivery at 0.1%
• Variety of trading and investment products offered to clients
• Quick customer service.
• Trading Account annual maintenance charges are free.
• Free call and trade facility.
• Even though its a discount stock broker, it offers research reports and trading calls to its clients with no extra charges levied.
• High exposure of up to 40 times available in Equity Intraday segment and up to 66 times in derivatives trading.
• Active Client base: 9,525

Concerns:

• High account opening charges for the demat account and trading account.
• Low focus on trading platforms

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10. Trade Smart Online

Trade Smart Online comes from the house of VNS Finance, a prominent financial house in India. Trade Smart Online or TSO has been doing multiple things at the same time but still has not come up with one big differentiating factor on its own yet.

It has still been kept as one of the best discount brokers in India for the simple reason that it is still up for a fight!

Known for:

• Charges 0.007% or ₹15 per trade, whichever is lower
• Quick customer service
• The backing of an old financial house, VNS Finance – thus, a trustable name in the industry.
• Offers unlimited trading plans at a subscription level
• No minimum balance required to open a trading account
• Annual maintenance charges (AMC) is free for the first year
• Active Client base: 24,009

Concerns:

• Average trading platforms
• Relatively high transaction charges

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Discount Stock Brokers in India – Why to Use?

Here are some of the top reasons why you should be opting for a discount broker in this competitive space:

• Low Brokerage Charges.
• Focus on technology with high performing trading platforms across devices
• No push to place trades by customer service
• Educational content and initiatives to teach clients about trading and investment

If you are looking to open an account with any of the stockbrokers mentioned above, please provide your details here in the form below.

We will set up a callback for you with the best Discount Brokers right away:

 

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You can read the complete review in Hindi as well.