One of the major concerns of a trader or an investor while looking for a perfect trading partner is the charges. So the question rises among the oldest and the new stockbrokers, which one would you choose? To eliminate the confusion, here we are with one of the most suitable examples of ICICI direct vs Zerodha charges!

ICICI Direct Vs Zerodha

First of all, to get a brief of the two stockbrokers, let’s start from the beginning.

Talking about the type of stockbroker, ICICI Direct, clearly is a bank-based stockbroker with a full-service brokerage model like any other bank-based stockbroker. Zerodha on the other hand is the pioneer of the discount brokerage model in India. 

Where both the stockbrokers are registered with CDSL, only ICICI direct is registered with NSDL as well. 

Talking about trading segments ICICI directly offers trading in equity, currency, IPOs, Mutual Funds but not in commodities unlike Zerodha, which facilitates commodity trading with a membership of MCX along with NSE and BSE. 

Now there are a list of charges that a trader or an investor must clearly understand before any commitment to a particular stockbroker, such as;

Let’s begin with ICICI direct vs Zerodha Demat account charges;

ICICI Direct Vs Zerodha Demat Account Charges

Now that you have understood a brief background of both of these stockbrokers, how about getting to know various charges imposed on account holders in each of these.

There are a few stockbrokers in the market that impose hefty charges as Demat account charges while there are many who waive off, so among ICICI Direct vs Zerodha Demat account charges, let’s dive in to know which broker has got some good news for you!

First comes the demat account opening charges;

ICICI Direct VS Zerodha Account Opening Charges

These charges are levied on the customer for the service of opening a Demat account hassle-free and in a more secure manner. 

As you can see in the table below, ICICI direct generally offers a *FREE 3 in 1 account opening which includes a Demat account, an integrated trading account, and a savings bank account; 

But, this may vary based on the various schemes opted by the customer at the time of opening the account. 

Thus, Demat account opening charges vary from ₹0 to ₹975. 

On the other hand, talking about Zerodha, the discount broker, although it comes with the benefit of trade at the minimum cost but when it comes to account opening, Zerodha does charge ₹200 from its customers willing to trade only in equity or currency segment

For traders willing to trade in commodities, an additional fee of ₹100 for segment activation or say a total of ₹300 would be charged for opening the account. 

It offers a 3 in 1 account opening facility, just like ICICI Direct, in collaboration with IDFC First bank.


Moving on, Thus in this case, ICICI directly wins the point for it does offer an opportunity to save on account opening to some extent. 

ICICI Direct Vs Zerodha AMC Charges

Along with opening charges, we often hear about maintenance charges, which are nothing but the account maintenance charges, popularly known as the AMC.

Basically, these are levied to keep your Demat account active or operational as we may say.  So here, ICICI direct imposes ₹300+ GST as AMC in case the customer opts for the ICICI Direct NEO plan, while for an account other than the NEO plan, ₹700+GST is charged from the customer for a regular account.

However, there’s a catch! In this case, AMC is NIL for the first year and will be charged from the second year onwards only. 

While for the standard plan of Zerodha, only ₹300+ GST is charged per year from the first year onwards. 

Now one should remember the fact that these Demat account annual charges can be levied on a monthly, quarterly, and even yearly basis depending on the stockbroker. 

 

So these Demat account charges are just one parameter while comparing the brokers with respect to the charges overall. The next category is the brokerage charges.

ICICI Direct Brokerage Charges Vs Zerodha

As the name suggests, brokerage charges are excised by the stockbrokers for facilitating trading services, quite obvious! 

ICICI Direct comes with multiple brokerage plans, offering to save on hefty brokerage charges, details of which you can see in the table below;

  • ICICI Direct Prime 
  • ICICI Direct NEO
  • Prepaid Brokerage Plan
  • I-Secure Plan

 

Now let’s compare the brokerage charges of ICICI Direct and Zerodha on the basis of the above information

 

Further, in the tabular column, you can see various brokerage charges as per plans offered by the ICICI directly along with the standard brokerage plan offered by Zerodha to its customers. 

As per the brokerage plans, ICICI Direct imposes the charges of 0.05% or ₹20 whichever is lower for the intraday trading of up to the turnover value of ₹40,000.

While ICICI direct charge different, volume-based, and flat fees across segments, Zerodha levy 0.03% or ₹20 whichever value is lower, this can be understood with the help of an example;

Say, you execute an intraday trade of ₹50000, so as per the brokerage plan of Zerodha, 

Brokerage can be calculated as: 

0.03% of ₹50000

= ₹15

So here, since brokerage is lesser than ₹20, you would need to pay only ₹15 as per the condition.

On the other hand, ICICI Direct imposed the flat fees of ₹20 intraday under ICICI Neo Plan. 

Thus, a discount broker like Zerodha gives you the chance to trade more at the minimum fees.

However, you should not directly judge based on only one plan, one can actually compare different plans offered by ICICI Direct and then decide to pick one as per their own investment capital availability. 

Further, let’s move on to the hidden charges

ICICI DIRECT VS ZERODHA DP CHARGES

You heard it right, DP charges are known as the mystery charges or the hidden charges as not every stockbroker reveals these charges to their customers. 

Well, DP charges are the ones levied on a per scrip basis on all the sell transactions made while trading. 

 

As the table above shows, ICICI Direct charges an amount of ₹25+GST per scrip while Zerodha imposes only ₹13.5 + GST as DP charges which are clearly lesser than that of ICICI Direct.

Hence when it comes to delivery trading, one must go for the broker with fewer DP charges which are Zerodha in this case. 

Conclusion

Now that we have come to the end of the article, it is clear that with FREE Demat account opening, ICICI Direct offers tremendous plans to pay minimum brokerage and save much. 

This might sound captivating, which it is when compared to other bank-based full-service stockbrokers. But in ICICI Direct vs Zerodha charges, clearly, Zerodha wins the point. Yet it is always recommended to always do your homework in terms of research. 

Every desiring trader or an investor has their own risk appetite, financial goals along with the capital available for investment. And not just that, individual trading needs play a vital role in choosing the right trading partner such as trading platform, margin, and other trading facilities. 

Choose the right stock broker to open a Demat account online for FREE! Get in touch with us and get the free suggestion for stockbroker.

Open Free Demat Account
Enter basic details here and a Callback will be arranged for You!