Best Demat Accounts In India: While the textbook definition of a demat account is the ability to buy and sell securities, traders, and investors today want to be able to do much more than that.
The competition to gain market dominance over the brokerage industry in India has led to an outburst of fintech startups offering different types of investment and trading services, from portfolio backtesting, strategy building, and portfolio management all the way to investment advisory services.
Table of Contents
What Is a Demat Account? – Meaning & Importance
A Demat account is a digitized security vault, where the account holder can buy, sell, trade, and store securities in the form of digital assets. Any participant who wants to trade and/or invest needs to have a Demat account.
Demat accounts allow you to trade and hold securities in a digital form, taking away the risk of theft and loss, and increasing transparency between exchanges, companies, and their shareholders.
Importance Of Demat Account:
- Transparency
- Security from risks related to physical certificates.
- Easy Tracking of holdings
- Elimination Of Risks such as physical damage, theft, or loss.
- Automated and seamless for rights, bonuses, dividends, adding beneficiaries, etc.
5 Best Demat Accounts In India
Here are the top 5 best Demat accounts in India:
Best Demat Accounts In India #1 – Zerodha
Presently Zerodha is the number one demat account and brokerage firm in India, having the largest trading volume by any single broker in the country. The brokerage has an account opening charge of ₹200 and an annual maintenance fee of ₹300.
It provides the option of 3-in-1 accounts, which means investors can use it to store securities, trade, and as a savings account for funds. Zerodha allows users to trade, invest and pledge securities for margins as well. This includes stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, IPOs, etc.
Features
- Provides you with advanced charts, and helps you in trading and market research.
- Has its own learning app called Zerodha Varsity that helps you learn trading.
- Mutual funds can be traded directly through the Coin by Zerodha app.
Following are the brokerage charges levied by Zerodha:
| Segment | Brokerage Charges |
|---|---|
| Equity Intraday | Rs 20/order or 0.03% whichever is lower |
| Equity Delivery | No Brokerage |
| Equity Futures | Rs 20/order or 0.03% whichever is lower |
| Equity Options | Rs 20/order |
| Currency Futures | Rs 20/order or 0.03% whichever is lower |
| Currency Options | Rs 20/order or 0.03% whichever is lower |
| Commodities | Rs 20/order or 0.03% whichever is lower |
Best Demat Accounts In India #2 – Upstox
Among the rising firms in the brokerage business is Upstox. Similar to Zerodha, they provide a 3-in-1 account with storage, savings, and trading features, with the main difference being there are no account opening charges and no annual maintenance fees.
Like most top brokers, Upstox provides equity, derivatives, commodity, and currency trading options. Besides that, they also provide investing options in equity, mutual funds, gold, and IPOs.
Features
- You’ll just need one account to manage and track your stocks and mutual funds.
- It lets you buy and sell digital gold.
- You can trade from any location in the world.
Following are the brokerage charges levied by Upstox:
| Segment | Brokerage Charges |
|---|---|
| Equity Intraday | Rs 20/order or 0.05% which ever is lower |
| Equity Delivery | No Brokerage |
| Equity Futures | Rs 20/order or 0.05% which ever is lower |
| Equity Options | Rs 20/order |
| Currency Futures | Rs 20/order or 0.05% which ever is lower |
| Currency Options | Rs 20/order or 0.05% which ever is lower |
| Commodities | Rs 20/order or 0.05% which ever is lower |
Best Demat Accounts In India #3 – Angel One
Previously known as Angel Broking Ltd, Angel One is a listed broker, in operation since 1996, making them one of the oldest brokers in the Indian market. The company is listed on both exchanges- NSE and BSE. Like most of the demat accounts on our list, Angel One provides a 3-in-1 account for all your investment and trading requirements. The firm charges ₹20 per order for intraday, futures and options, currency and commodity, and zero brokerage on equity delivery. Account maintenance is free, but only for the first year.
Features
- Lets you Invest in the global market.
- Lets you freeze the demat account for a certain period
- Can avail loans by pledging shares
Following are the brokerage charges levied by Angel One:
| Segment | Brokerage Charges |
|---|---|
| Equity Intraday | ₹ 20 / Executed Order Or 0.25% (Whichever Is Lower) |
| Equity Delivery | 0 |
| Equity Futures | ₹ 20 / Executed Order Or 0.25% (Whichever Is Lower) |
| Equity Options | ₹ 20 / Executed Order Or 0.25% (Whichever Is Lower) |
| Currency Futures | ₹ 20 / Executed Order Or 0.25% (Whichever Is Lower) |
| Currency Options | ₹ 20 / Executed Order Or 0.25% (Whichever Is Lower) |
Best Demat Accounts In India #4 – ICICI Direct
While private firms slowly rose in the brokerage industry, banks haven’t sat quietly either. ICICI Direct, the investing services arm of ICICI Bank, is taking on the major brokers in India with attractive offers over its broker-only counterparts in the space.
For instance, their 3-in-1 account isn’t just a savings account, but an actual bank account with ICICI Bank. Besides stocks, F&O, IPOs, and mutual funds, investors can also invest in life insurance as well.
ICICI Direct is a full-service broker, meaning they also provide investment advisory services to their clients, which include domestic citizens as well as NRIs. The broker offers a free trading account and an offer of ₹7 per order on trades through their various brokerage plans.
Features
- Invest in fractional shares on the global market.
- Provides market insight and market research.
- No minimum balance requirement.
1) Secure Plan:
A Fixed proportion of brokerage is payable regardless of quarterly turnover.(Total traded value)
| Turnover per Quarter | Delivery Brokerage | Intraday Brokerage |
|---|---|---|
| NA | 0.55% | 0.28% |
2) Saver Plan:
The brokerage will vary based on the turnover per quarter. The higher the turnover, the lower will be the brokerage slab.
| Turnover per Quarter | Delivery Brokerage | Intraday Brokerage |
|---|---|---|
| Rs 5Cr.+ | 0.250% | 0.125% |
| Rs 2 Cr. to 5 Cr. | 0.300% | 0.150% |
| Rs 1 Cr. to 2 Cr. | 0.350% | 0.175% |
| Rs 50 lakh to 1 Cr. | 0.450% | 0.225% |
| Rs 25 Lakh to 50 Lakh | 0.550% | 0.275% |
| Less than 25Lakh | 0.750% | 0.375% |
| Turnover per Quarter | Delivery Brokerage | Intraday Brokerage |
| Rs 5Cr.+ | 0.25% | 0.125% |
| Rs 2 Cr. to 5 Cr. | 0.30% | 0.15% |
| Rs 1 Cr. to 2 Cr. | 0.35% | 0.175% |
| Rs 50 lakh to 1 Cr. | 0.45% | 0.225% |
| Rs 25 Lakh to 50 Lakh | 0.55% | 0.275% |
| Less than 25Lakh | 0.75% | 0.375% |
3) Pre-Paid brokerage Plan
You pay upfront brokerage to avail the reduced brokerage slabs. Each will have validity period and the paid is lost if not consumed within that period.
3) Pre-Paid brokerage Plan
You pay an upfront Brokerage which will be reduced as per the slab for every trade. This pre-paid amount will have a validity period and the amount will be lost if it is not consumed within the period
| Upfront Brokerage | Delivery Brokerage | Intraday Brokerage |
|---|---|---|
| Rs 10,000 | 0.450% | 0.045% |
| Rs 25,000 | 0.350% | 0.035% |
| Rs 50,000 | 0.300% | 0.030% |
| Rs 75,000 | 0.250% | 0.025% |
| Rs 1,00,000 | 0.200% | 0.020% |
| Rs 2,00,000 | 0.150% | 0.015% |
| Rs, 3,00,000 | 0.120% | 0.012% |
Best Demat Accounts In India #5 – HDFC Securities
HDFC Securities is the investment services division of HDFC Bank, the largest private bank in India. Like every one of the 5 best demat accounts in India, HDFC Securities provides a 3-in-1 account, and similar to ICICI Direct, they offer different types of plans for traders that benefit them from the lower cost of brokerage while trading.
Besides most trading and investment features, they also offer assistance with trading features, advanced charts, and an option to buy US stocks. Like ICICI Direct, they offer margin trading and lending for buying securities, along with a same-day payout of up to ₹5 lacs.
HDFC Securities offer free account opening to users, with various low brokerage fees.
Features
- Customer service is available 24/7
- Global investment options are available.
- Orders can be placed over the phone.
Following are the brokerage charges levied by HDFC securities (Equity Segment):
| Particulars | Brokerage Charges |
|---|---|
| Delivery Based Trades | 0.5% or Rs 25 Which ever is higher |
| Square Off Trades (Cash and Carry Scrips) | 0.1% or Rs 25 Which ever is higher |
| Square Off Trades (Margin Scrips) | 0.05% or Rs 25 Which ever is higher |
Following are the brokerage charges levied by HDFC securities (Derivative Segment):
| Particulars | Brokerage Charges |
|---|---|
| Non Square off (Carry Forward Trades) | 0.05% or Rs 25 Which ever is higher |
| Square off Trades | 0.025% or Rs 25 Which ever is higher |
| Options Brokerage | Rs 100/lot or 1% of premium which ever is higher |
In Closing
As we went through the top 5 demat accounts in India, we got to explore all the unique and common features of the most popular investment and trading platforms today.
Picking any one of them and regarding it as the best is a personal preference, conditional upon the type of account you need – Investment account, trading account, Foreign stocks, passive investing for mutual funds – the options are endless.
But whatever your requirement may be, there are enough choices to see before making a decision. We hope this article helped you in picking the right and best demat account for you.
Written by Aaron Vas
By utilizing the stock screener, stock heatmap, portfolio backtesting, and stock compare tool on the Trade Brains portal, investors gain access to comprehensive tools that enable them to identify the best stocks also get updated with stock market news, and make well-informed investment decisions.
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