A Manual on Upstox Review – their offers, how much they charge, and why you should trade with Upstox.
One of the first brokers to start discount broking firm in India, Upstox is a technology-driven discount broking firm that provides 100% online trading and investing platform to its customers. Upstox was formerly known as RKSV Securities and it is supported by big investors namely Ratan Tata, GVK Davix, and Kalaari Capital.
With an online-only business model and one office is based out of Mumbai helped the company cut the costs that enabled the company to provide free delivery-based trading and low-cost brokerage for other transactions. However, they have expanded their offices to tier-2 and tier-3 cities with limited facilities.
The discount brokerage and investors’ security are the peculiar foundations of this company. The company considers the safety of its investors’ money is the foremost thing for them. From stocks, options, futures, currency, commodities to its related services, the tech-first firm helps retail investors, youngsters as well as institutional corporations in their investment and trading-related decisions.
For any investor especially beginners, it is important to understand and analyze how a particular stockbroker operates. Before selecting their stockbrokers, if they are enabled with the background of the stockbrokers, history of their founders, their brokerage plans, key features, products, and services offered.
We will also include what are the benefits of investing with this broker then their decision will be easy based on their needs and requirements. This Upstox review article aims to provide all of this information especially to our reader that will serve as their absolute guide.
Upstox Beginning – Who are the founders and How did they start
The founders Mr. Ravi Kumar, Mr. Raghu Kumar, and Mr. Shrinivas Vishwanath started RKSV Securities in 2009, right amid the global financial crisis. Before RKSV, Raghu, and Ravi had started a proprietary firm in the US where they made huge money in just two years however, they lost all the money during the market crash in 2008. Hence, they decided to come back to India and founded RKSV Securities along with the third co-founder Shrinivas.
In the beginning, they were trading themselves through a proprietary firm but later they found out that the brokerage costs during those years were too high for anyone and the technology was a bit too old. With these in mind, they come up with a zero-brokerage plan and an online-only trading platform through RKSV Securities.
Raghu has studied Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Service and Finance while Ravi holds the same degree with a specialization in Information and Computer Science. The brother duo would develop trading models wherein Raghu wrote Algorithms and Ravi would code them for their proprietary firm in the US.
A typical proprietary firm operates in a way where they trade on their own with their own money in order to earn profits. Shrinivas too has a Bachelor of Science degree and worked with Cerner Corporation, Morgan Stanley, and Citi after which he joined hands with the Kumar Brothers to start RKSV.
To bring and promote cost-effective Exchange Traded Funds, Upstox associated up with Tavaga Advisory Services in 2019. Tavaga is a leading investment advisory firm with this deal, Upstox aims to help investors save more money and reach user-defined targets.
In September 2019, they also got one more investor Tiger Global Management – Venture Capital Firm from New York, worth Rs. 177 crores. With this funding, Upstox aimed to improve product offerings with the addition of the latest and advanced technologies. They have also developed their own trading platform to provide their customers ease of trading and investment experience along with the technology-driven other facilities.
With the unbeatable brokerage charges, they offer a wide range of products and services through their in-house trading platforms Upstox Pro Web and Upstox Pro Mobile. Enabled with rich and advanced trading features, the Upstox trading platform not only provides trading but also offers charting, analysis with the platform base of Omnisys NEST OMS (Order Management System) and Omnisys NEST RMS (Risk Management System).
Upstox’s brokerage plans are also provided on a customization basis to allow customers to select the plans according to their requirements. They also offer various tools to their investors such as Brokerage Calculator, Upstox Margin Calculator, Options Strategy Builder, and Order Generator to enable customers to find the charges and build the strategies on their own in line with their specific requirements. It is highly user-friendly as you only have to fill in the details and you will get the outcome on your screen just in no time.
List of Charges: Brokerage, Demat, Account Opening, and Other Related Charges
Upstox Brokerage Charges for Equity Trading
Equity Delivery | Equity Intraday | Equity Futures | Equity Options | |
Brokerage | Zero brokerage | Rs. 20 per executed order or 0.05% (whichever is lower) | Rs. 20 per executed order or 0.05% (whichever is lower) | Flat Rs. 20 per executed order |
Upstox STT/CTT | 0.1% on both buy & sell. | 0.025% only on sell. | 0.1% only on sell. | 0.1% only on sell. |
Transaction Charges | NSE: 0.00325% per trade on buy & sell. BSE: charges vary as per the scrip group | NSE: 0.00325% per trade on buy & sell. BSE: charges vary as per the scrip group | NSE: Exchange turnover charge: 0.0019% Clearing charge: 0.0002% | NSE: Exchange turnover charge: 0.05% Clearing charge: 0.005% |
Demat transaction charges | Rs. 18.5 per scrip per day only on sell. | No charges | No charges | No charges |
GST | 18% (on brokerage + transaction + Demat charges) | 18% (on brokerage + transaction charges) | 18% (on brokerage + transaction & clearing charges) | 18% (on brokerage + transaction & clearing charges) |
SEBI Charges | Rs. 15/crore | Rs. 15/crore | Rs. 15/crore | Rs. 15/crore |
Upstox Review: Brokerage Charges for Currency Trading
Currency Futures | Currency Options | |
Brokerage | Rs. 20 per executed order or 0.05% (whichever is lower) | Flat Rs. 20 per executed order. |
STT/CTT | No STT | No STT |
Transaction Charges | NSE: Exchange turnover charge: 0.0009% Clearing charge: 0.0004% BSE: Exchange turnover charge: 0.00022% Clearing charge: 0.0004% | NSE: Exchange turnover charge: 0.04% Clearing charge: 0.025% BSE: Exchange turnover charge: 0.001% Clearing charge: 0.025% |
GST | 18% ( on brokerage+transaction charges) | 18% (on brokerage+transaction charges) |
SEBI Charges | Rs. 15/crore | Rs. 15/crore |
Brokerage Charges in Upstox for Commodity Trading
Commodity Futures | Commodity Options | |
Brokerage | Rs. 20 per executed order or 0.05% (whichever is lower) | Flat Rs. 20 per executed order. |
STT/CTT | 0.01% on sell trade (Non-Agri) | 0.05% on sell trade |
Transaction Charges | Non-Agri: Exchange turnover charge: 0.0026% Clearing charge: 0.0005% | Exchange turnover charge: 0 Clearing charge: 0.002% on buy + sell [Rs. 200/crore] |
GST | 18% (on brokerage + transaction charges) | 18% (on brokerage + transaction charges) |
SEBI Charges | Rs. 15/crore | Rs. 15/crore |
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Upstox Review: Brokerage Plans with Margin Exposure
Segment | Upstox Basic Plan | Upstox Priority Pack |
Brokerage – Equity Delivery | Free | Free |
Brokerage – F&O, Commodity, Currency | ₹20 per trade or 0.05% (whichever is lower) | ₹30 per trade or 0.05% (whichever is lower) |
Upstox Margin – Intraday | ||
NSE/BSE Cash | 15x | 20x |
Index Futures | 4x | 5x |
Stock Futures | 4x | 4x |
Index Option Sell | 4x | 5x |
Stock Option Sell | 4x | 4x |
NSE Currency | 4x | 4x |
MCX Future | 2.5x | 3x |
Margin – CO/OCO Orders | ||
NSE/BSE Cash | 20x | 25x |
Index Futures | 10x | 14x |
Stock Futures | 4x | 6x |
NSE Option Buy | 1.33x | 2x |
Index Option Sell | 4x | 5x |
Stock Option Sell | 4x | 4x |
NSE Currency | 4x | 5x |
MCX Future | 3x | 4x |
Special Features of Upstox
- Implementation of advanced technology and in-house built digital trading platforms make the firm a leading independent discount broking house.
- The trading platforms are self-explanatory and highly user-friendly to enable every user to understand the trading on their own.
- They are backed by huge investors such as Ratan Tata, Tiger Global Management, GVK Davix, and Kalaari Capital.
- The trading platforms have special features that include charting and analytical tools.
- They provide various tools such as Upstox brokerage and margin calculators, Upstox Strategy Builder for Options, and Order Generator.
- Their unique feature includes low brokerage and high-quality service with cost optimization to reducing the number of offices to a minimum by enabling online-only trading platforms.
- They tied up with Tavaga Advisory Services to provide investors with cost-effective diversified ETF-based choices.
Upstox Review: Products, Services and Features
The Discount Broking startup Upstox provides a wide range of products and services details of which are provided as follows:
Products: The mainstays of all the products offered by Upstox are Equity Trading, Derivatives, and Currency which are the basic trading products. The products not only enable customers to trade and invest but also provide news alerts and advisory. These products can be customized too based on the requirements of each investor and trader.
Services: The services provided by the Angel Broking include Demat Account, Trading Account, Intraday Trading, AI-Powered Robo Advisory, and IPO services. For a better trading experience, they provide advisory and assistance from professionals.
Upstox Pro Trading Platform: This desktop-based trading platform allows investors to easily buy and sell any scrip. Requiring only a basic internet connection, this trading platform allows investors and traders to explore the market and study them thoroughly.
Upstox Pro App: The Application is also in-house creation of Upstox professionals that offers an easy and flexible trading experience to its traders where they can easily boost their profits by customizing their trading preferences. Upstox customer review is great for their Pro mobile trading app.

Upstox Pro Web: With this in-built trading platform, users can trade and invest through any device using various browsers such as Google, Firefox, Mozilla, etc.
Upstox MF: This product is specifically designed for Upstox users to invest in mutual funds directly at a very low cost and it allows users to match their portfolio with their set financial goals.
NEST Desktop App: Highly advanced technology-based app provides customers with a trading experience with real-time updates in excel and plugins to use charts with a semi-auto trading feature.
Upstox Dev: It is programmatic trading where users get access to historical as well as real-time data, live market feeds, and much more. They constantly look for new innovative products and develop more and more tech-first products for their users.
Fox Trader: It is a desktop platform that enables traders to place strategies on charts, add real-time scanners and perform backtesting.
Dartstock: This is a smart desktop trading app that offers tools to study and analyze market data.
Upstox Bridge: Upstox bridge for Amibroker allows users to code and execute their trading strategy using Amibroker AFL editor.
Upstox Review: Benefits and Drawbacks
Let us have a look at the advantages and disadvantages of trading and investing with Upstox.
Pros:
- Upstox is the second-largest Discount Broker with flat brokerage charges while delivery trades are provided for free.
- They constantly work on product innovations and which why they offer their own developed trading platforms, smart tools to plan and create customized strategies for a return-rich portfolio, and many other partner products.
- It is an online-only trading firm and hence users can trade and invest from anywhere with flexibility and ease of access.
- Customized brokerage plans are designed for regular and frequent traders.
- They aim to secure investors’ money as a first priority and keep finding ways to boost their profits to meet their financial goals.
- The tie-up with Tavaga Advisory Services will help users create cost-effective diversified ETF-based portfolios.
- They provide tools such as Upstox brokerage and margin calculators.
- They also offer Upstox Strategy Builder for Options where traders can build personalized strategies for F&O.
- The Order Generator tool allows users not only to create orders but also to share such orders with others.
Cons:
- They do not offer Trading, Demat, and Bank accounts – a 3-in-1 account which is why many investors are reluctant to trade with them.
- They do not offer core research and advisory services and therefore, users are not provided with stock tips and recommendations.
- Since it is an online trading platform it does not operate in many locations.
- Upstox Margin funding is not provided on delivery trades.
- They do not offer NRI trading facilities.
Closing Thoughts
A detailed Upstox review – one of the best discount brokers in India. In this article, we have covered all the important details of Upstox – review, brokerage charges, Demat account, margin, benefits, and more. Check reviews of other top brokers on Nifty Brokers.
Upstox Review : Upstox (earlier known as RKSV Securities) is top discount broker in India, good for traders who look for low brokerages, high margins, and decent trading platforms.