8 Best Discount Brokers in India – Stockbrokers List 2020: With the rise of Zerodha, the discount broker which was founded in 2010, the Indian broking industry saw a massive disruption. As these discount brokers were offering a cheaper brokerage plan, they were able to attract a lot of customers compared to the expensive traditional brokers. After this disruption, many of the existing brokers and firms started copying the concept and offering similar cheaper plans.

After around a decade since these brokers started getting attention, discount brokers are becoming more and more popular in recent years. As a matter of fact, many of such discount brokers are able to outrank the well-determined and big ‘conventional’ trading firms. In this post, we are going to discuss eight of such best discount brokers in India.

Here, we’ll be evaluating the discount brokers in India based on the key features like their brokerage charges, account opening charges, maintenance charges, services offered, trading platforms, pros, cons and more. By the end of this article, you’ll have a better understanding of the different discount brokers in India so that you can choose the one that suits you the best. Let’s get started!

What exactly is a discount broker?

Discount brokers offer low brokerage, high speed and a fast platform for trading in stocks, commodities and currency derivatives. The brokerage charge while trading with these discount brokers are way lower compared to the traditional brokers in India like HDFC Securities, ICICI direct, SBI cap, etc.

Besides, the business model of a discount broker is quite straight forward. They offer a flat brokerage rate for every trade that their client makes, and it does not depend on the size of the trades. This rate can is usually between Rs 10 or 20 per trade.

On the other hand, full-service brokers charge a fraction of fee on the transaction volume. This commission can be as high as 0.3-0.7% of the transaction volume. Therefore, as the volume of the transaction increases, you have to pay more and more brokerage.

Now that you have a basic understanding of the discount vs full-service brokers in India, let us discuss eight of the best discount brokers in India which are worth investigating.

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Best Discount Brokers in India

1. Zerodha

Zerodha, founded in 2010 by Nitin Kamath, is the biggest discount broker in India. It has over +1.5 million clients and contributes to over 15% of daily retail trading volumes across the Indian Stock Market. Its mobile app ‘KITE’ has got over +1,000,000 downloads on the play store.

Quick fact— According to the Dec 2018 report by NSE, Zerodha is the biggest stockbroking firm in India (client-wise), outranking many old and big broking corporates like ICICI direct, HDFC Securities, Sharekhan, etc. Through its innovation and practical approach, Zerodha has been able to outrank all these big players.

Zerodha brokerage charges

– Free equity delivery: All your equity delivery investments (NSE, BSE), absolutely free — ₹0 brokerage.

– ₹20 intraday equity and F&O trades: ₹20 or 0.01% (whichever is lower) per executed order on intraday trades across equity, currency, and commodity trades across NSE, BSE, and MCX.

Zerodha Demat And Trading account opening Charges:

For opening a trading and demat account at Zerodha, here are the charges:

— Equity Trading Account: ₹200

— Commodity Account:₹100

So, if you wish to open the Trading, Demat & Commodity account with Zerodha, the total account opening charges will be Rs 300. Further, the annual maintenance charge (AMC) for the demat account is Rs 300.

Services offered: Zerodha offers trading and investment services in equity, derivatives, currency, mutual funds & commodities.

Trading Platforms: Kite 3.0, Kite Mobile, Console, Pi, Sentinel, Coin

Pros of Zerodha:

1. Free Equity Delivery
2. Flat max brokerage per trade is Rs 20
3. Innovative & User-Friendly trading platform
4. Big brand value and customer support
5. Direct Mutual Fund Investment from same demat account

Cons of Zerodha:

1. No research report, market tips/recommendations

Quick Link to open an account with Zerodha

Note: You can read the detailed review on Zerodha here.

2. 5Paisa

5Paisa is a part of IIFL (India Infoline) and offers the cheapest stock brokerage in India. IIFL launched 5Paisa to offer a lower brokerage platform for its clients and to compete with the fast-growing discount broking industry.

Services offered: Apart from trading in equity, currency, commodity, 5Paisa also offers its services in mutual funds, Insurances, Personal loans.

5Paisa Brokerage charges

5Paisa offers free trading in equity and flat brokerage in other segments. Here are the brokerage charges offered by 5Paisa:

— Delivery Trading: Rs 20 per trade
— Intraday Trading: Rs 20 per trade
— Equity Futures: Rs 20 per trade
— Equity Options: Rs 20 per trade
— Currency Futures: Rs 20 per trade
— Currency Options: Rs 20 per trade

5Paisa Demat And Trading account opening Charges:

— Account opening charges: FREE (Rs 650 Waived)

— Annual Maintenance charges: Rs 45 per month (only for months when you trade)

Trading Platform: Investor terminal web platform, trader terminal, 5Paisa share trading mobile app

Pros of 5Paisa:

1. Free delivery trading
2. A low brokerage of flat Rs 10 per trade
3. 100% paperless account investing
4. Investment in stocks, mutual funds & insurance from the same account
5. Lower maintenance charges
6. Research reports and advisory (for higher plans)

Cons of 5Paisa:

1. No 3-in-1 account
2. Higher exchange transaction charges
3. No commodity trading facility

Quick link to open your account with 5Paisa

3. Angel Broking

Incorporated in 1987, Angel broking is a big brand having +30 Years of experience in the broking world and +1 million happy customers. They have a presence in over 1800+ cities in India. Angel Broking offers the trading facility in Equity, F&O, Commodities, and currency across BSE, NSE, NCDEX & MCX. 

Although Angel Broking worked as a full-service broker and offered a percentage brokerage charge to its clients for over two decades. However, they recently changed their business model (Nov 2019) from percentage brokerage to flat rates to compete with rapidly growing discount brokers like Zerodha, 5Paisa, Upstox, etc. 

Angel Broking now offers a flat rate brokerage plan, named ‘Angel iTrade PRIME’. Here, the delivery trading is FREE of cost. And for all other segments i.e. Intraday, F&O, Currencies & Commodities, they charge a fixed rate of ₹20 per. The same simple rate is applicable across exchanges and segments.

One of the key advantages of trading with Angel Broking is that they provide guidance/recommendations for investing in the stock market along with research reports on companies and many other value-adding tools and services.

Services Offered: Angel Broking offers its services in Equity, Commodity, Currency, PMS, Life Insurance, ETFs, IPOs & Mutual Funds.

Angel Broking Brokerage Charge:

1. Delivery charges: Rs 0
2. Intraday Trading: Flat ₹20 Per Trade
3. Equity F&O: Flat ₹20 Per Trade
4. Currency F&O: Flat ₹20 Per Trade
5. Commodity F&O: Flat ₹20 Per Trade

Account Opening Charges with Angel Broking:

1. Account opening charge: Rs 0 (Currently Waived)
2. Annual Maintenance Charge: Rs 450 (Second year onwards)

Trading Platform: Angel iTrade, Angel Booking App

Pros of Angel Broking: 

1. Cheapest full-service broker
2. Fast account opening process
3. Flat brokerage charges, 
4. Up to 48x leverage, 
5. Expert Research Reports & market advisory

Cons of Angel Broking: 

1. No 3-in-1 account 
2. Call & Trade are charged extra

Quick link to open your account with Angel Broking

4. Upstox

Upstox is a fast-growing discount broker, backed by a group of leading investors including Kalaari Capital, Ratan Tata, GVK Davix, etc. It is also known as RKSV. Upstox started as RKSV in 2012 and rebranded to Upstox in 2015.

Services offered: Upstox offers trading services in equity, currency, and commodity

Upstox Brokerage charges

Upstox offers two different brokerage plans (basic and pro plan). Delivery trading in free in both these plans. Here are the brokerage charges:

— Delivery: Rs 0

— Intraday Trading: Rs 20 per executed trade or 0.01 whichever lower (Basic Plan)

Upstox Demat And Trading account opening Charges:

— Account opening charges: Rs 300

— Annual Maintenance charges: Rs 150

Trading Platform: Upstox Pro Web Trading Platform, Bridge for AmiBroker, Developer Console, Option Chain Tool, Upstox MF Platform

Pros of Upstox:

1. Free delivery trading,
2. Fast paperless demat and trading account opening,
3. Margin against share is available,
4. Priority brokerage

Cons of Upstox:

1. 3-in-1 Account not available
2. Cannot make direct trades in IPO & FPO, NCDs,
3. Margin Funding not available on delivery trades

Quick link to open your account with Upstox

5. Trade Smart

Trade smart is a Mumbai, India based discount broker good for traders and investors looking for low brokerages, high margins, and a fast trading platform. Unlike most discount brokers, Trade smart online is not a recent setup. It is a part +25 years old VNS Finance & Capital Limited, which is a traditional broker in India. It has over 50,000+ happy customers, averaging a daily turnover of over Rs. 5000 crores

Services offered: Trade smart online offers brokerage services in stock, futures & options, commodity, and currency trading segments.

Trade Smart Online Brokerage charges:

This discount broker offers a flat brokerage of Rs 15 per trade irrespective of the trading volume in its ‘Value’ trading plan.

Further, it also proposes a ‘Power’ trading plan with a brokerage of 0.007% on the transaction, which is suitable for the small volume traders. Here are the brokerage charges for delivery and intraday trading:

— Delivery: Rs 15 per trade (Power plan) or 0.07% (value plan)

— Intraday Trading: Rs 15 Per trade (Power plan) or 0.007% (Value Plan)

Trade Smart Online Demat And Trading account opening Charges:

— Account opening charges: Rs 400

— Annual Maintenance charges: Rs 300 (Second year onwards)

Right now, Trade Smart Online is offering a flat 100% off on the Account Opening Charges for the Trade Brains’ readers. You can open your FREE Trade Smart Online account by clicking this link.

Trading Platform: NEST Trader, SINE(Mobile App), SineWeb

Pros of Trade Smart Online:

1. Low and Unique Brokerage Plans,
2. Higher margin for trades,
3. Zero additional software charges,
4. Zero Demat AMC charge for the first year

Cons of Trade Smart Online:

1. 3-in-1 not available,
2. No direct IPO Investment,
3. Call and trade at Rs 20 per executed trade (plus brokerage)

Quick link to open your FREE account with Trade Smart Online

6. SAMCO

Incorporated in 2015, SAMCO is another low brokerage cost discount broker in India. However, SAMCO differs from other discount brokers by offering higher leverage for trading to its clients. Here, customers can get up to 4x Delivery Leverage in the Cash Markets, Upto 80x Leverage for Nifty, 33x leverage for stocks and 60x for commodity.

SAMCO Brokerage charges:

Here are the brokerage charges offered by SAMCO:

— Delivery Trading: 0.20% or ₹20 per trade whichever is lower

— Intraday Trading: 0.02% or ₹20 per trade whichever is lower

SAMCO Demat And Trading account opening Charges:

— Account Opening Charges: Rs 0

— Annual maintenance charges: Rs 400 (Demat account)

Services offered: Samco offers trade facilities for stocks, F&Os, Commodities, and Currency in its dashboard.

Trading platform: SAMCO Trader (Omnesys NEST Trader), StockNote (Mobile Trading App), SAMCO Web Xpress (Website), SAMCO STAR

Pros of Samco:

1. FREE Trading and Demat Account opening,
2. Excellent margin products available for traders,
3. Flat max rate Brokerage Plan Rs 20 per trade
4. AADHAAR based instant paperless account opening.

Cons of Samco:

1. Online IPO, FPO Application not available
2. Mutual Fund investment is not available
3. Doesn’t have branches to offer local offline support

Quick link to open your account with SAMCO

7. Wisdom Capital

Incorporated in 2013, Wisdom Capital is an online discount brokerage firm providing services in stocks, futures, options on NSE and BSE and commodity trading on MCX & NCDEX. It also offers zero brokerage in its FREEDOM plan which attracts a lot of customers.

Wisdom Capital Brokerage charges:

Wisdom Capital offers three different brokerage plans to its customers: Freedom, Pro & Ultimate. Customers can choose whichever suits them the best. Here are the brokerage charges for each plans:

Freedom Plan:

1. Freedom plan offers ZERO brokerage in all segments
2. However, this plan does give a very little or no margin/exposure and hence might not be suitable for active traders.

Pro Plan:

1. The pro plan by Wisdom capital is designed for professional traders.
2. Suitable for the traders who need higher intraday exposures/margins
3. Delivery trading brokerage: 0.005% of the transaction
4. Intraday trading brokerage: 0.005% of the transaction
5. For rest, the brokerage is Rs 9 per trade (for NSE futures & options, currency & Commodity Trading at MCX).
6. Pro plan offers an intraday margin In NSE cash up to 40x MIS.

Ultimate Plan:

1. The ultimate plan is designed for high-frequency traders
2. Delivery trading brokerage: 0.007% of the transaction
3. Intraday trading brokerage: 0.007% of the transaction
4. For rest, the brokerage charged is Rs 15 per lot in options, 0.005% NSE futures, currency & Commodity Trading at MCX.
5. Ultimate plan by Wisdom capital offers intraday margin In NSE cash up to 60x MIS

Wisdom Capital Demat and Trading account opening charges:

— Account Opening Charges: FREE

— Annual maintenance charges: Lifetime 999+ Taxes

Services offered: Wisdom capital offer services in equities, future, and options, currency, and commodities on NSE, BSE, MCX & NCDEX

Trading platform: NEST Trader (trading terminal), BSE Bolt – a trading platform by BSE to trade across stocks listed on it.

Pros of Wisdom Capital:

1. Zero brokerage in FREEDOM Plan,
2. Flexible brokerage plans depending on client preference,
3. High exposure/margin in higher plans

Cons of Wisdom Capital:

1. No facility to invest in IPO, FPO, Mutual Funds, FDs, and NCDs
2. Not much focus on developing technology platforms
3. Average customer support

Quick link to open your account with Wisdom Capital.

8. Tradejini

Incorporated in 2012, Tradejini is a Bangalore based discount broker which offers a brokerage of 0.01% or ₹20 per executed order. It offers a single integrated platform for Equity, Derivatives, Commodities & Currency trading.

Tradejini Brokerage charges:

— Delivery Trading: 0.10% or ₹20 per trade whichever is lower

— Intraday Trading: 0.01% or ₹20 per trade whichever is lower

Tradejini Demat & Trading Account Opening Charges:

— Account Opening Charges: Rs 300 (Trading), Rs 300 (Commodity)

— Annual maintenance charges: Rs 300 (Demat AMC)

Services offered: Tradejini offers its services in equities, currencies, commodities and also ‘Mutual Funds’.

Trading platform: NEST Trading terminal, Web-based trader, Now mobile

Pros of Tradejini:

1. Low Brokerage Charges
2. Single trading platform for all transactions and segments,
3. In house CDSL depository participant

Cons of Tradejini:

1. Doesn’t offer 3-in-1 account,
2. No facility to invest in IPO, FPO, FDs, NCDs and Offer For Sale (OFS),
3. Only non-agriculture based commodity trading allowed
4. Does not allow GTC orders

Quick link to open your account with Tradejini

9. Fyers (Bonus)

Incorporated in 2015, Fyers is Bangalore based fast-evolving online discount stock broker founded by young entrepreneurs with broad experience in trading and the stockbroking industry. Apparently, FYERS word is an acronym of “Focus Your Energy & Reform the Self”, which represents the core philosophy of the company.

Services offered: Fyers offer services in equity Cash, F&O and Currency Derivatives segments at NSE.

Fyers Brokerage charges:

— Delivery Trading: Rs 0

— Intraday Trading:  Flat brokerage fee of maximum ₹20 per executed order.

Fyers demat and trading account opening charges:

— Account Opening Charges: Rs 0

— Annual maintenance charges: Rs 0 (Demat AMC Waived)

Trading tools: Fyers One (Trading Terminal), Fyers Markets (Mobile Trading App), Fyers Web Trader, Thematic investments

Pros of Fyers:

1. Free online account opening
2. Free delivery trading and low brokerage
3. Advanced charts, real-time screeners and analytics
4. Thematic investment platforms for investing in the latest themes
5. Moderately high exposures- Offers up to 16 times margin in equity intraday segment

Cons of Fyers:

1. Higher demat account maintenance charges
2. Slightly higher exchange transactions compared to other discount brokers

Quick link to Open Account with Fyers

Closing Thoughts: Discount brokers in India

While choosing a stockbroker, look for the broker which offers a reasonable brokerage charge, low yearly maintenance cost, high-quality trading tools, active customer service, and no hidden account fees. Besides, put your priority and personal trading style in preference of the brokerage firm before opening your account.

These days, the discount brokers often start a new campaign every month to attract new customers by offering Zero account opening charges, referral clients benefits or even brokerage cashback. The competition among the brokers is challenging them to innovate faster, give more customer support and hence traders/investors are able to enjoy better trading facilities and services.

Need more guidance to help you pick the right online stockbroker. Here are the best resources to read further:

• Compare online Stockbroker – Best brokers list 2019
• Where to open your Demat & Trading account?
• Full-service brokers vs discount brokers: Which one to choose?