FREE Equity Delivery and MF
Flat ₹20/trade Intra-day/F&O
Discount brokers are the best suited if you want to trade or invest in different assets at the lowest brokerage charges. Among hundreds of brokerage houses, Zerodha is ranked as the best discount broker in India. Check out the reasons behind Zerodha as the country’s top-rated broker. Also, find a list of the top 10 discount stock brokers in India for 2023 by number of active customers.
Discount brokers are budget or low-cost brokers that charge you a nominal brokerage fee for trading in various segments. Their brokerage fees are much lower than traditional full-service brokers but do not provide you with trading tips, investment advice, and research services. Also, branch support is not available.
Zerodha is India’s first discount broker who brought the concept of Rs 20 flat pricing model that allows you to trade at Rs 20 fixed brokerage fee irrespective of the quantity traded.
After Zerodha, many new brokerage firms like Upstox, Groww, 5paisa, and Paytm Money entered into the discount brokerage space. All these discount brokers charge a nominal flat fee, usually Rs 20 brokerage across segments (equity, equity F&O, commodity, and currency) with no hidden charges. And offer easy-to-use web and app-based online trading platforms.
Prostocks charge even lower brokerage of maximum Rs 15 fee. Some new-age discount brokers like Espresso Sharekhan brought a new concept of pay brokerage only if you make profit. In other words, no brokerage charged on loss-making trades.
The flat brokerage pricing plan helps traders and investors save a lot of brokerage costs.
But now the tricky question is who is the best discount broker?. Let’s check out factors to be checked while selecting any discount broker to open a trading and demat account;
Despite a number of discount share brokers, the majority of the customer base is served by top brokerage houses only. Find below the 10 most popular or leading discount brokers regarding active customer base.
Rank | Broker | Client Numbers | Brokerage per order | Review | Request Callback |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Prostocks | * | Rs 15 | ![]() | Open Account ![]() |
1 | Groww | 6763979 | Rs 20 | ![]() | Open Account |
2 | Zerodha | 6475590 | Rs 20 | ![]() | Open Account ![]() |
3 | Angel One | 4914984 | Rs 20 | ![]() | Open Account ![]() |
4 | Upstox | 2185813 | Rs 20 | ![]() | Open Account ![]() |
5 | Paytm Money | 713918 | Rs 20 | ![]() | Open Account ![]() |
6 | 5paisa | 486965 | Rs 20 | ![]() | Open Account ![]() |
Zerodha Trade@20Want to start your investment journey, join India’s number one online broker – ZERODHA – Free Delivery Trade, Maximum Rs 20 for F&O and Intraday, Free Direct Mutual Fund investment.Open Zerodha Account | |||||
7 | Dhan | 282386 | Rs 20 | ![]() | Open Account |
8 | Fyers | 201641 | Rs 20 | ![]() | Open Account ![]() |
9 | Alice Blue | 154407 | Rs 15 | ![]() | Open Account ![]() |
10 | SAMCO | 77685 | Rs 20 | ![]() | Open Account ![]() |
Although Groww has the highest market share with a maximum user base still Zerodha is recommended as the leading discount broker due to its sizeable customer base, multiple exchange trading at BSE, NSE, and MCX, and superfast Kite app and web-based trading platform. Also, investment in shares (delivery trading) is free with Zerodha.
However, Groww only allows you to trade in equity, equity F&O, and invest in mutual funds therefore, it is the 2nd top-rated discount broker in India.
Angel One and Prostocks are the other popular brokers. Prostocks charges Rs 15 maximum brokerage. HDFC Sky is another recommended discount broker that offers low-cost trading services at Rs 20/order fee along with access to trading tips and equity research reports to take the right investment decisions.
Zerodha is the best discount broker in India, not only on the ground of low-cost trading costs but also due to the superfast Kite trading platform, Kite mobile app, Coin MF platform, and excellent online customer support.
Upstox is one of the fastest-growing discount brokers in India after Zerodha. It is a part of RKSV Securities backed by top investors like Kalaari capital, and Ratan Tata. The online stock brokerage firm has an active client base of around 5 million, ranked as 2nd largest discount broker after Zerodha. The broker offers online trading in equity, F&O, MCX, and currency segments at Rs. 20 flat brokerage irrespective of the volume of trade.
The Pro platform by Upstox is one of the top-rated apps with a range of useful features like multiple watchlists, real-time market data, stock news, charts, technical indicators, easy fund transfer, and guest login. Customers can access the Pro platform on a browser-accessible HTML website or download the Pro mobile app on the play store and app store.
If brokerage is your key concern and you want to trade at the lowest flat brokerage. ProStocks is the best broker for you.
ProStocks levies a maximum of Rs 15 flat brokerage on trading in equity and derivatives. Also, intraday traders can subscribe to its monthly unlimited trading plan to trade at absolutely zero brokerage at just Rs 899 fixed monthly fee. You can place and execute an unlimited number of intraday trades with fixed monthly plan.
Discount brokers do not offer research and advisory services to clients. However, there are a few brokers who provide such facilities, 5Paisa and Angel one are the two that provide equity research and intraday trading, tips, & recommendations to users.
HDFC Sky, a part of HDFC Securities offers trading at just Rs 20 fixed brokerage and also provides access to HDFC Securities experts’ research reports for free.
Discount brokers are safe for online trading and investment because all brokers, whether full-service brokers or discount brokers are highly regulated. All top discount brokerage houses such as Zerodha, Upstox, 5paisa, and Groww are registered trading members of BSE, NSE, SEBI, or a depository participant with either CDSL or NSDL or both. The exchange and the SEBI market regulator oversee all transactions conducted through any discount broker. Even if any broker shuts down or bankrupts, then your investment is completely safe because you can open a new trading account with another broker with the same DP and track your transaction online.