Best Stock Brokers in India
Ten SEBI-registered brokers compared on published brokerage, AMC, DP charges and platforms — with the right pick depending on how you invest.
Fees checked on against each broker's official pricing page.
Our lists are editorially independent. Some links may be sponsored — how we make money.
Our shortlist
Zerodha
Discount broker · Low-cost investing
₹0 delivery brokerage and ₹20-capped trading on a mature in-house platform. No research calls.
- Delivery
- ₹0
- Intraday
- 0.03% or ₹20
- F&O
- ₹20/order
- AMC
- Free yr 1; ₹300/yr + GST
Groww
Discount broker · Simplest app
₹0 AMC and a very simple app. Delivery is charged 0.1% or ₹20 per order.
- Delivery
- 0.1% or ₹20
- Intraday
- 0.1% or ₹20
- F&O
- ₹20/order
- AMC
- ₹0
Angel One
Discount broker with research · Research + low fees
Flat ₹20 F&O with a SEBI-registered research arm and a first-month brokerage offer.
- Delivery
- 0.1% or ₹20
- Intraday
- 0.1% or ₹20
- F&O
- ₹20/order
- AMC
- Free yr 1; ₹60/qtr + GST
Upstox
Discount broker · Traders & API
₹20 caps across segments, TradingView-based charts and a free API.
- Delivery
- ₹20/order
- Intraday
- 0.1% or ₹20
- F&O
- ₹20/order
- AMC
- Free yr 1; ₹300/yr + GST
Kotak Securities
Bank-group broker (Kotak Neo) · ₹10 intraday & F&O
₹10 per order on intraday and F&O on all Kotak Neo plans; delivery 0.20% on the free plan.
- Delivery
- 0.20% (₹0 Youth)
- Intraday
- 0.05% or ₹10
- F&O
- ₹10/order
- AMC
- ₹50/month + GST (non-BSDA)
ICICI Direct
Full-service broker (bank group) · 3-in-1 banking
Full-service with ICICI Bank integration. Default brokerage is high; Prime plans reduce it.
- Delivery
- 0.29% (Prime lower)
- Intraday
- 0.029%
- F&O
- ₹49/lot
- AMC
- ₹700/yr (₹300 Prime)
HDFC SKY by HDFC Securities
Bank-group broker (HDFC SKY flat-fee platform) · Bank-group flat fee
HDFC SKY's ₹20-per-order pricing from a bank-group broker.
- Delivery
- ₹20 or 2.5%
- Intraday
- ₹20 or 2.5%
- F&O
- ₹20/order
- AMC
- Free yr 1; ₹20/month
Quick answer
There is no single best stock broker in India for everyone. On published charges:
- Lowest cost for buy-and-hold investors: brokers with ₹0 delivery brokerage, such as Zerodha (Kotak's Trade Free Youth plan also offers ₹0 delivery for under-30s).
- Lowest flat fee for intraday and F&O: Kotak Neo at ₹10 per order; most discount brokers charge ₹20.
- Simplest experience with no AMC: Groww lists ₹0 AMC.
- Research and relationship support: full-service brokers such as ICICI Direct, Motilal Oswal and Sharekhan — at higher brokerage.
What actually drives your cost
Brokerage is only one line on your contract note. For a long-term investor, the annual demat AMC and the DP charge paid every time you sell a stock often matter more than brokerage. For an active trader, the per-order cap (₹10 or ₹20) and ancillary fees like auto square-off and call & trade matter most. Statutory charges (STT, stamp duty, exchange and SEBI fees, GST) apply at every broker.
Discount vs full-service brokers
Discount brokers (Zerodha, Groww, Upstox, Angel One, 5paisa) charge flat fees and expect you to make your own decisions. Full-service brokers (ICICI Direct, Motilal Oswal, Sharekhan) charge percentage brokerage but offer research, relationship managers and branches. Bank-group brokers such as HDFC Securities and Kotak Securities now offer flat-fee platforms too. See our guide to how brokerage charges work.
Full charge comparison
| Broker | Account opening | AMC | Delivery | Intraday | Options | DP charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zerodha | ₹0 | Free yr 1; ₹300/yr + GST | ₹0 | 0.03% or ₹20 | ₹20/order | ₹15.34/scrip/day |
| Groww | ₹0 | ₹0 | 0.1% or ₹20 | 0.1% or ₹20 | ₹20/order | ₹23.60/sell order |
| Angel One | ₹0 | Free yr 1; ₹60/qtr + GST | 0.1% or ₹20 | 0.1% or ₹20 | ₹20/order | ₹23.60/sell txn |
| Upstox | ₹0* | Free yr 1; ₹300/yr + GST | ₹20/order | 0.1% or ₹20 | ₹20/order | ₹23.60/scrip/day |
| ICICI Direct | Not verified | ₹700/yr (₹300 Prime) | 0.29% (Prime lower) | 0.029% | ₹49/lot | ₹20 + GST/scrip/day |
| HDFC SKY by HDFC Securities | ₹0 | Free yr 1; ₹20/month | ₹20 or 2.5% | ₹20 or 2.5% | ₹20/order | ₹23.60/ISIN debit |
| Kotak Securities | ₹0 (₹99 Youth) | ₹50/month + GST (non-BSDA) | 0.20% (₹0 Youth) | 0.05% or ₹10 | ₹10/order | 0.04% (min ₹20) + GST/day |
| Motilal Oswal | ₹0 | ₹0 yr 1; later not verified | 0.20% | 0.02% | ₹20/lot | Not verified |
| 5paisa | ₹0 | Free yr 1; ₹25/month + GST | ₹20/order | ₹20/order | ₹20/order | ₹23.60/ISIN debit |
| Sharekhan | ₹0 | ₹400/yr (yr 2+) | 0.30% | 0.02% | ₹39/lot | Nil via Sharekhan |
How this comparison was put together
No broker paid for a place here. For each broker we opened its official pricing page on the date shown at the top of this page and recorded brokerage, the annual maintenance charge, the demat debit charge and the common add-on fees, then checked the platform against what most investors actually need.
- What you pay — brokerage for the segments you trade, plus AMC and DP charges.
- Who regulates it — every name here holds a current SEBI stock-broker registration, quoted on its review.
- Whether it fits — the app, products and support that suit a general investor, not a niche trader.
- How open it is — whether the broker publishes its full tariff or hides fees in the fine print.
The order follows how well each broker fits the everyday investor, not a single quality score. Your own mix of trades decides the winner — put your numbers into the brokerage calculator.
Worked example: yearly broker costs for three profiles
Using each broker's published default plan, here is what three typical users would pay in brokerage and DP charges over a year (statutory charges such as STT and stamp duty are the same at every broker and are left out):
- Monthly investor: buys ₹10,000 of shares every month and makes two ₹60,000 sales a year.
- Intraday trader: 20 round trips a month, ₹50,000 per side.
- Options trader: 30 round trips a month, one lot (75 units) with a ₹5,000 premium value per side.
| Broker | Monthly investor | Intraday trader | Options trader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zerodha | ₹31 | ₹7,200 | ₹14,400 |
| Groww | ₹207 | ₹9,600 | ₹14,400 |
| Angel One | ₹207 | ₹9,600 | ₹14,400 |
| Upstox | ₹327 | ₹9,600 | ₹14,400 |
| Kotak Securities | ₹537 | ₹4,800 | ₹7,200 |
| ICICI Direct | ₹743 | ₹6,960 | ₹35,280 |
| HDFC SKY by HDFC Securities | ₹327 | ₹9,600 | ₹14,400 |
The ranking changes completely between profiles. That is why this page recommends brokers by use case instead of naming one winner. DP charges assume each sale is a single sell order; Groww, Angel One, 5paisa and HDFC SKY charge again if you split a sale into several orders. Where a broker's DP charge is not verified, the investor column shows brokerage only.