Zerodha is a Bangalore, India-based Discount Broker (also known as Flat Fee Share Broker / Budget Broker / Pay Per Order Brokerage Company) for trading in Stock, Commodity, and Currency Derivative. The Zerodha Review is published here to make a decision about choosing a broker.
Zerodha – An Introduction
Zerodha is India’s largest Discount Broker with a customer base of more than 3 Million and the Stock Broker is known for lower brokerage charges. The company, Zerodha was incorporated in 2010 and became the No. 1 discount broker in India by volume, the number of customers, and growth. As of Aug 2020, it has over 15 Lakh clients. Zerodha contributes to more than 10% of daily retail trading volumes across NSE, BSE, MCX. Recently It has taken over as the largest stock broking company in India based on the number of clients.
Zerodha’s brokerage structure is extremely simple and very easy to understand because of its Flat Brokerage Fee nature. Customer who migrated to Zerodha from other Stock Brokers has reported 80% to 90% saving in brokerage in comparison to full-service brokers. It is among the most technologically advanced and most affordable Stock Broker in India for all kinds of investors including people who trade just a few times a month to occasional traders who execute a bunch of trades each day.
Zerodha Offerings
The Broker charges a flat brokerage fee of ₹20 per executed order, irrespective of the number of shares. Zerodha also offers free Brokerages on equity Delivery transactions. Zerodha charges a maximum brokerage fee for a transaction is ₹20 per executed order irrespective of size & segment. The broker doesn’t offer minimum brokerage fee plans.
Zerodha is a member of BSE, NSC, MCX, and MCX-SX and like other online stock trading companies, it offers trading services that allow you to trade in the following:
- Stocks
- Mutual Funds
- Futures & Options (Equity, Currency & Commodity Segments)
- Govt. Securities
- Sovereign Gold Bond
Zerodha Education Portals
Zerodha also has amazing educational initiatives like Varsity, Trading Q&A, and Open trade which are freely available to everyone. These platforms are actively used by its customers to learn & interact with the Zerodha team.
- Varsity
- Trading Q&A
Zerodha’s Trading Platforms
Zerodha’s has its own trading application named ‘Kite’ and back-office software called ‘Console’. All trading software applications including trading terminal, website, and mobile trading (android / iOS) are available to its customers for free.
The StockBroker is offering its customers the following platforms to trade with ease:
Zerodha Kite Web
Launched in November 2015, Zerodha Kite Web is a web-based HTML 5 lightweight & fast trading platform that can be used for trading on mobile, tablets, laptops & desktops via a web browser. Kite is in-house developed by Zerodha itself and since its launch has undergone various updates. Currently, the broker is offering Kite 3.0 web to its customers and is free to use. It offers full market watch, extensive charting with over 100 indicators and 6 chart types, advanced order types like Brackets and cover, millisecond order placements, and much more for trading at BSE, NSE, and MCX for free.
Zerodha Kite Mobile
Kit Mobile is a smartphone application for both Android and iOS. Customers can trade on the platform via this application with their Smartphones. Kite Mobile app is available for free to all its customers for trading & monitoring stocks and commodity markets in India and can be downloaded from respective App Stores. Kite mobile offers live streaming data from BSE, NSE, and MCX, and becomes the most advanced trading app available in India.
Zerodha Console
The console is the back-office platform offered by Zerodha. It’s a trade and reporting dashboard wherein customers can view and monitor all their investments- stocks, derivatives, and mutual funds, etc from a single dashboard. Customers can also access various reports, get account statements, place withdrawal requests, and download contract notes via Console. The ‘Console’ also offers analytics tools such as Tradebook and heatmap to its Investors & traders.
Zerodha PI
Zerodha PI is an installable trading terminal provided by Zerodha which offers advanced charting, Algos, strategies, & backtesting. A Trader can trade across segments at BSE, NSE, and MCX using this application. PI is available to all of its clients for free.
Zerodha Sentinel
Sentinel is a cloud-based price alert tool that allows customers to set up price alerts on stocks, futures, and options. The unique feature of Sentinel is that unlike other similar price alert tools that are machine-dependent and only provide an alert when the computer is on, but here on Sentinel price alerts can be triggered any time, even when the computer is off. Notifications are sent via Sentinel on Kite (both mobile & Web) and e-mail every time a price alert is triggered.
Zerodha Coin
Zerodha’s Coin is a Mutual Fund investment platform offered by the broker. Coin allows people to invest in Direct Mutual Funds on their own. This means you could do commission-free direct MF investment & can save brokerage on Mutual Fund Investment. Coin offers savings of over 1.5% in commissions every year via its feature of Direct Mutual Fund Investing. Mutual Funds are deposited in the Demat account of the customer which is linked with the Zerodha trading account.
Zerodha Call & Trade
Customers who are not using Zerodha’s online trading and investing platforms explained above can use Call & Trade service for an additional cost of ₹20 per trader.
Zerodha Account Opening & Maintenance Charges
| Trading Account Opening Charges | ₹300 |
| Demat Account Opening Charges | ₹100 |
| Trading Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC) | ₹0 |
| Demat Account Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC) | ₹300 per year |
Zerodha Brokerage Charges
Brokerage Charges by Zerodha are as follows:
- Equity Delivery: Free
- Equity Intraday: Flat Rs. 20 or 0.03% per Trade (whichever is lower)
- F&O Trades: Flat Rs. 20 or 0.03% per Trade (whichever is lower)
- Direct Mutual Fund: Free
Zerodha Pros and Cons
Zerodha Advantages
According to Zerodha Review on the Broker, it has the following Advantages:
- Most popular Broker
- The best trading platforms & tools in the Industry
- Brokerage free Equity Delivery Trades
- Cheapest Share Broker in India
- Self-Clearing Broker
- No Hidden Charges
- No Minimum Balance
- Pay as you go Brokerage Plans
- No Minimum Brokerage
- Zerodha GTT orders
- Zerodha Kite 3 mobile
- IPO applications using UPI
- Easy SIPs with e-Mandates
- Bracket Orders
- Margin Against Share
Zerodha Disadvantages
According to Zerodha Review on the broker, it has the following Disadvantages:
- GTC/GTD orders not available in the equity segment.
- For Bank Nifty (weekly settlement), CO/BO, or trailing stop loss is not available.
- Margin against Shares is not available in the equity cash segment.
- An additional charge of ₹20 per executed order for MIS/BO/CO positions which are not square off by the customer.
- Call & Trade is not free. It is available at an additional fee of ₹20 per executed order.
- Trading software is not available for Mac and Linux operating systems.
- 3-in-1 trading account is not available
- Unlike most 3-in-1 accounts provider, Zerodha Back Office is not integrated with its trading platform. It’s a separate website and most data in the back office gets updated overnight.
- Lifetime free AMC Demat account plans are not available.
Zerodha Exposure Margin / Leverage Margin
Zerodha leverage for intraday, delivery, options, currency, and commodities.
| Segment | Exposure Margin |
| Equity Delivery | 1x (no margin) |
| Equity Intraday | Up to 20x (based on the stock) |
| Equity Future | Intraday – 40% |
| Equity Options | Intraday – 40% |
| Currency Future | Intraday – 40% |
| Currency Options | Intraday – 40% |
| Commodity Future | Intraday – 40% |
Conclusion
You have gone through the Zerodha Review here on this page. I’ve tried to list all the features, types of accounts, trading platforms, and trading apps in my Zerodha Review. After reading the Zerodha Review you got an idea about why it is the best stockbroker in India in both the Full-Service Brokers and Discount Brokers.
