Disclosure: We do not earn affiliate commission, referral fee, or any incentive from Zerodha, Groww, or Upstox. The information below is from public rate cards as of April 2026 and our own community user data.
If you're choosing your first broker (or thinking of switching), this is the head-to-head most beginners actually need.
The 2026 brokerage structure — head to head
This is the single most important table.
| Charge | Zerodha | Groww | Upstox | |---|---|---|---| | Equity delivery | ₹0 | ₹0 | ₹0-20 (₹0 for first 30 days, then ₹20 or 2.5% whichever lower) | | Equity intraday | ₹20 or 0.03% (whichever lower) | ₹20 or 0.05% (whichever lower) | ₹20 or 0.05% (whichever lower) | | Equity futures | ₹20 or 0.03% (whichever lower) | ₹20 flat | ₹20 flat | | Equity options | ₹20 flat | ₹20 flat | ₹20 flat | | Currency futures | ₹20 or 0.03% | ₹20 flat | ₹20 flat | | Commodity (MCX) | ₹20 or 0.03% | Not offered yet | ₹20 flat | | Mutual funds (direct) | ₹0 (via Coin app) | ₹0 | ₹0 | | Account opening | ₹200 | ₹0 | ₹0-249 | | AMC | ₹300/year | ₹0 | ₹150-300/year |
Note: Upstox started charging ₹20 on equity delivery from October 2024 (was previously free). Zerodha and Groww are still ₹0 on delivery in April 2026.
### Plain-English summary
- Cheapest overall AMC: Groww (₹0)
- Cheapest delivery: Zerodha and Groww (both ₹0)
- Cheapest intraday: Zerodha (0.03% vs 0.05%)
- Cheapest options: All tied (₹20)
For a typical retail investor doing 20 delivery trades + 5 intraday trades + a few mutual fund SIPs per year, the brokerage difference is ₹100-300/year. Not life-changing.
App reliability
This matters more than brokerage at scale. A frozen app at the wrong moment can cost more than ₹10,000 in brokerage savings.
### Zerodha Kite
The gold standard for active traders. Three big strengths:
1. Speed — orders place faster than any other Indian broker app 2. Charting — TradingView integration, technical indicators, drawing tools 3. Order types — bracket orders, cover orders, GTT (good-till-triggered), SL-M, SL-L
Kite is what professional traders use. The web app is strong; the mobile app is on par.
The downside: UI is dense and intimidating for beginners. New users find it overwhelming.
Outage history: Zerodha has had 1-2 multi-hour outages per year (2020-2025). All major brokers have. Zerodha publishes outage reports — transparent.
### Groww
Designed for beginners. Clean, simple, almost minimal.
1. UI — possibly the cleanest in Indian fintech. Buying a stock is 3 clicks. 2. Mutual funds — best-in-class MF integration. SIP setup, tracking, redemption all smooth. 3. Stocks — basic charting, no advanced indicators. Order types limited (mostly market and limit).
The downside: Active traders find it under-featured. No bracket orders, weak charting. If you want to learn technical analysis, Groww won't help.
Outage history: Far fewer outage reports than Zerodha — though some users blame UI rather than seeing actual server outages.
### Upstox
In between. Better than Groww for chart-driven traders, lighter than Kite.
1. UI — clean and simple, similar to Groww but slightly more feature-dense 2. Charting — good (uses ChartIQ), better than Groww but lighter than TradingView 3. Order types — limit, market, SL, SL-M, GTT (no bracket orders)
The downside: Brand perception is weaker. Was ahead in 2020, lost ground to Groww. Lost some marquee users in 2023-24 due to charging delivery brokerage.
Outage history: Some 2023 outages reported around F&O expiry days; mostly resolved.
### Verdict on app
- For active traders: Zerodha Kite
- For beginners + MF-heavy investors: Groww
- For chart-watchers who want low cost: Upstox
Mutual funds, gold, IPOs — what each offers
### Mutual fund integration
| Broker | MF section quality | Direct plans? | SIP setup ease | |---|---|---|---| | Zerodha | Coin (separate sub-app) | Yes | Decent | | Groww | Built into main app | Yes | Excellent | | Upstox | Built into main app | Yes | Decent |
Groww wins for MF. It's actually built around mutual funds first, with stocks as a secondary feature. SIP modification, pause, resume, redemption — all in 2 taps.
Zerodha's Coin is good but it's a separate app, which is a friction point. Many Zerodha users still use Groww for SIPs.
### Gold investment
All three offer Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB) and Gold ETFs. Buying is identical. Differences are minor.
- Zerodha: SGB tracker is excellent (shows tranches you bought, redemption dates)
- Groww: Cleanest digital gold buying (Augmont)
- Upstox: Decent SGB buying, no digital gold
### IPO subscription
All three offer IPO bidding through ASBA (your bank blocks the funds; debited only on allotment). UPI integration is universal.
- Zerodha: Allotment status easy to track
- Groww: Cleanest IPO calendar
- Upstox: Works fine
For IPOs, the difference is tiny. Pick whichever you already have.
Customer support — the ugly truth
This is where users get frustrated. Honest assessment:
### Zerodha
- Phone: No phone support since 2018 (Nithin Kamath's choice — they hate call centers)
- Email: Response time 24-72 hours. Replies are usually decent
- Chat: Limited; mostly via support portal tickets
- Community: TradingQ&A (forum) is active and helpful
- In-person: A few branches; not the primary channel
If you have a complex issue, Zerodha's email support eventually solves it — but the wait is real. Don't trade Zerodha if you need fast support.
### Groww
- Phone: Limited phone support; usually for account issues only
- Chat: 24x7 chat in app. Response under 5 minutes for routine queries
- Email: Fast (under 24 hours)
- In-person: None
Groww has the best customer support of the three. The chat is genuinely useful. Trained agents for routine issues.
### Upstox
- Phone: Phone support during market hours
- Chat: In-app chat, decent response time
- Email: 24-48 hours
- In-person: None
Upstox is in between. Phone is a plus for Hindi/regional language users.
### Verdict on support
- Need phone support: Upstox (or a full-service broker)
- Want fast chat: Groww
- Comfortable with email + community: Zerodha
Transparency and trust
### Zerodha
- Founder Nithin Kamath publishes monthly user data and outage reports
- Profit and loss disclosed annually
- Largest brokerage by revenue in India for years (now #2 by user count)
- Owned by founders; no external VC pressure
### Groww
- Headquartered in Bengaluru; SEBI-registered
- Backed by Tiger Global, Sequoia, Y Combinator, Ribbit
- Went through PG&E (parent company) → IPO planning rumored
- Less public on outage details than Zerodha
### Upstox
- Backed by Ratan Tata, Tiger Global
- Aggressive in marketing (you've seen MS Dhoni ads)
- Has had 1-2 controversies around brokerage hikes (2024)
All three are SEBI-registered and operationally safe. Trust differs in style — Zerodha is the most candid; Groww is the most polished; Upstox is the most aggressive marketer.
The Zerodha-Groww switch (2023-2026)
A real shift happened in Indian retail brokerage between 2023 and 2026.
2018-2022: Zerodha was #1 by far. Half of new traders signed up there.
2023: Groww overtook Zerodha by active client count (per NSE data). Reasons:
- Zero AMC was a powerful pull
- Cleaner mobile UX (more new users invest from mobile, not desktop)
- Mutual fund-first positioning matched the rise of SIP investors
2024-2026: Groww is #1 in active users; Zerodha #2; Upstox #3. By revenue and trading volume, Zerodha is still #1 because its users trade more.
If you're a new investor in 2026, Groww is the default choice. If you're a serious trader, Zerodha still leads.
When each broker wins
### Zerodha wins if:
- You'll trade 20+ times a year
- You want advanced charting and order types
- You want to learn options or F&O
- You're comfortable with email-only support
- You value research integrations (Streak, Sensibull, Smallcase from the Zerodha ecosystem)
### Groww wins if:
- You're new to investing
- You're SIP-heavy (mutual funds, ELSS)
- You value zero AMC
- You want the cleanest mobile UX
- You want fast chat support
### Upstox wins if:
- You want phone support in regional language
- You want lower cost than Zerodha for delivery
- You're a chart-watcher but want simpler UX than Kite
Switching brokers
You can have accounts at multiple brokers. Many investors keep Zerodha for trading + Groww for SIPs.
To move shares from one demat to another:
1. Open the new account 2. Fill a Delivery Instruction Slip (DIS) at the old broker 3. Shares transfer in 2-3 working days
There's a small DP charge (₹15-25 per scrip). For tax purposes, the holding period continues — moving shares between demats is not a sale.
What about full-service brokers (HDFC, ICICI Direct, Kotak)
We didn't compare these because:
- Brokerage is 5-10x higher (0.3-0.5% vs ₹20 flat)
- App quality is generally inferior
- "Research" is mostly noise
If you bank with HDFC, ICICI, or Kotak, you may be tempted to use their broker for "convenience." Don't. Open a discount broker account separately. The annual savings on a ₹3 lakh portfolio are easily ₹3,000-5,000 — enough for an actual financial planner.
Final picks
If you're starting today:
- First account: Groww (₹0 AMC, simplest, best support)
- Add later (if you trade actively): Zerodha (best app for active trading)
- Skip: Most full-service brokers, unless you specifically want a relationship manager
Related reading
- How to Open a Demat Account in India 2026 — full opening walkthrough
- How to Invest in the Share Market in India 2026 — your first portfolio
Related calculators
- Capital Gains Calculator — STCG / LTCG tax math
Our source
Brokerage rate cards per official broker websites: zerodha.com, groww.in, upstox.com, April 2026. Active client share data per NSE monthly disclosures and BSE. Outage and dispute data from broker self-disclosures and SEBI complaint logs. We hold no affiliate, referral, or sponsored relationship with any broker mentioned.