Best Demat and Trading Account in India: Comparison & Review 2024

Are you looking for the Best Demat Account in India? Are you planning to open a trading account? Thinking, which is the topmost stock broker offering impeccable demat services with low brokerage to its customers? Don’t worry, your search probably ends here. Go through our exclusive list of Best Demat and Trading Accounts in India: Comparison and Review.

Choose the most affordable and one of the top stock trading platform that suits your requirements. This collection includes both Full Service brokers as well as discount brokers in India.

While historically, full service brokers like ICICI, Kotak etc. have been the pick for the investors, 2019 brought a paradigm change. The discount brokers now provide a whole lot of services apart from share sale and purchase at a fraction of cost.

So, we have sufficient enough reason to believe that the year 2020 belongs to discount brokers like Zerodha and 5paisa. Some new and emerging players like Paytm Money shall join this group soon.

Stock Trading and Brokers – A Brief Introduction:

Stock trading has come a long way since the inception of Stock Exchanges in India. Back in 90s and early 2000s, one had to majorly rely on the brokers in the locality to place and execute phone orders. In fact, they were actually sub-brokers to some brokerage houses since becoming a broker with SEBI wasn’t that easy.

However, as the technology advanced and stock investments and trading became more mainstream. As a result, the trading accounts also became more mainstream.

If you are someone who started or worked in stock trading or investing in late 90s or early 2000s, you might have mainly traded through traditional brokerage houses like ICICI direct, Sharekhan, Indiabulls etc.

These stock brokers provide you with a trading account to invest as well as invest in market securities. So, they used to charge some percentage of the trade amount being executed and are also called as full service brokers.

As the technology revolution took over in the first decade of 2000 and the volumes on the stock exchanges further increased, the revolution started disrupting the brokerage space as well. We saw a slew of modern age tech driven brokers which charged mostly a flat fee for the brokerage.

Some common names you get to hear in this field are Zerodha, 5 Paisa, Upstox (RKSV), Angel Broking, Pro stocks etc. These stock brokers charge very low fee and sometimes even a zero fee on stock delivery.

So, have a look at the Best Trading and Demat account options in India available for retail Indian investors. In fact, this list has been crafted especially for the ones who want to trade or invest in the stock markets.

Demat and Trading Account – Difference

A Trading account is the account which is used to place orders on the stock exchange. If you intend to buy some stocks or work in derivatives, you must have a trading account to do so.

Now, once you have placed an order on the stock exchange and have been allotted stocks, the stocks must be stored somewhere, right? This place where the stocks are stored for you in the digital format is called as Demat Account in India. Demat is the short form of “Dematerialized Account” that signifies that stocks are held in electronic form and not in any material form.

Let us have a look at some of the Best Demat and Trading Accounts in India. Also, know what does it cost to have one (Please note that we are analysing here only for the equities segment).

Best Demat & Trading Accounts in India – Top Stock Brokers

Here are some important details about the top brokers in India.

1. Zerodha Demat & Trading Account

Zerodha is the pioneer of online based discount brokerage in India. This is one of the largest discount brokers in India based on the active number of clients. Do you know, Zerodha was the very first to come up with the discount broking model. It started charging a flat fee which is not based on the size of trade initiated at all.

Now, let’s highlight the best part! Zerodha offers free equity investments and charges Rs.20 for all other trades.

This means, whether you set up a trade with 10K value or a trade with a 1 Cr value, the brokerage would be the same.

So, this leading stock broker didn’t just stop at discount brokerage gig. And, went ahead to make the equity delivery trading free of cost. This helped reduce the barrier for retail investors in stock market. This is categorised as the “best demat account in India” and is a popular choice of a larger number of investors and traders throughout India.

Apply Here for Zerodha Account

Zerodha Account Opening Charges:

Transaction	Fees
Trading & Demat Account Opening Charges	Rs.200 (One time) for Online Account Opening
Trading Account Maintenance Charges (AMC)	Free
Demat Account Maintenance Charges (AMC)	Rs.300

Zerodha Features:

Trade all segments on BSE, NSE, BTST, MCDEX, Forex Trading Spot Trading, Mutual Funds etc.

Zerodha Brokerage Charges:

Zerodha Brokerage is a flat fee structure with charges of Rs.20 per trade. Stock Delivery is charged free of cost.

No doubt, Zerodha has gained immense popularity and has grown its user base substantially.

Some famous tools and apps associated with Zerodha are:

• Zerodha Kite
• Zerodha Pi
• Zerodha Coin

2. IIFL online / 5paisa Demat and Trading Account:

India Infoline is a full service broker offering 2-in-1 demat and trading account on its online platform 5paisa.com. This is also popular as the 2nd largest discount broker in India.

5paisa Account Opening and Maintenance Charges:

• Demat Account Opening : Free
• Trading Account Opening Charges: Rs.650 only
• Trading and Demat Account Annual fees after first year: Rs.400 only

5paisa Demat and Trading Account Features:

Trades in all the segments of BSE, NSE, MCX and NCDEX, IPOs and Mutual Funds. It has distinctive features in the platform like Equity SIP. They have good Mobile apps for trading.

Open Free Online Demat Account @ 5paisa

5paisa Brokerage charges:

Equity Intraday	Rs 10 per executed order
Equity Delivery	Rs 10 per executed order
Equity Futures	Rs 10 per executed order
Equity Options	Rs 10 per executed order
Currency F&O	Rs 10 per executed order

3. Angel Broking:

Angel Broking is one of the other popular full service brokers in India. They also have a PAN India presence and a number of sub-brokers across India. This is quite feasible if you want to place order via a broker call instead of placing through the online account.

Angel Broking Account Opening Charges:

There are no account opening charges for trading and demat account opening at Angel Broking.

Angel Broking Features:

Trades in all segments on NSE, BSE, MCX, NCDEX. Browser and app based trading with Angel Eye, Angel SpeedPro, Angel Swiftland, Angel Lite.They recently launched ARQ advisory services for an optimized portfolio.

You may also like: Minor Demat and Trading Account in India

Angel Broking Brokerage:

Angel broking has multiple plans (Angel classic, Angel Preferred, Angel Premium and Angel Elite). You can pick up the plan as per your trade volume. The brokerage will vary along with that.

The good news is that, Angel Broking has also introduced an Angel iTrade Plan wherein a flat brokerage shall be charged. So, looking at the growing trend of discount broking model, you get primarily two options here:

Rs.15 Flat brokerage: For Order size <= Rs.50000 and

Rs.30 Flat Brokerage: For Order size > Rs.50000

Here is a small charges table for equity trading :

Trading/Delivery	Angel Classic Rs.10000 to Rs.24999	Angel Preferred Rs.25000 to Rs.49999	Angel Premier Rs.50000 to Rs.99999	Angel Elite Rs.100000 & more
Equity Delivery	0.32%	0.224%	0.176%	0.128%
Equity Inter trade	0.032%	0.0224%	0.0176%	0.0128%
Equity Futures	0.032%	0.0224%	0.0176%	0.0128%
Nifty Options	40	32	24	16
Other Options	80	64	48	32

Demat and Trading Accounts in India: Stock Brokers List

4. ICICI Direct:

ICICI Direct has been preferred online broker choice since ages now for generations. Carrying an ICICI brand name and a long history, ICICI direct is a trust choice for retail investors whether it is about stock investing, mutual funds, corporate bonds or anything which is traded on the markets.

The account is actually a 3-in-1 account i.e a trading account, Demat Account and the bank account that you can easily open online.

Here are the various charges for the ICICI Direct account:

ICICI Direct Account Opening Charges:

ICICI Direct trading account can be opened at a flat fee of Rs 975.  It includes everything i.e trading, demat and the bank account (if you wish to). No AMC on trading account. The demat account opening is Rs.100 plus its AMC is Rs.500.

ICICI Direct Features:

Trade all segments on BSE, NSE, NSE, BTST, Spot Trading, Mutual Funds, Term Insurance, IPOs.

ICICI Direct Brokerage Charges:

ICICI Direct is one of the expensive brokers out there. There are a couple of plans that ICICI Direct offers i.e ICICI Direct I-Secure and ICICI Direct I-Saver Account.

ICICI Direct I-Secure:

This is a flat fee trading account and charges as follows (Please note that charges are more suitable for a casual trader only) :

• Equity Delivery – .55% Flat
• Equity Intraday – .275% Flat

ICICI Direct I-Saver Plan:

Equity Delivery: .75% to .25% [depending on volume]

• Less than Rs 10 Lakhs – 0.75%
• Between Rs 10 lakhs to 25 Lakhs – 0.70%
• Between Rs 25 lakhs to 50 Lakhs – 0.55%
• Between Rs 50 lakhs to 1 Crore – 0.45%
• Between Rs 1 Crore to 2 Crores – 0.35%
• Between Rs 1 Crores to 5 Crores – 0.30%
• Above Rs 5 Crores – 0.25%

Equity Intraday: .375% to .125% [Turnover on trading Per Calendar Quarter]

• Less than Rs 10 Lakhs – 0.375%
• Between Rs 10 lakhs to 25 Lakhs – 0.350%
• Between Rs 25 lakhs to 50 Lakhs – 0.275%
• Between Rs 50 lakhs to 1 Crore – 0.225%
• Between Rs 1 Crore to 2 Crores – 0.175%
• Between Rs 1 Crores to 5 Crores – 0.150%
• Above Rs 5 Crores – 0.125%

The following charges are similar in both the ICICI Direct Plans:

• Equity Future & Currency Future – 0.05% to .03% [Turnover Per Month]
  • Less than Rs 5 Crores – 0.05%
  • Between Rs 5 Crores to 10 Lakhs – 0.040%
  • Between Rs 10 Crores to 20 Lakhs – 0.035%
  • Above Rs 20 Crores – 0.03%
• Equity Future second leg of Intraday square off Rs 50.
• Currency Future second leg of Intraday square off Rs 10
• Equity Options – Flat Rs 95 to 35 Per contract lot.
• Brokerage on second leg of Intraday square off Rs 50.
• Currency Options – Flat Rs 25 to 10 Per lot Brokerage on second leg of Intraday square off Rs 10.

The pricing is complex and should be studied diligently to avoid any surprises later on!!

You may also like: 7 Best Long term Investments in India!

5. Sharekhan Demat & Trading Account:

Sharekhan is another popular online broker and has been popular for quite some time now. In 2015 it was acquired by the French company BNP paribas and it continues to be a preferred choice for many investors looking forward to trade on the markets.

ShareKhan Account Opening and Maintenance Charges:

• Trading and Demat Account Opening: Free
• Demat Annual maintenance charges: Rs 400

Sharekhan Features:

All trading options : Equities, IPO, F&O, Currency, Commodities.It has a simpler pricing structure. There is a prepaid option to reduce the brokerage for a certain amount of time. There are no payment gateway charges, to and from bank.

Sharekhan Brokerage Charges:

Intraday charges: 0.1% on both buy and sell sides subject to minimum of 5 paise per share.

Equity Delivery Charges: 0.5% on both buy and sell sides subject to minimum of 10 paisa per share. For sell delivery, brokerage of Rs 16 per scrip is charged for orders less than Rs 3200.

Equity Futures: 0.1% for the first leg, for second leg: 0.02% on same day square off and 0.10% any other day.

Options:  Rs 100 per lot or 2.5% of premium(higher one).

All Taxes are charged extra.

6. Indiabulls Demat and Trading Account:

Indiabulls ventures is also one of the popular full service brokers providing access to trading and demat account in India.

Indiabulls account opening and maintenance charges:

• Demat & Trading Account Opening Charges: Rs 750
• Demat and Trading Account Maintenance Charges: Nil

Indiabulls Demat account Features:

Trades in all segments of BSE, NSE, NCDEX and MCX. It has great Mobile app and dedicated relationship managers to support their services.

Indiabulls brokerage:

The following are the charges for power Indiabulls plan:

Brokerage Plan	Power Indiabulls
Equity Delivery	0.3%
Equity Intraday	.03%
Equity Futures	.03%
Equity Options	Rs.100/Lot
Currency Futures	.03%
Currency Options	Rs.100/Lot
Commodity	.03%

You may also like: Best Online Trading Platform in India

7. Kotak Securities Demat and Trading Account:

Just like other players from banking sector, Kotak also offers a 3-in-1 demat and trading account for the prospects. Kotak Securities is a full service broker. It offers a whole lot of services including but not limited to Equity Delivery, Equity F&O, IPO, Financial Advisory services, mutual funds, life insurance, investment banking etc. They are depository participants with NSDL and CDSL both.

Kotak Securities account opening and maintenance charges:

• Demat & Trading Account Opening Charges: Rs 750
• Account Maintenance Charges : Nil
• Demat Account Maintenance Charges: Rs 50 per month.

Kotak Securities Features:

Trades in all segments of BSE, NSE and Currency Derivatives. Commodity trading is not supported as of this writing. The following platforms are available for operating your account:

• Kotaksecurities.com : Online website for stock trading and investment.
• Xtralite: A tool for using the broker website on slow connections
• KEAT Pro X : The desktop tool for professional traders.
• Kotak Stock Trader: A mobile app for the one’s who like to trade on the go !

Kotak Securities brokerage:

Kotak Securities offers multiple brokerage plans vis-a-vis dynamic, fixed, silver and pearl brokerage plans. We have covered the brokerage for the most common plans i.e fixed dynamic brokerage one in this blog.

Plan Type	Equity Delivery	Equity Intraday	Equity Futures	Equity Options	Currency Futures And Options	Commodity Trading
Fixed Brokerage	0.49%	0.049%	0.049%	₹ 300		0.07%
Dynamic Brokerage	0.59% to 0.30%	0.06% to 0.05%	0.07% to 0.05%	2.5% to 1.8%	Futures : 0.04% or Rs 20 per lot Options: ₹7.5-₹20 per lot

I hope you enjoyed gaining knowledge on the Best Demat Account in India and found the post helpful.

Note: All the information and charges given are on “as is ” basis. There may be changes in account opening fees, brokerage and other charges for different stock brokers. You must check the respective broker site for any important amendments though. Duties and Taxes are all extra.

Apply Here for Zerodha Account

If you don’t need an investment advice and require a stock broker only for trading, you must visit Best Discount Brokers in India.

Disclaimer: There is a high degree of risk involved in stock trading. The details given on this website are for informational purpose only. It should not be be constituted as professional advice in any regard. Please follow due diligence while investing your money.

Have you opened a Demat or Trading Account with any of the stock brokers listed above? While selecting the trading accounts or the best demat account in India, do have a thorough research. Now, what do you think? Which is the best stock broker in India? Do share your valuable feedback and experiences on the same in the comment section below.