Introduction: Zerodha Review

Zerodha is a bootstrapped Fintech stock broker company founded by Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath in 2010. Zerodha is the first discount broker in India and they have revolutionised the share market. Their customer-first approach led them to the top position in the share market within very little time. The product and technology they deliver are customer-centric and first in class.

As a result, without any promotion or investor funding, they have a customer base of 1.5Cr +. The total trading volume on Zerodha is more than 15% of the total market turnover. Till date, they try to provide features and products that will ease the trading experience for customers. Through the Rainmatter investment, they also try to develop the financial ecosystem. Till now they have funded products like Smallcase, Sensibull, Streak, and Ditto among many under the Rainmatter investments.

Also, to increase market participation, they have provided free learning platforms like Varsity. Varsity is an enhanced and elaborate platform to learn about the share market. In the name of Varsity, a webpage, as well as a YouTube channel, is there to help the customer enhance their knowledge about the share market.

Their new initiative Varsity Junior is the best platform till date to teach the financials to kids. Recently, Varsity Junior also won the best animated series. They have also introduced a new YouTube channel “ Zing” to introduce the customer to complex theories of finances in a lighter and fun way for better understanding.

Key features of Zerodha review

Transparent and customer-centric approach. They always develop their products to help the customer. They always try to provide features, which will ease the customers’ trading experience.
Best in industry, support portal as well as the support team, which helps the customer with their queries.
You can invest in instruments like Equity, Commodity, Currency, Derivatives, Mutual funds, NFO, SGBs, Bonds, etc.
You can also directly participate in corporate actions like buybacks, OFS, and Takeovers.
User-friendly platform with features like Iceberg, AMO, GTT etc.
Iceberg orders can be used to place orders for more than freezed quantities in a single order.
Amo orders can be used to place orders for the next day.
GTT orders have a validity of one year for equity and till expiry for F&O contracts. GTT orders are the best tool for traders or investors who are not more active or have less time for trading.
The trading platform Kite is having both chat options i.e. chart IQ and trading view.
Chats are saved on clouds, so the preferences saved on a device can be fetched on another device with the same login credentials.
On kite platform you can participate in the auction market if you have the holding of the same scrips and can earn up to 20% more than the previous close price.
A universal search option is provided on MarketWatch, where you can search for Equity, Commodity, currency, Mutual funds, SGB, Bonds, etc.
Nudge is provided for all the illiquid scrips, penny stocks, Trade to Trade, ASM, GSM, and ESM category stocks so that a client can rethink about the risk involved in the trade and make an informed decision.
Margin of 5X is provided for Equity intraday trades.
You can pledge your holdings to get interest free collateral, which can be used to trade in equity intraday and F&O trades.
Loan against security(LAS) is also provided with an interest as low as 10.50%.
Referral program is provided for all the clients, where you can earn 10% of the brokerage generated by the clients referred by you.
You can also register for a partner program after referring 100 clients, where you can earn 40% of the brokerage generated by the clients referred by you.
Console is their back office, where you can download all reports like trade book, ledger, P&L Tax P&L, etc.
Sensibull is provided free for all the clients of Zerodha. The platform helps Option traders to trade more efficiently with strategy builder, market analysis, position analysis, etc.
Streak is also provided free for all the clients of Zerodha, where they can plan and manage their trades without the knowledge of coding. Also, they can backtest their strategies on historical data.
BSDA(basic service demat account) is also provided, where if your holding value is below 50000, then there will be no AMC charges.
Normala AMC charge is 75+18% GST per quarter.
Universal brokerage plan is provided i.e. brokerage charge is the same for all the clients.
Varsity is a free initiative to learn about the share market. It has an app, a webpage, and a YouTube channel of the same name.
ZIng is a newly introduced YouTube channel to learn about the technicalities of the share market in a fun way.
Utilities tools like brokerage calculator and margin calculator are provided. The brokerage calculator provides a sample contract note, where you can check the taxes and charges applicable for the trades you are going to take or have already taken. The margin calculator will prodd the margin requirements for any trade you are going to take.
A vast support portal is provided to help with the general queries faced by the client regarding the share market, trading, etc.

PROs of Zerodha-

A good and reputed platform for trading and investments. They generate 15% of the total trade volume.
Account opening is very smooth and user-friendly. Onboarding and after-trade support is very efficient and proactive.
Free initiatives like Varsity and YouTube platforms like ZIng are provided for new investors to learn and earn.
A vast support portal to assist with the general queries faced by a client.
Without interest, collateral is provided for trades.
User-friendly Kite platform for trading and Coin for mutual funds.

Cons of Zerodha-

No advisory services.
No customizable brokerage plans, according to the needs of the clients.
No margin funding for trading and investments.
NCDEX is not provided for trading in agricultural commodities.
No physical delivery for commodity contracts.
Account opening and AMC charges are levied, whereas most of the competitors are not charged for account opening as well as AMC.
Instant withdrawal is not available. It takes around 24 working hours to process the withdrawal requests.
You need to maintain separate funds for Equity and Commodity.

Get a complete comparison between Zerodha and mStock to keep yourself ahead in the stock market.

Comparison between Zerodha, Groww, Upstox and Angel Broking

	Zerodha	Groww	Upstox	Angel
Brokerage	Rs 20 per order	Rs 20 per order	Rs 20 per order	Rs 20 per order
Margin	5X	5X	5X	5X
DP charge	Rs 15.93	Rs 15.93	Rs 21.83	Rs23.6
AMC charge	Rs 354 p.a.	Zero	Zero	Rs 283.2 p.a.
Margin Funding	No	No	Yes(10.30%)	Yes(17.89%)
Client Base	1.80 Cr	4 cr	1cr	1.5cr
App rating on Play Store	4.1	4.3	4.6	4.3

FAQ About Zerodha

1. What is the brokerage charge for equity delivery in Zerodha?

Ans: The brokerage charge for delivery is 0(zero) in Zerodha.

2. What are equity intraday brokerage charges in Zerodha?

Ans: The brokerage charge for equity intraday is 0.03% or Rs 20, whichever is less per executed order in Zerodha.

3. What is the brokerage charge for Futures(Equity,Commodity, and Currency) In Zerodha?

Ans: The brokerage charge for Futures (Equity, Commodity, and Currency) is 0.03% or Rs 20, whichever is less per executed order in Zerodha.

4. What is the brokerage charge for Options(Equity,Commodity, and Currency) in Zerodha?

Ans: The brokerage charge for Options (Equity, Commodity, and Currency) is Rs 20 per executed order in Zerodha.

5. What is the Margin provided for equity delivery in Zerodha?

Ans: The margin provided for equity delivery is 1X in Zerodha.

6. What is the margin provided for equity intraday in Zerodha?

Ans: The margin provided for equity intraday is 5X in Zerodha.

7. What is the margin provided for Futures and Options(Equity,Commodity, and Currency) In Zerodha?

Ans: The margin provided for Futures and Options (Equity, Commodity, and Currency) is 1X in Zerodha.

8. What is the trading platform of Zerodha?

Ans: The Kite is the trading platform of Zerodha.

9. Does Zerodha provide Desktop applications?

Ans: No, Zerodha doesn’t offer any desktop application.

10. Where can we get the brokerage charges applicable for Zerodha?

Ans: You can search for “ Brokerage Calculator by Zerodha”.

11. Where can we check for the margins provided by Zerodha?

Ans: You can search for “ Margin Calculator by Zerodha”.

12. What are the AMC charges of Zerodha?

Ans: The AMC charge of Zerodha is 75+18 % GST per quarter.

13. Which exchanges can I trade in Zerodha?

Ans: You can trade in NSE, BSE, MCX,

14. Can I trade in NCDEX at Zerodha?

Ans: No, Zerodha doesn’t offer NCDEX.

15. What is the client base of Zerodha?

Ans: Zerodha has a client base of 1.80Cr+.

16. What are the charges for Mutual Fund investment?

Ans: At Zerodha, there are no charges for Mutual fund investments.

17. What are the account opening charges at Zerodha?

Ans: For equity, the account opening charge is Rs 200 and Rs 100 for Commodity at Zerodha.

18. Can we apply for IPOs at Zerodha, and what are the charges for applying?

Ans: You can apply for IPOs at Zerodha with a UPI ID. There are no charges for IPO applications at Zerodha.

19. What is the DP charge at Zerodha?

Ans: The DP charge at Zerodha is Rs 13.5+18% GST.

20. What is the payment gateway charge at Zerodha for adding funds?

Ans: The payment gateway charge at Zerodha is Rs9+18 % GST.

21. What is the call and Trade charge at Zerodha?

Ans: The Call and Trade charge at Zerodha is Rs 50+18% GST.

22. What is the Auto Square-off charge at Zerodha?

Ans: The Auto Square-off charge at Zerodha is Rs 50+18% GST.

23. How much time is required for the withdrawal of funds at Zerodha?

Ans: The withdrawal request will be processed within 24 working hours at Zerodha.

24. Is Zerodha open demat account with CDSL or NSDL?

Ans: Zerodha open demat account with CDSL.