Zerodha vs. Upstox: Which is the Best Demat?

Zerodha vs. Upstox: Who offers the best Demat account? Let’s find out.

With the advent of online trading platforms, investing in the stock market has always been complex. Zerodha and Upstox are two of the most prominent competitors in India’s online brokerage industry.

Both platforms have acquired momentum due to their user-friendly interfaces, competitive pricing, and extensive service offerings. In this article, we will compare Zerodha and Upstox in order to help you determine which demat account is best for your investment requirements.

Zerodha

Zerodha is a well-known online discount brokerage service headquartered in India. Nithin Kamath founded it in 2010, and its headquarters are in Bengaluru. It has experienced significant growth, positioning itself as one of the leading and widely recognized entities within the brokerage industry in India.

The company has garnered recognition for its innovative approach to internet-based trading and its dedication to delivering affordable and user-centric trading options to investors and traders.

Also Check Stock Average Calculator Zerodha

Upstox

Upstox is a prominent online discount brokerage firm in India that specialises in offering online trading and investment services to retail investors and traders. Upstox, founded in 2010, has rapidly garnered recognition owing to its user-friendly platforms, competitively priced brokerage fees, and wide range of financial products and services.

Zerodha vs. Upstox: Which is better?

Both Zerodha and Upstox are prominent discount brokers in today’s time. A few of you might need clarification about where to open a Demat account or trading account, as both of them have quite a few similarities.

Let’s get into the comparison of Zerodha vs. Upstox in terms of brokerage fees, account opening and transaction charges, and the benefits of both.

Zerodha vs. Upstox: Account Opening Charges

	Zerodha	Upstox
Trading Account Opening Charges	Rs. 200	Rs. 150
Trading Annual in Maintenance Charges	Rs. 0	Rs. 0
Demat Account Opening Charges	Rs. 100	Rs. 0
Demat Account Annual Maintenance Charges	Rs. 300	Rs. 150
Commodity Account Opening Charges	Rs. 200	Rs. 150

Zerodha vs Upstox: Products and Services Available

	Zerodha	Upstox
Equity	✔	✔
Equity Derivatives (F&O)	✔	✔
Currency and Derivatives	✔	✔
Commodities	✔	✔
IPO	Through UPI	Through ASBA
Mutual Funds	✔	✔
ETF	✔	✔
Bond/NCD	✔	🗙
Banking	🗙	🗙
Insurance	🗙	🗙
PMS	🗙	🗙
Forex Trading	🗙	🗙
NRI account support	✔	🗙

Zerodha vs Upstox: Brokerage Charges

Account Type	Zerodha	Upstox
Equity Delivery	0 Fee (Free)	Rs. 20 per order or 2.5%, whichever is lower
Equity Intraday	Rs. 20 per order or 0.3%, whichever is lower	Rs 20/per order or 0.05%, whichever is lower
Equity Futures	Rs. 20 per order or 0.3%, whichever is lower	Rs 20/per order or 0.05%, whichever is lower
Equity Options	Rs. 20 per executed order	Rs. 20 per executed order
Currency Futures	Rs. 20 per order or 0.3%, whichever is lower	Rs 20/per order or 0.3%, whichever is lower
Currency Options	Rs. 20 per executed order	Rs. 20 per executed order
Commodity Futures	Rs. 20 per order or 0.3%, whichever is lower	Rs 20/per order or 0.3%, whichever is lower
Commodity Options	Rs. 20 per executed order	Rs. 20 per executed order
Funding	N/A	N/A
Call and Trade Charges	Rs. 50 per executed order	Rs. 50 per executed order
Auto-square-off charges	Rs. 50 per executed order	Rs. 50 per executed order

Zerodha vs Upstox: Transaction Charges

	Zerodha	Upstox
Equity Delivery	NSE: 0.00325%; BSE: 0.00375% (both buy and sell)	NSE: 0.00325% ( both buy and sell)
Equity Intraday	NSE: 0.00325%; BSE: 0.00375% (both buy and sell)	NSE: 0.00325% ( both buy and sell)
Equity Futures	NSE: 0.0019%	NSE: 0.0019% (Both Buy and Sell)
Equity Options	NSE: 0.05% (on premium)	NSE: 0.050% (on premium)
Currency Futures	NSE: 0.0009%; BSE: 0.001%	NSE: 0.0009%; BSE: 0.00022%
Currency Options	NSE: 0.0009%; BSE: 0.00025%	NSE: 0.035%; BSE: 0.001%
Commodity Futures	Group A: 0.0026%	MCX: 0.0026
Commodity options	0.05%	0.05%

What does this percentage mean?

If you buy 500 shares of a company at Rs 200 and the total traded value becomes (500 x 200 = 1,00,000) Rs 1,00,000, of which 0.00325% will be levied, that is:

0.00325/100 x 1,00,000 = 3.35 will be levied.

For the option segments, it will be calculated on the basis of premium instead of traded value.

Zerodha vs. Upstox: Statutory Charges Comparison

Government levies the statutory charges, which are generally the same for every broker. There’s nothing much to worry about these charges. These charges are paid to the government of India.

These charges include STT, SEBI charges, GST, and stamp duty charges.

Statutory Charges	Zerodha	Upstox
STT	0.0126% of total turnover	0.0126% of total turnover
SEBI charges	0.0002% of total turnover	0.0002% of total turnover
GST	18% of (transaction + brokerage charges)	18% of (transaction + brokerage charges)

Zerodha vs. Upstox: Demat Account Charges

	Zerodha	Upstox
DP (Depository Participant) Source	CDSL	CDSL
Dp Id	81600	81800
Demat Account Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC)	₹300 pa	₹300 pa
Advance Deposit	Nil	Nil
Statutory charges	₹50	Nil
Transaction charges on Debit (Per ISIN)	₹8 + ₹5.50 (CDSL Charges) per transaction	₹13 + ₹5.50 CDSL charges
Demat	₹150 per certificate + ₹100 courier charges	₹20 + ₹50 courier charges
Remat	₹150 per certificate + ₹100 courier charges + CDSL Charges	₹100 for every hundred securities or ₹25 per certificate (whichever is higher)
Pledge Creation	₹20 + ₹12 CDSL charges	0.02% of the transaction value (min. ₹50) + CDSL charges
Pledge Creation Comparison	Nil	0.02% of the transaction value (min. ₹50) + CDSL charges
Pledge Closure	₹20 + ₹12 CDSL charges	0.02% of the transaction value (min. ₹50) + CDSL charges
Pledge Closure Confirmation	Nil	0.02% of the transaction value (min. ₹50) + CDSL charges
Pledge Invocation	₹20	0.05% of the transaction value (min. ₹50)
Failed Instruction Charges	₹50 per instruction	₹50
Other Charges	Nil	Nil

Zerodha vs. Upstox: Trading Platform Comparison

	Zerodha	Upstox
Web Trading Platform	Yes	Yes
Web Platform Name	Kite Web	Upstox Pro Web
Web Trading Demo	No	Yes
Mobile Trading apps	Yes	Yes
Mobile App Name	Kite App	Upstox Pro App
Android App	Yes	Yes
iOS App	Yes	Yes
Desktop Trading Platform	Yes	Yes
Desktop Platform Name	Zerodha Pi	Dartstock, Nest Trading, and Fox Trading
Demo Platform	No	Yes
Desktop Platform on Windows	Yes (Pi Software, Nest Trader)	Yes (Nest Trader)
Mac Platform	No	No

Features of Zerodha and Upstox Platforms

Features	Zerodha	Upstox
Subscription charges	Free	Free
Portfolio Details	Available	Available
Real-time Updates	Available	Available
Trade from Chart	Available	Available
Online MF Buying	Available	Available
Global Indices	Available	Available
Live Markets	Available	Available
SMS/Email Alerts	Available	Available

Conclusion

In this article, we have covered all the aspects of Zerodha and Upstox, which will help you compare both trading platforms and decide which platform will be best for you. When comparing both, you can see that both are best on their own. There’s hardly any difference in terms of technology. It all depends on the customer whether they want to choose Zerodha or Upstox.

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Disclaimer: The sole purpose of our financial articles is to provide you with educational and informative content. The content in these articles does not intend any investment, financial, legal, tax, or any other advice. It should not be used as a substitute for professional advice or assistance.

	Zerodha	Upstox
Founder	Nithin Kamath	Ravi Kumar, Raghu Kumar, and Shrinivs Vishwanath
Company Type	Private	private
Head Office	Bengaluru	Mumbai
Founded in	2010	2010
Type of Broker	Discount Broker	Discount Broker
No. of branches	22 branches and 90+ partner offices	2 branches and 12 partner offices
Website	https://zerodha.com/	https://upstox.com/