Zerodha Review 2023

How we ranked fees

We ranked Zerodha's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

To get things rolling, let's go over some lingo related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of Zerodha for each asset class. For example, in the case of stock investing the most important fees are commissions.

We also compared Zerodha's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, Sharekhan and Interactive Brokers. The selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of Zerodha alternatives.

To have a clear overview of Zerodha, let's start with trading fees.

Zerodha trading fees

Zerodha trading fees are low. For equity delivery, it doesn't charge any commission. There is exceptionally transparent information on fees on Zerodha's website, supplemented by an easy-to-use fee calculator. As other charges may apply, we have put together a table featuring catch-all costs.

Given that Indian brokers usually offer only a few types of products, we compared the brokers by calculating all the fees of a typical trade for two assets.

We chose the following assets:

• Reliance, a large-cap Indian stock
• USDINR, a popular currency pair

We compared the fees for an equity delivery trading for Reliance and a currency futures trade for USDINR. In both cases, a typical trade means buying a position, holding it for one week, then selling it. For volume, we chose $2,000 for stocks and $20,000 for the currency trade.

The resulting catch-all benchmark includes spreads, commissions and financing costs for all brokers.

Now, let's see the verdict. Zerodha has super low stock and currency futures fees. 

Non-trading fees

Zerodha has low non-trading fees. While the broker charges no inactivity fee and withdrawal fee, there is an account fee. 

The account fee is INR 300 + 18% tax per year for Demat accounts and INR 1,000 + 18% tax per year for corporate accounts. If you open a commodity account, you will be charged INR 100 + 18% tax per year.

Can you open an account?

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At Zerodha, only Indian residents and non-resident Indians (NRI) can open an account.

What is the minimum deposit at Zerodha?

The required Zerodha minimum deposit is $0. However, there is an INR 200 fee for opening a Trading & Demat account, and an INR 100 fee opening for a Commodity account.

Account types

There are two account types available:

1. Demat & Trading account - for equity and currency trading
2. Commodity account - for commodity trading

How to open your account

The account opening process is not fully digital and it took a long time for our account to be approved. On average, expect the account opening to take ~5 business days. For us, it took more than 1 month as we had to send multiple documents for approval.

The 7 steps of the account opening:

1. Register an account by giving your email address
2. Enter your PAN number (Permanent Account Number) 
3. Pay the account opening fee
4. Link your identification details with the Online Government website (Digi Locker Facility) following which the website automatically pulls the required online documents
5. Upload your bank statements
6. Sign your documents digitally and provide a Webcam IPV (In-Person verification)
7. Finally, mail required documents to Zerodha

The following documents are needed for the account opening: 

• Photograph
• Aadhar Card (which can be taken from the Digilocker online website)
• Pan card
• Bank Statements (issued within the last 6 months)
• e-Sign

Account base currencies

At Zerodha the only base currency is the Indian Rupee (INR).

Why does this matter? For two reasons. If you fund your trading account in the same currency as your bank account or you trade assets in the same currency as your trading account base currency, you don't have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. Digital banks offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.

Compare digital banks

Deposit fees and options

Zerodha charges no deposit fees. You can deposit via bank transfers and the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), an instant payment system. Unfortunately, credit/debit cards are not supported.

A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card is instant.

You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Zerodha withdrawal fees and options

Zerodha charges no withdrawal fees, however, you can only withdraw money through bank transfers. 

How long does it take to withdraw money from Zerodha? Our bank transfer took 2 business days.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from Zerodha?

• Login to your account through the Kite platform
• Click "Funds" on the top 
• Choose "Withdraw"
• Enter the amount, account number and payment method

We tested Kite, Zerodha's own trading platform that supports all available asset types except mutual funds. For fund trading, you need to use Coin, which is a separate Zerodha trading platform. APIs are also available at Zerodha through Kite Connect API.

Overall, Kite is beautifully designed and very easy to use. However, multiple functionalities, such as portfolio reports and notifications, are not integrated into the platform and can only be accessed through the other platforms provided by Zerodha.

Look and feel

Zerodha's Kite is has a nice touch to it. On the other hand, the elements can't be customized on the platform.

Login and security

Zerodha does not provide a two-step login. Having this would enhance Kite's safety.

When you log in, you need to provide your username, your password, and the 6-digit numerical code you set up at the time of account opening. 

Search functions

The search functions are fine. When you start typing the name of a product, a relevant list of recommendations will be displayed. However, you can't see the asset type unless you click on a result. You also can't filter for asset types.

Placing orders

You can use the following order types:

• Market
• Limit 
• Stop-loss
• Bracket
• Cover
• After Market

To get a better understanding of these terms, read this overview of order types.

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Day
• Immediate or Cancel (IOC)

Alerts and notifications

You can set alerts and order notifications through Zerodha's Sentinel app. There are various types of alerts, including prices, intraday changes, top sell quantity, etc.

Portfolio and fee reports

Zerodha has clear portfolio and fee reports on its app, Console.

Zerodha in times of volatility

In March 2020, Zerodha had a platform outage due to heavy market volatility. We have experienced this ourselves, but also learnt about it from the news and other outlets. We think such events have temporary effects on brokers, therefore we did not update the respective scores in this review. If you happen to experience an outage at this (or any) broker, contact us at [email protected]

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Zerodha offers two mobile trading platforms: Kite and Coin. On Kite, you can trade with all available assets except mutual funds. If you would like to trade with mutual funds, you have to use Coin. We tested the Kite mobile trading platform.

Kite and Coin are both available for Android and iOS.

Look and feel

The Zerodha mobile trading platform is user-friendly and neat. Its design is similar to that of the web trading platform.

Login and security

Zerodha provides only a one-step login. Just as on the web, you have to provide your user name, your password, and the 6-digit pin code. Having a two-step authentication would be safer.

Nevertheless, you can log in using biometric authentication, which is a highly convenient feature.

Search functions

The search functions are okay. The results are relevant, but you cannot filter for asset types, and you can't see the asset class of a product in list view unless you click on it.

Placing orders

You can use the same order types and order terms as on the web trading platform.

Alerts and notifications

You cannot set price alerts on the Kite platform itself, but you can do so through the Sentinel app. Order notifications are available directly in the app. 

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Zerodha doesn't offer a desktop trading platform.

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At Zerodha, you can trade with a wide range of assets, however the broker offers fewer products in each asset class than its competitors.

Stocks and ETFs

Zerodha gives access to two Indian stock exchanges, the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The number of markets is the same as Sharekhan's offer but lags behind Interactive Brokers, which provides access to a lot of stock exchanges globally (including minor ones).

Forex

At Zerodha, you can trade currencies in the form of futures. The lineup of available currency pairs is slim: EURINR, USDINR, JPYINR, GBPINR.

Interactive Brokers has a much wider forex offer, however, it doesn't provide currency pairs with INR.

Funds

Bonds

Options

You can trade options on the NSE and the MCX stock exchanges. 

Futures

The same stock exchanges are available as with options.

Zerodha's research tools can be found on its web trading platform and are available in English only.

Trading ideas

Zerodha provides trading ideas based on technical and fundamental analysis. Stock reports are provided by Thomson Reuters at INR 150 per month.

You can find further trading ideas based on technical indicators on an app called Streak, which also has a monthly fee.

Fundamental data

Zerodha offers fundamental data, including financial statements, balance sheets, PE ratios, and many other useful information.

Charting

Zerodha developed good charting capabilities on Kite, but you can also use Tradingview, a third-party tool. Both have a selection of around 110 technical indicators.

News feed

If you want to be up to date with the latest news on financial markets, stocks, funds, and banks, check out Zerodha's app, Pulse. The feed is updated every hour, it's well-organized, the items include tables and global indicators. 

Compare research pros and cons

You can contact Zerodha via:

• telephone
• email

The phone support is fast and efficient, we received relevant answers in most cases. We only had one negative experience, where we didn't get a clear and accurate answer as to what documents we should submit and in what format if we want to open an account. Sadly, customer service is only available to clients.

The e-mail support works well. Our questions were answered within 1-2 business days and the replies were helpful.

We missed the live chat and 24/7 availability. Customer support is available from 9 AM to 5 PM from Monday to Saturday.

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At Zerodha you can learn in the following ways:

• Platform tutorial videos
• General educational videos
• Webinars
• Quality educational articles

The educational resources are located in two places: Varsity and Zerodha Educate. Varsity has 11 modules on investing, each containing 10 to 20 chapters of study material.

On Zerodha Educate, you can watch videos which are integrated into the website, but the majority of the videos can also be found on Zerodha's YouTube channel.

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Is Zerodha regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Zerodha is based in India and it was founded in 2010.

Is Zerodha safe?

To be certain, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• what the background of the broker is

How you are protected

Zerodha does not provide negative balance protection. If the balance on your account goes into negative, you will not be protected.

Background

Zerodha was established in 2010 with the aim of creating an affordable and high-tech trading platform for Indian investors. Thanks to its in-house technology and pricing model, Zerodha has attracted the biggest active retail clientele in the country. 

Zerodha is funded by Rainmatter, a reputable Indian fintech fund and incubator.

Being regulated by a top-tier financial authority and having transparent management and ownership are all testament to Zerodha's safety.

Find your safe broker

We recommend Zerodha for traders and investors (including beginners) focusing on the indian market and looking for low fees.

Below you can find links to all aspects of Zerodha in this comprehensive collection.

Lower fees, lower costs?

We detailed this in our Zerodha fees article.

What about the minimum deposit?

Our ultimate guide to the Zerodha minimum deposit is updated regularly.

How to start your Zerodha account?

Look no further than our evaluation of the Zerodha account opening.

How's their trading app?

Here's our expert view after checking the Zerodha trading app.

Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?

All you need to know about the Zerodha customer service.

Legit or scam?

Is Zerodha legit features all the key aspects you need to look at to see if a broker is safe and legit.

Free or premium? Or both?

A glance at actual costs and whether Zerodha is really free.

Is this broker good for beginners?

We checked it in Is Zerodha good for beginners.

Should you buy your silver bullets on Zerodha?

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on Zerodha guide

I want to trade options, are they available at Zerodha?

We explored the topic in Can you trade options on Zerodha?

What is the minimum account balance at Zerodha?

Check out the current account balance requirements at Zerodha in our What is the minimum account balance at Zerodha article.

Looking for commission and fees data for Zerodha?

We collected them in Zerodha commission and fees.

How do you withdraw money from Zerodha?

We tested it and collected the options and costs in How to withdraw money on Zerodha.