As per NSE latest data there are about 250 stock brokers in India currently, Out of this list I have picked up 5 top stock brokers in India, in terms of total active clients, lowest brokerage charges, no or minimum Trading /Demat account opening charges, best/advanced trading platform, good customer service support, and lot of other factors involved which makes them rank to 5 top stock brokers in India in 2023.

Just to let you know this list have been made after using the services of these stock brokers and is not just a random selection.

Moreover there is not one individual factor which makes them rank at 5 top stock brokers, but it is a combination of various factors which have been explained in detail below.

So, let us begin to know the top stock brokers in India in 2021 and know the reason behind same.

Top Stock Brokers In India In 2023:

1. Upstox Stock Broker
2. Zerodha Stock Broker
3. ICICIdirect Stock Broker
4. 5Paisa Stock Broker
5. Fyers Stock Broker

You can read the complete review and comparison of these best stock brokers here.

First of all high active clients shows the trust it has created among it users, but one also need to know that company which got established earlier will normally have more users.

However, not in above case ICICIDirect is the one got established long back in early 2000, but they have been removed from holding first position by later founded Zerodha in 2008, and now with Upstox founded in 2016.

The kind of growth Upstox has seen in past couple of year is unprecedented, believe it or not but with same speed they will snatch the no.1 position from zerodha with in a span of less than a year in terms of high active client list.

But these only is not the criteria to select a stockbroker for your trading and investing in stock market, there are many other parameters which have been discussed later in the blog, above is just one of them.

As you can see in above the highest active client as of now is of Zerodha holding the number 1 position, the second in the list is out of surprise Upstox, recently they have outpaced ICICIdirect and drag them to 3rd position.

On the other hand you might ask why 5paisa and fyers make in the list of 5 top stock brokers in India in 2021. Although, 5paisa is just behind Angel broking and HDFC securities in active client list.

I am very hopeful they will come to 4th position looking at the speed they are growing which of course tells you about the changes they have brought in terms of online trading and investing.

Whereas Fyers is in the list is not because of no. of active client they have, because they deserve. Fyers is just 4.5 years old in broking industries but the kind of advanced trading platform they have as well as all the features needed like low brokerage charges, better customer service team makes them to be in the list.

They are one of the best online broking startup who have build their customer base in this competitive broking industry with just advanced tools and word of mouth.

After experiencing their services I have no doubt about the bright future of this company at all.

So, overall if you are looking to open a trading/demat/mutual fund you can choose any one of them, the charges are very low for all of them for AMC, demat, trading, brokerage, moreover all of the above have a fantastic user interface for the trading platform and a great customer service team to deliver best support.

Having said that Upstox is any day my favorite stock broker while comparing with others.

The overall rating you see is done after reviewing these stock brokers separately and in comparison to one another.

Let us now discuss all of them in terms of different parameters like best trading platform, brokerage charges, Account opening fee etc.

Top Stock Brokers In India With Best Trading Platform:

The most important thing to consider when opening a Trading/Demat account is trading platform with advanced tools and resources.

Out of the 5 best stock brokers list we have above choosing one platform over the other is another kind of task.

However to do that one must have overall experience of all the platform these brokers give for different devices like desktop/laptop (downloadable), Web/Browser based and Mobile based trading platform.

As you can see in the image above, there may be a element of surprise for you seeing Fyers . Even I was amazed with great tools and resources on their trading platform specially the web and downloadable version.

The user interface is so clean and up to the mark, you can easily know which icon will do what, as the moment you will hover to any it will tell you the functionality of it.

The above list of best trading platform overall rating has been done taking aggregate for all types of platform (downloadable/web/mobile).

However, let us see the Google play store rating for the mobile apps of above stock brokers as well in hierarchy with best ratings first.

1.Upstox Pro Mobile App Play Store Ratings:

2.Zerodha Kite Mobile App Play Store Ratings:

3.5Paisa Mobile Trading App Play Store Ratings:

4.Fyers Fast Trading Mobile App Play Store Ratings:

5.ICICIdirect Mobile Trading App Play Store Ratings:

As you can see Upstox Pro mobile App is the highest rating app among stockbrokers on playstore and even its other platform have great features.

Another point I want to make is about Algo trading platform which all of the above stock brokers provide except ICICIdirect. These are used by developers in languages such as Python and only be useful for those who know coding.

Top Stock Brokers In India With Lowest Brokerages:

Brokerage is one of the major factors which hurts the traders and investors, I remember first time opening the account for trading/investing purpose was in year 2010, it was a local broking company in my city, and I have to personally went to the office to do all paper works, as there was no online process at that time.

The brokerages were too high, you have to either sit in their office or call for trade. This was really a barrier for normal retail traders and investors like me, which was removed by zerodha.

Most of the full time brokers at that time does not counted retail investors and traders (common people) as important part of broking industry, Zerodha by cutting the brokerage at Rs.20 in 2013 gained momentum and helped retail traders to be part of the industry.

This made the other stock brokers specially the full-time brokers jittery at first, however now the entire picture s changed with more brokers offering lucrative brokerage charges to lure the customers. You will definitely going to get surprised in this section as well.

Keep in mind that aggregates of all segments Equity (cash), Futures and Options, Commodity (MCX), Currency (Forex) has been taken in account while ranking them.

Below comparison will show you the lowest brokerage charges out of above 5 best top brokers in India.

1. Zerodha: Zerodha brokerage is what make them ahead in the game, as you can see , there is no charge for taking delivery of the trades to your demat account. Whereas for intraday trades across equity, currency, commodity, it is flat Rs.20 or 0.03% (whichever is lower).

What they mean is, suppose you bought stock xyz priced at Rs.100, quantity 100 on intraday basis,

so the total turnover would be bought 100, sold 100(100*200)=  20,000 on this amount they will charge either whichever amount is lower as 0.03% of 20000, is Rs.6 so they will charge that instead of flat Rs.20.

Moreover, They have also launched a dedicated platform for mutual fund investment by the name COIN, where one can invest in different mutual funds directly, without any commission.

Which means that finally you don’t have to pay up to 1.5% and 1% every year commission to the distributor/platform where you purchased the fund. These % commissions over a longer period of time compound and can become significantly big.

2. Fyers: I could have put fyers at first place because the brokerage structure is same as of zerodha, however zerodha was the one who bought this low cost brokerage structure in broking industry.

Having said that, Fyers charge no brokerage for equity delivery based trades as well as zero charges for any investment in pre-build portfolios which is called as thematic investing at fyers.

Whereas for intraday trades across equity, currency futures, commodity futures, it is Rs.20 or 0.03%(whichever is lower).

3. Upstox:

At upstox you pay ₹20 /trade* or 0.05% (whichever is lower) for Intraday trading in Stocks, Future & Option, Currencies & Commodities. Whereas no brokerage at all for delivery based trades.

What they mean is, suppose you bought stock xyz priced at Rs.100, quantity 100 on intraday basis,

so the total turnover would be bought 100, sold 100(100*200)=  20,000 on this amount they will charge either whichever amount is lower as 0.05% of 20000, is Rs.10 so they will charge that instead of flat Rs.20.

Moreover for investing in mutual funds there are no brokerage or commission is charged at upstox at all.

4. ICICIdirect: I think ICICIdirect have listened to the people demands and have slashed the brokerage in every segment. They have come up with new brokerage plan termed as NEO, Here is the new brokerage structure as per ICICIdirect from December 07,2020:

Apart from above segments i.e. equity intraday, Future and options they have also reduced the brokerage in Commodity and Currency segments:

The New ICICIdirect Brokerage In Currency Segment (FNO):

New brokerage would be @ ₹20 per order only. There would not be any brokerage on lots. New brokerage is effective from December 7, 2020.

The New ICICIdirect Brokerage In Commodity Segments (FNO):

New brokerage would be @ ₹20 per order only. There would not be any brokerage on lots. New brokerage is effective from December 7, 2020.

With this recent launch now of NEO, ICICIDirect is above upstox in terms of lowest brokerage charges.

5. 5Paisa:

5Paisa do not charge any brokerage, for any segment, they only charge flat fee of Rs. 20 per executed order. Keep in mind these brokerage is for free plan and not the two add-on packs ultra and power.

Similarly you can make investments in mutual funds through monthly SIP or Lumpsum using 5paisa platform and there are Zero charges as well as no commissions.

Unlike other brokers, 5paisa offers different services depending upon the subscription package you take at the time of opening the account with them. This means either you do not take any add on plan from 5 paisa and continue using the services with normal features or opt for 2 addon plans that they have.

They provide 2 types of add on Plans:

1. Power Investor Pack
2. Ultra Trader Pack

To Open an Account with Upstox click here.

To Open an Account with 5Paisa click here.

To Open an Account with ICICIdirect click here.

To Open an Account with Fyers click here.

To Open an Account with Zerodha click here.

Top Stock Brokers In India With Lowest Account Opening Charges:

Earlier, for opening a demat or trading account with any broker might have caused you couple of bucks, but in 2021 with ever rising competitiveness across broking industry the charges for opening the account have been slashed drastically by many brokers in India.

Not only that, some brokers are even offering various deals while opening the account with them. In this section we will know who has lowest or no account opening charges with various lucrative offers in hierarchy.

1.Upstox: The account opening charges at upstox depends on the plans you take:

For Retail Clients:

Demat and Trading account– You can choose from a plan of Rs 249 and get brokerage credit worth Rs 1000.

Keep in mind this charges are only a one time fee for opening the account as per your wish.

There will be a monthly maintenance charge of Rs 25 (excluding GST), which will be charged at the end of every month.

The AMC charges will be debited from your Trading a/c.

However, as a limited period offer you can open an trading and demat account for free in upstox and also Get additional benefits with Upstox when you open an account through this link. 

2. ICICIdirect: ICICI Direct offers 3-in-1 accounts which includes ICICI bank account, ICICI trading account, and ICICI demat account. The 3-in-1 trading account gives you the convenience of opening a demat, trading & bank account.

»»  Trading Account Opening Charges: Free
»»  Trading Account AMC: Free
»»  Demat Account Opening Charges: Free
»»  Demat Account AMC: Rs 700 PA (Waived for 1st year) Excluding taxes

However, if the Demat account is under Basic Service DEMAT Account (BSDA), no AMC is levied for holding value up to 50000.

Get additional benefits with ICICI Direct now:

To open an account online, you can sign up using your mobile number through this link. You will receive an OTP to your number and you can get started with the process.

Start Free Investing In Best Mutual Funds Scheme (Equity, Debt, Hybrid, ELSS, ETF etc.) Online, Paper-less Within Minutes Now… 

3. 5Paisa: for 5paisa Demat and trading account there are no charges for account opening for a limited time period, the only thing is subscription charges for different plan that totally depends on you to take, Optimum Plan has no subscription charges at all.

However if you want to take benefit of premium service in other two subscription, Power investor Plan, Ultra Trader Plan you can try them on monthly basis as well.

You will be also eligible for Rs.250 in your trading account and free brokerage when you open the account using this link.

• Credit worth ₹250
• Zero brokerage for the first 30 days on opening a Demat account.

From January 01,2021, 5Paisa have also slashed the annual maintenance charges.

To open an account online, you can sign up using your mobile number through this link. You will receive an OTP to your number and you can get started with the process.

4. Fyers: For a limited time period there are no charges for opening an account with Fyers, usually the one time account opening charges at fyers is Rs.400.

However AMC (annual maintenance charges) of ₹ 300 + GST will be levied per annum.

This amount will be debited from your Trading Account Ledger on a quarterly basis. Each quarter, an amount of ₹75 + GST (₹88.5) will be debited from your FYERS account.

To open an free fyers account online, you can sign up using your mobile number through this link for a limited time period with Zero AMC Charges.

You will receive an OTP to your number and you can get started with the process.

5. Zerodha: Zerodha Trading and Demat Account Opening Charges:

Other Services Comparison Of Top Stock Brokers In India:

Below comparison shows you different services offered by this top 5 stock brokers in India. Checkout the image below:

If you are someone who are interested to invest in US stock market and in companies such as Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Microsoft, Facebook, Google etc. than the wait is over.

ICICI direct and 5paisa have recently launch their Global Investment Platform. Now you can invest in your favorite brands listed in US markets and create an intelligent portfolio. Access to global markets helps diversify your portfolio and reduce overall risk.

Similarly, Zerodha, Upstox is about to launch Global Investment Platform for its users in end of 2021 in India. Whereas, fyers also has plans to do so later in the forthcoming years.

Now, you might be thinking why I did not talk about the Margin or leverage offered by this stock brokers at all. Because of the SEBI New Rules For Intraday Margin From December 2020.

Therefore, the margin or leverages offered will be equal irrespective of the stock brokers in India going forward. So, this does not make any sense to do an comparison of highest margin stock brokers in India.

My Opinion On Top Stock Brokers In India:

Now you might be in dilemma to choose among the list of 5 best stock brokers in India, however it totally depends upon your needs.

For example if you are more in to investing and using services such as Fixed deposits, Recurring deposits, Banking, Loans, Credit cards, ELSS, PPF, SIP’s, NPS, Gold, Portfolio management services etc. than go with ICICIdirect and 5paisa they are better than rest.

On the other hand, if you are more of an trader cum investor than you can go with Upstox, Zerodha, Fyers and Espresso. They have best technical tools, lowest brokerage structure as well as advanced platform.

Having said that Upstox is any day my favorite stock broker while comparing with others.

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If you are a beginner in trading and investing, please read this amazing guide on how share market works in India?

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