Overview
Zerodha is India's biggest stockbroker and the firm that brought flat-fee discount broking to the country. It's a good fit for Indian residents and NRIs who want cheap access to NSE, BSE and MCX. Zerodha Broking Limited is registered with SEBI as a stockbroker and as a depository participant, and it's a member of the NSE, BSE, MCX and MSEI. Bear in mind this is Indian regulation for Indian markets, so it isn't an option for traders elsewhere.
Accounts and costs
Opening an individual demat and trading account is free and there's no minimum deposit. Buying shares for delivery and investing in direct mutual funds costs ₹0 in brokerage. Intraday trades and futures cost ₹20 or 0.03% per order, whichever is lower, and options are a flat ₹20. Exchange charges, STT, stamp duty and GST come on top. The demat account has no maintenance charge in year one, then up to ₹300 a year depending on your holdings. NRI accounts cost ₹500 to open and pay 0.5% on equity delivery, capped at ₹50 or ₹200 per order. HUF and minor accounts are also available. Leverage only applies to intraday trades on eligible stocks, under SEBI's peak margin rules.
Platforms and markets
You trade on Kite, Zerodha's own web and mobile platform, with Console for reports and Coin for mutual funds. Kite Connect gives you APIs, and you can link your account to TradingView. Markets cover Indian stocks, ETFs, IPOs, bonds, equity F&O, currency derivatives and MCX commodities.
Money in and out
Money comes in from your registered Indian bank account by UPI, the payment gateway or bank transfer, all in rupees. Withdrawals are free, and instant payouts can land in your bank the same day.
Good
- Free equity delivery and direct mutual fund investing
- Flat ₹20 per order on intraday and F&O
- Covers stocks, F&O, currency and MCX commodities in one account
- Kite Connect APIs and a TradingView connection
- Free withdrawals, including instant payouts to your bank
Watch for
- Indian markets only, for Indian residents and NRIs
- Demat AMC of up to ₹300 a year after the first year
- Leverage is limited by SEBI peak margin rules
- NRI accounts cost ₹500 to open and pay higher brokerage
Accounts and costs
What each account needs to open and what you pay to trade on it.
| Account | Min deposit | Pricing | Max leverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual demat and trading | None | ₹0 on equity delivery and direct mutual funds; ₹20 or 0.03% (whichever is lower) per intraday or futures order; flat ₹20 per options order | Intraday (MIS) leverage on eligible stocks only, within SEBI peak margin rules |
| NRI (PIS / Non-PIS) | None | ₹500 to open; equity brokerage 0.5% or ₹50 (Non-PIS) / ₹200 (PIS) per order, whichever is lower | — |
| HUF | None | Free to open online, same brokerage as individual accounts | — |
| Minor | None | Free to open, no AMC; mutual funds, IPOs and gifted stocks only | None |
Regulation
Which entity holds which licence. Your protection depends on the entity you open an account with.
Platforms and markets
Platforms
Markets
Deposits and withdrawals
- Methods
- Bank transfer, Local methods
- Minimum deposit
- None
What traders say
Scores from the sites traders use, and our summary of what they're saying, checked 6 October 2026.
Zerodha is India's largest broker, but review sites catch mostly its unhappy customers. MouthShut shows 1.76 from about 9,600 votes and Reviews.io 1.2 from 44 reviews. The Trustpilot page has only 42 reviews and the bundle shows no score for it. Reddit, where Indian traders talk about brokers day to day, is much warmer, with many long-term users saying they stay because the basics work.
What traders like
Low, simple pricing. Free equity delivery and a flat fee on intraday and F&O trades are the main reasons Reddit users give for choosing it.
A clean, uncluttered app. Kite gets steady praise for a simple, professional interface, and several users prefer it to busier rivals.
Fast money movement. Reddit users report deposits landing in minutes and payouts within a day.
Financial strength. Threads point to Zerodha having no debt and no outside investors as a reason to trust it.
Common complaints
NRI account opening. The dominant Trustpilot complaint: non-resident Indians say they paid the opening fee upfront, then went round document rejection loops for weeks or months without an account being opened.
Support. Several reviewers describe slow or unhelpful responses to complaints.
Glitches on big days. Reddit users recall order and fund issues on busy days such as the June 2024 election result, and advise keeping a second broker as backup.
Charges for active F&O traders. Some say rival discount brokers are cheaper for high-frequency options trading, or that GTT stop-losses did not trigger as expected.
Withdrawal limits. In November 2025 an investor publicly called a daily withdrawal cap of 5 crore rupees a scam. CEO Nithin Kamath replied that the cap is a security check, and the exchange was widely covered.
Recently
No dated reviews from the last 90 days in the evidence.
Where this comes from
Trustpilot: a small page dominated by NRI account complaints.
MouthShut: the largest Indian consumer review pool for Zerodha.
Reviews.io: a small set of mostly negative reviews.
Reddit: a 2026 thread from long-time users, with replies from people who switched.
Verified reviews
Reviews from traders who've connected an account at Zerodha to Chartnaut, so you know they actually traded there. Opening soon.