Zerodha Review: Know about the brokerage charges and products

For years traders have been paying brokerage fees for every transaction executed irrespective if it is a winning trade or losing one, the brokerage is common for both cases. That’s when traders were pleased with the introduction of online discount brokers like Zerodha in the year 2010, the huge payments of brokerage have come down to zero. Zerodha has been a pioneer for the discount broking model in India when they kick-started operations in 2010 with the aim of breaking all barriers in terms of pricing, support, and technology for traders and investors. They coined a name by the fusion of the English word “Zero” and the Sanskrit word “Rodha” meaning barrier which when put together is  Zero Barriers reflecting the companies objective when they started operations.

What has led to the growth of Zerodha?

Their disruptive pricing models and in-house ground breaking technology have made Zerodha the biggest stockbroker in India in terms of active retail clients. They boast of numbers where over 2+ million clients place millions of orders every day through the powerful ecosystem of investment platforms, contributing over 15% of all Indian retail trading volumes.

They launched a platform that matched the best platforms in India in terms of speed, reliability, and user interface. They ensured that the technology team was maintaining their trading platform & servers. To improve reliability and performance they co-located their servers close to the exchanges.

Another key ingredient for this growth is that they have never compromised on the quality of service. Every client gets the same deal and this increases the efficiency in terms of sales and supports irrespective of their volume of trade. They started by being a member on NSE but were soon live on BSE, MCX-SX and MCX. Zerodha is like a Robinhood for the trading community.

Platforms on which Zerodha functions

Zerodha is one of the most technologically advanced stock brokers in India. Their in-house trading software Zerodha Kite, Coin, Varsity Trading Q&A, and many other tools are a class apart. Zerodha also offers Smallcase, Streak, Sensibull, Zerodha brokerage Calculator and GoldenPi.

Let us take a sneak peek into the Trading Software offered by Zerodha

Kite 3.0 - This is a Web-based Trading Platform launched in November 2015. A lightweight and reliable trading platform which can be used for trading on mobile, tablets as well as on a web browser. This platform offers a full market watch with an extensive charting of over 100 indicators, a variety of chart types, advanced order types like Brackets and cover, millisecond order placements, and a host of other features for trading at BSE, NSE, and MCX. Kite also has integration with other platforms it supports like Brokerage calculator, margin calculator, Quant, pulse, and ZConnect. This platform is free of charge to all its customers. 

Kite Android / Kite iOS - This is a Mobile-Trading free App for Android and iOS that allows customers to trade from the convenience of their mobile phones. With live streaming data from BSE, NSE, and MCX, Kite Mobile App is the most advanced trading app available in India.

Console - Console is a state of the art backend platform for trade and reporting dashboard wherein Zerodha customers can access and monitor their investments- stocks, derivatives, and mutual funds, etc. The traders are provided with access to various reports, obtain account statements, place withdrawal requests, and download contract notes. Analytics tools such as tradebook and heatmap are also available. There are no charges for using the Console.

Zerodha Sentinel  - Sentinel is a cloud-based tool which permits customers to set up price alerts on stocks, futures, and options. The unique feature of Sentinel is that such triggers are available even when offline. A trader can set real-time price alerts for 80,000 stocks, derivatives, and bonds, etc, across exchanges.

Coin - Zerodha Coin is a Mutual Fund investment platform that allows people to invest in Direct Mutual Funds. One can save over 1.5% on commissions every year. One can invest in equity too as a Demat account is opened along with the coin. Mutual Funds investments in Zerodha coin is completely free. However, DP charges of INR 5.50 + GST are chargeable.

Call & Trade - This option is available for customers who are not online and comes at an additional cost of ₹50 per trader.

Zerodha Brokerage charges

Zerodha Account Opening Charges

Partner Products From Zerodha

Zerodha not only gives its customers access to its proprietary trading platforms and tools but also to products developed by other companies that are using the Zerodha platform. 

Smallcase-  Is a thematic investment platform that enables the users to invest in a ready-made portfolio of stocks created around a predetermined strategy. The expert advisory team helps in finding current and future trends in the development of different sectors and guides the investor. There are several choices in smallcase like Top 100 stocks, sector stocks, for an investor to choose as per his investment strategy and invest in a single click.

Streak- An end-to-end cloud-based platform for retail traders to create algorithms without coding, Backtest it on historical data, and execute them live in the market. It offers other features like real-time information, alerts, and management positions.

Sensibull- This is the options trading platform that suggests trading strategies to traders based on their market view. Traders can compare various strategies, evaluate their profitability, understand risks, and then execute it from the platform. It also permits traders to create custom option trading strategies.

StockReports+ - A Comprehensive research and analysis of stock, market, and industry from Thomson Reuters for 3000+ Indian stocks which are updated daily.

Final Thoughts

Zerodha cutting-edge technology developed by its inhouse engineers makes it the top trading platform in India. We can expect new and improved features being added every now and then. It is among the most conservative brokerage firms in the country in terms of leverage. This ensures a lower operational risk for the business catering to the largest number of retail traders in India. Zerodha broker has become a widely popular and trusted brand over the last ten years with zero advertising, purely based on the quality of their services and products.