Demat account comparison: five brokers, one honest table.
Upstox, Zerodha, Groww, Angel One and ICICI Direct on the charges a first-time investor actually meets: opening, AMC, brokerage and DP charges. Every figure read from each broker’s own pricing page on 16 September 2026, with links to the sources.
The comparison
Sort through the rows that matter, not the ones that fill a page. The head-to-head pages go deeper on each pair.
| Charge | UpstoxOUR PARTNER | Zerodha | Groww | Angel One | ICICI Direct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account opening | ₹0 | ₹0 online (NRI ₹500) | ₹0 | ₹0 (NRI approx ₹500) | ₹0 |
| AMC after year one | ₹300 + GST (non-BSDA) | ₹300 + 18% GST per year (non-BSDA) | ₹0 | ₹60 + GST per quarter (non-BSDA) | Std ₹700 + taxes · iVALUE ₹300 + GST |
| Equity delivery | ₹20 per executed order | Zero brokerage (₹0) | ₹20 or 0.1% (whichever is lower), min ₹5 | ₹20 or 0.1% (whichever is lower), min ₹5 | 0.29% MoneySaver (default) · Prime from 0.07% |
| Equity intraday | ₹20 or 0.1% (whichever is lower) | 0.03% or ₹20 (whichever is lower) | ₹20 or 0.1% (whichever is lower), min ₹5 | ₹20 or 0.1% (whichever is lower), min ₹5 | 0.029% MoneySaver (default) · Prime from 0.007% |
| Futures & options | F ₹20 or 0.05% (whichever is lower) · O Flat ₹20 per executed order | F 0.03% or ₹20 (whichever is lower) · O Flat ₹20 per executed order | F ₹20 per order (Equity and Commodity F&O) · O ₹20 per order (Equity and Commodity F&O) | F ₹20 per executed order · O ₹20 per executed order | F 0.029% MoneySaver (default) · Prime from 0.007% · O ₹49 MoneySaver (default) · Prime from ₹9 per lot |
| Mutual funds | ₹0 commission on mutual funds and IPOs | ₹0 commissions and ₹0 DP charges on direct mutual fund investments | ₹0 transaction charges on mutual funds | Not published | Not published |
| IPO applications | ₹0 brokerage on IPO applications | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| DP charges (sell side) | ₹20 + GST per scrip per day, sell only | ₹15.34 per scrip on sell | ₹20 + GST per sell (₹0 under ₹100) | ₹20 + 18% GST per ISIN, sell only | ₹20 + GST per scrip on sell |
Upstox
OUR PARTNER
Zerodha
Groww
Angel One
ICICI Direct
*Figures as published on each broker’s pricing page and checked on 16 September 2026. Statutory charges (STT, stamp duty, exchange fees, SEBI fees, GST) apply at every broker. Confirm current rates on the broker’s official pricing page before opening an account.
Upstox
Our partnerA discount broker run by RKSV Securities India Pvt Ltd, regulated by SEBI. DematOpen is an Authorized Person of Upstox, so every account opened through this site is opened with Upstox.
- DP charges apply on the sell side of a delivery trade only; the page lists no DP charge for intraday, futures and options.
- Auto square-off is ₹75 + GST, or ₹50 + GST on Upstox Plus.
- Brokerage per order is capped at ₹20 and will not exceed the SEBI prescribed limit.
Zerodha
A discount broker run by Zerodha Broking Ltd that publishes no brokerage on equity delivery and a flat ₹20 per executed order on options.
- AMC is billed quarterly, and the free first year is limited to resident individual accounts.
- Non-retail delivery brokerage is 0.1% or ₹20, whichever is less; contracts where physical delivery happens carry 0.25% of contract value.
Groww
Operated by Groww Invest Tech Pvt Ltd. Publishes one combined equity brokerage rate and no account maintenance charge, across a single flat tariff rather than plans.
- Orders funded from a UPI Mandate balance are charged 1% of the order value with no maximum cap.
- Conflict preserved: Groww’s brokerage calculator states "A DP charge of ₹18.25 + GST will be charged for sell transaction", while the pricing page table gives Depository ₹3.5 + Groww ₹16.5 = ₹20. Both are published on groww.in; the pricing-page table is used above.
- The pricing table shows ₹0 DP charges for intraday and for all F&O segments.
Angel One
Angel One Ltd, a listed broker formerly known as Angel Broking, that charges a flat ₹20 per executed order on futures and options and a ₹5 minimum brokerage on equity.
- New customers get brokerage up to ₹500 waived for the first 30 days.
- AMC is charged only after your first trade each quarter.
- No DP charge applies to equity intraday, equity futures or equity options trades.
ICICI Direct
A full-service broker run by ICICI Securities, whose pricing is plan-based (MoneySaver, iVALUE and the Prime tiers) and whose accounts are structured with an ICICI Bank relationship.
- Conflict preserved: the Prime 999 combo (Prime 999 Annual + iValue One Time) is published at 0.25% delivery on the brokerage overview page, while the Prime plan table shows Prime 999 at 0.22%. Both figures appear on icicidirect.com and both are shown above.
- Pricing is plan-based: MoneySaver (default), iVALUE (₹299 one time), Prime 999, Prime 4,999 and Prime 9,999, each a one-time charge. Prime plan fees attract 18% GST.
- The DP charge is levied per debit instruction when shares are sold from the demat account.
Head-to-head and cost comparisons
Side-by-side verdicts on each pair, plus the two pages that go wider on cost: what the lowest published rates actually compare, and what a demat debit costs when you sell.
How to read any broker table
Three habits that stop a fee table from misleading you.
Check the date
Brokers change rates quietly. A table without a “checked on” date is a guess wearing a suit. This one says 16 September 2026 because that is when we read every source.
Separate brokerage from statutory
Brokerage is the broker’s fee. STT, stamp duty, exchange charges, SEBI fees and GST are set by regulation and identical everywhere. A table that folds them together makes every broker look expensive.
Ask who made the table
Every broker comparison site has an incentive. Ours is Upstox, and we say so on this page and in our footer. The defence is not neutrality, it is sources: every row links to the broker’s own page.
Questions people ask
The ones this comparison raises, answered the same way the rest of the site answers them.
Measured by opening and holding cost: Groww charges ₹0 opening and ₹0 AMC with no time limit. Upstox charges ₹0 opening with a free first year, then ₹300 + GST on non-BSDA accounts. Zerodha and Angel One sit in between with year-two AMCs of ₹300 and ₹240 plus GST. Every figure here was checked on 16 September 2026 and can change.
We compare on charges a beginner will actually encounter: account opening, AMC, delivery brokerage, intraday brokerage, mutual fund commission, IPO fees and DP charges on selling. Platform feel and customer support matter too, but they are harder to put in a table, so we say what can be verified and leave the rest to you.
DematOpen is an Authorized Person of Upstox. Accounts opened through this site are opened with Upstox, and DematOpen earns from that relationship. That bias is exactly why every figure in this table links to the broker’s own pricing page so you can check it yourself.
No. STT, stamp duty, exchange transaction charges, SEBI fees and GST apply at every broker and vary with your trade value, so they belong in a calculator, not a comparison row. The brokerage calculator on this site shows them line by line for any trade you enter.
BSDA is the Basic Services Demat Account. If your holdings stay under ₹4 lakh and you hold only one demat account, SEBI rules cap your AMC at ₹0, and ₹100 + GST between ₹4 lakh and ₹10 lakh. Every broker in this table follows those tiers, which is why the AMC rows say “non-BSDA”.