Best Demat & Trading Accounts in India 2024 – Review

Opening a Demat & Trading account is mandatory for stock market investment or trading. Demat & trading accounts can be opened at the bank or with a brokerage house. In India, you will find more than 30+ stock & brokerage houses offering demat & trading accounts. Some of them are discount brokers and others are full-service brokers. Most of them are offering similar types of plans. So, it becomes difficult for the new investor to shortlist the Best Demat & Trading account. To help you, I have shortlisted Best Demat & Trading Accounts in India. The factors that I have taken into account while shortlisting are low brokerage, easy account opening, quick online access, user-friendly app & customer support.

Difference between Demat & Trading Account

Most of the investors consider the Demat & Trading account as a single account. However, both the demat account and trading account are different. The main difference between these two accounts is given below.

Demat Account

A Demat account is a short form of a dematerialized account. It is used to store share certificates and other financial instruments in electronic format. The working of the demat account is similar to the bank account. In the bank account, you deposit and withdraw money. On the other in the demat account, you store shares. The Demat account is linked to the bank account where the dividend amount of shares will be deposited.

Trading Account

A trading account is used for stock trading activities. If you are a stock trader involved in frequent buying and selling of shares you require a trading account. A trading account provides you with an online platform for buying and selling shares online. The brokerage cost is important when making a selection trading account.

Also Read – 8 Best Stock Market Apps for Investment Tracking

Factors of Shortlisting Demat Account

The factors I have compared while making a selection of Demat & Trading Account are given below.

Brokerage & Other Cost

One of the most important factors while making a selection of a Demat & Trading account is brokerage cost. Brokerage cost is the cost applicable for buying and selling activity. This cost is charged in the percentage.

E.g. ICICI Direct and HDFC charge 0.5% of the transaction amount as brokerage. Zerodha offers zero brokerage on the delivery transaction and a minimum of 0.1% or Rs.20 on intraday.

In addition to brokerage costs, one should also consider account opening charges and other costs associated with the demat account.

Trading Platform

User-friendliness of the trading platform is the next important factor. The trading platform should be fast and intuitive. It should provide a predefined and customizable dashboard and analytical tools. The trading platform should have facilities of real-time market updates with trading charts. Notification via SMS and E-mail is another important factor for trading platforms.

User-Friendly Mobile App

A user-friendly mobile app is next on the list. The mobile app should be simple, intuitive, and capable of providing help whatever is required on the move. The app should be capable of accepting and executing orders on the move. You should prefer a stockbroker providing both Andriod and IOS App.

Customer Support

The brokerage house should have online and offline customer support facilities.  Customer support should be prompt and capable of handling your queries. Customer support facility is very important when it comes to demat and trading accounts.

Easy Account Opening

The process of opening an account should be easy and fast. Online facility of opening demat & trading account without a personal visit to the branch is preferable.

Full-Service Brokers Vs Discount Brokers

A stockbroker is an individual or organization registered at SEBI and authorized to buy/sell stock on behalf of the client. In India, we have two types of stockbrokers – Full-service stock brokers & discount stock brokers.

(1) Full-Service Stock Brokers

A full-service stockbroker is a traditional broker that provides a trading platform as well as research & advisory for stocks, mutual funds, and commodities. They generally have a large number of branches in different cities.

A few popular full-service stockbrokers are ICICI Direct, HDFC, Axis Direct, Sharekhan, Motilal Oswal, etc.

(2) Discount Stock Brokers

Discount brokers only provide a trading platform to the client. They do not provide any advisory services.  This type of account is suitable for the do-it-yourself investor.

Few examples of discount stock brokers are Zerodha, Upstox, 5 Paisa, etc.

Best Demat & Trading Accounts in India 2024 – Review

Best Demat & Trading Account – Discount Stock Brokers

#1 Zerodha

Zerodha is India’s biggest and number-one discount stock broker. Zerodha has more than 8.5 Lakh trading customers. Zerodha is a low-cost broker and best for small investors and traders. Zerodha offers free equity investments with flat Rs.20 or 0.01% (whichever is lower) intraday and F&O trade. Key features of the Zerodha Account are given below.

Key Features of Zerodha

Zerodha Charges

#2 Upstox 

Upstox is one of the most popular fast, reliable, and popular discount stock brokers in India. Upstox offers an easy-to-use trading platform. Upstox also provides a facility to invest in mutual funds. Upstox offers free equity delivery trades. The brokerage charge of Upstox is similar to that of Zerodha. You need to pay Rs.20 per trade or 0.01% (whichever is lower) for intraday trading. 

Key Features of Upstox 

Upstox Charges 

#3 5Paisa 

5Paisa is claimed to be 2^nd largest discount broker in India. 5Paisa demat & trading account is advisable for both beginner and advanced investors. 5Paisa offers a flat brokerage of Rs.10 per trade irrespective of the trade amount.

Key Features of 5Paisa

5Paisa Charges

#4 ICICI Direct Demat & Trading Account 

ICICI Direct Demat & Trading account is first in the list of full-service stock brokers. It is also known as a 3-in-1 account (Saving + Demat + Trading). ICICI Direct has more than 8.4 Lakh clients. ICICI Direct provides a wide range of investment services. This includes equity, mutual funds, NFO, IPO, ETF, Insurance, and currency investments. This type of account is suitable for investors with low trading volume.

Key Features of ICICI Direct

ICICI Direct Charges

#5 SBI Smart 

SBI Smart is next in the list of best demat & trading accounts. SBI Smart account is offered by SBI Cap Securities. SBI Smart is a full-service stock broker that offers services like equity investment, currency, IPO, Mutual Funds, NCD, ETF, Home Loan, Car loans and loans against securities. SBI Smart is one of the costliest demat and trading accounts. It is placed in to best demat account list due to the rich feature list & backing by the trusted name SBI.

Key Features of SBI Smart

SBI Smart Charges

Conclusion –

Please note that each demat account is different in terms of features and services. Few of them provide a swift trading platform and direct market access whereas others provide advisory services and other unique features. As an end-user, you need to decide which features/services are important to you and evaluate the demat account accordingly.

If you are a trader and DIY investor you should go with discount brokers such as Zerodha or Upstox. If you are a long-term investor and looking for analysis reports and recommendations you should consider full-service brokers such as ICICI Direct, Axis Direct, etc.