Zerodha vs Groww

Zerodha and Groww are India’s two most widely used retail stockbrokers by active client count as of early 2026. Both operate a discount model, charging flat fees rather than percentage commissions, yet they have reached that common ground by different paths and serve partially distinct user profiles. Zerodha, founded in 2010 by Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath, is the older firm and remains the reference implementation of the Indian discount brokerage category. Groww, founded in 2016 by Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh, and Ishan Bansal, entered first as a mutual fund distribution platform before acquiring a full broking licence and expanding aggressively into equity and derivatives.

The two firms compete most directly for first-time retail investors and young urban professionals who treat a smartphone as their primary financial interface. The comparison below draws on publicly available charge schedules, exchange-published active client data, SEBI SCORES complaint statistics, and the brokers’ own regulatory disclosures. Data reflects information available as of May 2026; both firms revise their charge structures periodically, and readers should verify current rates on zerodha.com/charges and groww.in/p/charges-fees before transacting.

Background

Zerodha

Zerodha was incorporated in 2010 and received its National Stock Exchange membership shortly thereafter. Its pivot to a flat-fee model in 2011 represented a structural break from the percentage-of-turnover pricing that dominated Indian retail brokerage. The firm built its own trading platform, Kite, which became the flagship interface for equity cash, equity derivatives, currency, and commodity trading. By 2019 Zerodha had surpassed ICICI Securities by active client count and held that position continuously through 2026. The firm has remained self-funded without external institutional equity; all entities are privately held by the founding family.

Zerodha’s registered client base exceeded fifteen million by late 2025. Its share of NSE average daily turnover in the equity derivatives segment regularly exceeded fifteen per cent in this period, making it the single largest contributor by volume among retail brokers.

Groww

Groww was incorporated as Nextbillion Technology Private Limited and launched in 2016 as a mutual fund aggregator. It obtained SEBI stockbroker and depository participant registrations and began offering equity trading in 2020. The firm grew its client base rapidly through app-store marketing and a deliberately simplified onboarding flow, reaching ten million active clients by the National Stock Exchange’s reported data for the quarter ending December 2024, temporarily overtaking Zerodha in that metric before the two firms exchanged positions across subsequent quarters.

Groww is backed by institutional investors including Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global, and YC Continuity, and was valued at approximately five billion US dollars in its 2021 funding round. The firm filed a draft red herring prospectus for a proposed initial public offering in 2024.

Regulatory standing

Both brokers are registered with SEBI as stockbrokers and depository participants. Zerodha is a member of NSE and Bombay Stock Exchange and holds CDSL and NSDL depository participant registrations. Groww holds NSE and BSE memberships and a CDSL depository participant registration as of mid-2025.

SEBI SCORES, the regulator’s online complaint-resolution portal, publishes quarterly data on complaints received and disposed. Both brokers’ complaint ratios should be read relative to their respective client bases; an absolute complaint count without normalisation is not meaningful for comparison. As of the SEBI quarterly report for October-December 2024, Zerodha’s complaints received per 10,000 active clients and Groww’s ratio were both within the single-digit range, consistent with the broader discount broker peer group. Zerodha had a disposal rate above 95 per cent within the quarter; Groww’s disposal rate was comparable. Neither firm featured on SEBI’s list of top-15 brokers by unresolved grievances in that quarter.

Brokerage charges

The table below summarises the standard published charge schedules for both brokers. Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 18 per cent applies to brokerage in both cases. Securities Transaction Tax, exchange transaction charges, SEBI turnover fees, stamp duty, and IPFT (for NSE) are levied by the exchange or government and are identical for both brokers and all brokers in general.

Notes: Zerodha’s 0.03 per cent cap means that intraday equity trades below approximately Rs 66,667 in value will incur less than Rs 20 in brokerage. Groww’s flat Rs 20 applies regardless of trade size. Zerodha offers call-and-trade support as an optional premium channel; Groww does not offer phone-based order placement as of mid-2025.

Account opening and onboarding

Both brokers operate a fully paperless, Aadhaar-based KYC onboarding process. Account activation typically takes one to two business days following successful KYC verification, depending on CDSL and NSDL processing timelines.

Zerodha requires a PAN card, Aadhaar (for OTP-based e-KYC), a cancelled cheque or passbook copy for bank account verification, and a signature scan. The process is completed on the Zerodha website or through the Kite mobile application. Joint account opening is not supported for demat accounts in either case, consistent with SEBI depository regulations that do not permit joint demat accounts for retail investors in simplified KYC.

Groww’s onboarding is similarly document-light, using Aadhaar OTP KYC. The firm has invested significantly in reducing onboarding friction, and independent user-experience reviews have generally rated its sign-up flow as marginally simpler for first-time investors unfamiliar with capital markets terminology.

Trading platforms

Zerodha Kite

Kite is Zerodha’s primary trading interface, available as a web application and Android and iOS mobile applications. It offers advanced charting with over a hundred technical indicators, multi-leg option strategy execution, basket orders, intraday alerts, and a market depth widget (five-level order book). Kite’s web interface supports a three-panel layout with watchlists, charts, and order placement simultaneously visible. The platform also integrates with Zerodha Console, the back-office portal for portfolio analytics, tax profit and loss statements, and fund transfers.

Zerodha additionally offers Sensibull (for option strategy building, via a partnership), Streak (for algo trading without coding), and Smallcase (thematic portfolio baskets) as ancillary platforms accessible with the same credentials.

Groww platform

Groww’s trading application is designed around simplicity. The interface prioritises a clean stock discovery experience, with curated collections, sector filters, and a fund-first navigation that reflects the platform’s mutual fund heritage. Charting capabilities are adequate for basic technical analysis but lack some of the advanced indicator sets available in Kite. The Groww platform does not offer a desktop web interface with the same depth of features as Kite’s web version; the primary experience is mobile-first.

Groww offers a watchlist, basic order types (market, limit, stop loss, stop loss market), and a portfolio dashboard that consolidates stocks and mutual funds in a single view. This consolidated view is a differentiator for investors who hold both direct mutual funds and equity in one account.

Segments and product breadth

Zerodha’s commodity segment access covers MCX-traded futures and options including gold, silver, crude oil, and agricultural contracts. Groww offers commodity trading but has historically focused its marketing on equity and mutual funds, and its commodity interface is less prominently featured.

Mutual fund access

Zerodha offers direct mutual fund investments through its subsidiary platform Coin (coin.zerodha.com), which charges Rs 50 per month for users with any Coin holdings after the first year. This fee is separate from the brokerage account charges. Coin provides access to all AMFI-registered fund houses and allows SIP (systematic investment plan) mandates via UPI NACH.

Groww was built as a mutual fund platform first and does not charge any separate fee for direct mutual fund investments; the mutual fund service is bundled at no additional cost with the trading account. Groww covers all major fund houses and supports SIPs, lump sums, and STP (systematic transfer plans). The user experience for mutual fund discovery and comparison is widely regarded as more streamlined on Groww than on Coin, reflecting Groww’s longer investment in that product surface.

IPO applications

Both brokers support IPO applications through the UPI ASBA mechanism as required by SEBI for retail investors. The application process involves selecting the IPO, entering bid quantity and price, and approving a UPI mandate from the investor’s bank application. The allotment outcome is determined by the registrar and is identical regardless of which broker the application is routed through.

Neither broker charges an explicit IPO application fee. The UPI mandate block is released or converted to a debit within the T+1 allotment settlement timeline. Both brokers display application status and allotment confirmations in their respective portfolio dashboards.

Zerodha’s Kite application prominently features an IPO section with detailed prospectus links, subscription status trackers, and allotment history. Groww’s IPO section is similarly accessible, with an emphasis on visual subscription rate indicators.

API and algo trading access

Zerodha’s Kite Connect API is a published, documented REST API that allows third-party developers and traders to build algorithmic trading strategies, portfolio management tools, and custom front ends. The API charges Rs 2,000 per month for access. It is one of the most widely used retail broker APIs in India, with a large community of open-source libraries (Python, Node.js, Java, Ruby, R) and a dedicated developer forum at kite.trade.

Groww does not offer a public trading API as of May 2026. Algorithmic trading on Groww requires using approved third-party platforms or workarounds; there is no native Groww API product comparable to Kite Connect.

Research and advisory

Zerodha does not employ a dedicated in-house equity research team or publish analyst buy/sell recommendations, consistent with its model of keeping overhead low and avoiding conflicts of interest. Users seeking research can access third-party reports through integrations or subscriptions independently.

Groww publishes a research section within its application covering fundamental data, analyst consensus ratings aggregated from external providers, and earnings summaries. This in-app research is aimed at retail investors who prefer guidance within the trading interface rather than external subscriptions.

Customer support

Zerodha offers support primarily through its help centre (support.zerodha.com), a ticket-based system, and limited chat. Historically, phone support response times have been criticised by users during high-volume market days. The firm has invested in a knowledge base that covers most common issues with detailed guides.

Groww offers chat support within the application and email ticketing. Similar to Zerodha, phone support is not a prominent channel. Response time variability has been noted by users in high-activity periods.

Target user profile

The choice between the two brokers depends largely on investor priorities:

• Investors who require advanced charting, API access, multi-exchange commodity trading, and a mature ecosystem of third-party integrations will find Zerodha’s platform more complete.
• Investors who primarily invest in mutual funds and also want equity access in a single, simplified interface, or who value an onboarding experience designed explicitly for first-time investors, will find Groww’s unified product easier to navigate.
• For intraday and derivatives traders, the charge structures are effectively identical at Rs 20 per order, so platform capability and order execution reliability become the differentiating factors.
• Annual demat maintenance charges differ: Zerodha charges Rs 300 per year from the outset; Groww waives charges in year one then charges Rs 600 per year from year two onwards.

Complaints and dispute resolution

SEBI’s SCORES portal allows investors to file grievances against any SEBI-registered intermediary. Both Zerodha and Groww are listed intermediaries on SCORES. In the event of an unresolved dispute, investors may escalate to NSE or BSE’s investor services cell or file an arbitration claim through the respective exchange. The Investor Charter mandated by SEBI for all stockbrokers is published on both brokers’ websites.

Summary comparison table

See also

• Zerodha
• Groww
• Zerodha vs Upstox
• Zerodha vs Angel One
• Zerodha vs ICICI Direct
• Discount brokers in India
• Full-service vs discount broker
• Indian retail brokers comparison
• SEBI
• National Stock Exchange

References

1. Zerodha charge schedule. zerodha.com/charges (accessed May 2026).
2. Groww charge schedule. groww.in/p/charges-fees (accessed May 2026).
3. NSE active client data, quarterly reports. nseindia.com (accessed May 2026).
4. SEBI SCORES quarterly grievance report, October-December 2024. sebi.gov.in.
5. SEBI stockbroker registration database. sebi.gov.in/sebiweb/home/HomeAction.do (accessed May 2026).
6. Groww DRHP. Securities and Exchange Board of India (2024).
7. Zerodha annual report and financials as disclosed (FY 2023-24).