Assessment
Zerodha is used by Indian retail investors and traders who want a low-cost broker for stocks, futures and options, and mutual funds. It has more than 18 million clients and handles over 15% of Indian retail trading volumes, and its best use cases are long-term share buying, frequent trading at flat fees, and direct mutual fund investing through Coin. It charges nothing for equity delivery and about $0.21 or less per intraday or options order, which puts it at the low end of the market, and its main competitors are Groww, Upstox, and Angel One.
Nithin and Nikhil Kamath founded Zerodha in Bengaluru in August 2010 and grew it without outside capital. It reported about $932M of revenue and $446M of profit in the year to March 2025. Its Rainmatter arm invests in fintech startups.
It fits an Indian investor who trades often or wants direct mutual funds with no commission. It is a weaker fit for an investor who wants advice or a managed portfolio, and for anyone who does not live in India or hold non-resident Indian status.
Rating by criterion
We score each of the eight criteria out of 100.
Sector criteria
Use one account for shares, derivatives, and funds. Zerodha covers equity, futures and options, currency, and commodity trades, plus direct mutual funds through Coin.
Trade on Kite and track funds in Coin. Its platforms handle billions of orders a year for more than 18 million clients.
Pair it with apps built on its accounts. Services such as smallcase run their stock and ETF baskets on Zerodha accounts.
Rely on its scale and regulation. Zerodha is a SEBI-registered broker, and its founder serves on two SEBI advisory committees.
Vendor criteria
Expect in-house tools. Zerodha builds its own trading technology and runs free investor education.
Open an account online. An individual account is free, while a non-resident account costs about $5.27.
Use its posted charges to plan costs. Equity delivery is free, and intraday and futures orders cost the lower of about $0.21 or 0.03%.
Watch the yearly upkeep fee. Account maintenance is free in the first year, then charged under its posted tiers.
Against its peers
These are the other companies in wealth and brokerage platforms, with their ratings.
User comments
We read Zerodha’s charges page and about page to see what buyers value, and set them against the main limit a buyer meets.
- Upside
- Downside
Where customer reviews couldn't be found, our analysts attempted to give a voice to buyer sentiment, drawing on real information from review sites, forums and product documentation.
Based on: Zerodha, charges; Zerodha, about.
Fact file
| Founders | Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath |
|---|---|
| Chief executive | Nithin Kamath |
| Clients | More than 18 million |
| Share of retail volumes | Over 15% |
| FY2025 revenue | About $932M |
| FY2025 profit | About $446M |
Competitive landscape
Indian brokers and investing apps a retail investor would compare with Zerodha.
Zerodha: 82
Comparisons
Key leadership
Nithin Kamath founded Zerodha in 2010 and is its chief executive. His brother Nikhil Kamath is co-founder and chief financial officer.
How this review was created
This profile gives our own assessment of Zerodha to companies selecting a Wealth & brokerage platforms provider. The Fintech Index receives nothing for featuring a firm, for sponsorship, or for advertising, and Zerodha gave us no payment for the profile.
The rating equals the average of eight criteria, with every criterion running from 0 to 100. Four address buyer needs in this sector, and four address the company together with its commercial terms.
Ratings are our editorial judgment, made from public information: pricing and legal pages, product documentation, compliance disclosures, public reviews and filings. Fact-checking took place on November 4, 2026. Figures reported in Indian rupees were converted to US dollars at the Federal Reserve H.10 rate of 94.94 rupees per US dollar on October 30, 2026.
Source pages
- Zerodha home page: https://zerodha.com/ (As of November 4, 2026)
- Zerodha, about: https://zerodha.com/about/ (As of November 4, 2026)
- Zerodha, charges: https://zerodha.com/charges (As of November 4, 2026)
- Wikipedia, Zerodha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zerodha (As of November 4, 2026)