Best Stock Investing Apps for Beginners and Active Traders in 2026

by
Best Stock Investing Apps

Most popular stock investing apps in India now charge ₹0 to open an account and a flat ₹20 or less per intraday or F&O order, so the real differences lie in delivery brokerage, annual maintenance charges (AMC), DP charges when you sell, and how well the app suits your style. A long-term investor and a daily options trader can reasonably pick different apps.

This comparison covers ten widely used apps, with charges taken from each broker’s own pricing page (as of October 2026). It also explains the statutory costs every app passes on, a checklist by investor type, and the mistakes that cost new users money.

Disclosure: This article contains a referral link to Dhan. If you open an account through it, StocksInfo.AI may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This does not affect how we evaluate any app.

How we compared these apps

We looked at the same seven points for every app. None of them is a ranking; each matters more or less depending on how you invest.

  • Charges: brokerage on delivery, intraday, futures and options, taken from the broker’s official pricing page (as of October 2026).
  • AMC: the yearly fee for keeping your demat account open, and whether it is waived for the first year or for small holdings.
  • Platform: mobile app, web and desktop options, and whether the same login covers stocks, mutual funds and F&O.
  • Features: charting, option chains, SIPs in stocks or funds, margin trading facility (MTF), US stocks and research tools.
  • Reliability and outages: reported downtime during market hours, where it has been covered by credible news sources.
  • Support: availability of phone, chat and call-and-trade, and what call-and-trade costs.
  • SEBI registration: every app here operates through a SEBI-registered stock broker. You can confirm a broker’s registration number on SEBI’s list of registered intermediaries before opening an account.

Quick comparison table

Figures are from each broker’s pricing page (as of October 2026) and exclude GST and statutory charges. Introductory offers are not shown.

AppAccount openingAMCEquity deliveryIntraday / F&O per orderBest for
GrowwFreeFree₹20 or 0.1% (lower), min ₹5Intraday: ₹20 or 0.1% (lower), min ₹5; F&O: ₹20Beginners combining mutual funds and stocks
ZerodhaFree (online, individuals)Free first year; then ₹300 + GST a year for non-BSDA accounts₹0Intraday and futures: ₹20 or 0.03% (lower); options: ₹20Long-term delivery investors
INDmoneyFreeFree₹20 or 0.1% (lower), min ₹2Intraday: ₹20 or 0.1% (lower); F&O: ₹20Investors tracking all assets, including US stocks
UpstoxFreeFree first year; then ₹300 + GST a year for non-BSDA accounts₹20Intraday: ₹20 or 0.1% (lower); futures: ₹20 or 0.05% (lower); options: ₹20Traders wanting a simple app with F&O tools
Angel OneFreeFree first year; then ₹60 + GST a quarter₹20 or 0.1% (lower), min ₹5Intraday: ₹20 or 0.1% (lower); F&O: ₹20Users who want research and advisory content
5paisaFree₹25 a month + GST₹20₹20Flat-fee pricing across segments
Paytm MoneyFree₹0₹20₹20Paytm users wanting low fixed costs
ICICI DirectCheck the broker’s pricing page₹700 a year (₹300 + GST on the iValue plan)0.29% on the default plan; lower on prepaid plansiValue plan: ₹20 (intraday ₹20 or 0.05%)ICICI Bank customers with a 3-in-1 account
HDFC SkyFreeFree first year; then ₹20 a month₹20 or 2.5% (lower)₹20HDFC Bank customers wanting flat fees
DhanFreeFreeFree₹20 or 0.03% (whichever lower)Active traders and options traders

1. Groww

Main features

  • Single app for direct mutual funds, stocks, ETFs, IPOs and F&O, with a web version.
  • Stock SIPs and MTF (margin trading facility, where the broker funds part of a delivery purchase). Groww lists MTF interest at 14.95% a year on the funded amount (as of October 2026).
  • Brokerage of ₹20 or 0.1% per executed order, whichever is lower, with a ₹5 minimum, on delivery and intraday; ₹20 per F&O order.

Benefits

  • ₹0 account opening and ₹0 AMC, so an inactive account costs nothing to hold.
  • Small delivery orders are cheap: a ₹3,000 buy costs ₹5 in brokerage (0.1% would be ₹3, so the ₹5 minimum applies).
  • DP charges are waived when the debit value of a sale is below ₹100, per its pricing page.

Drawbacks

  • Delivery is not free, unlike Zerodha or Dhan. Above ₹20,000 per order you pay the full ₹20.
  • DP charge of ₹20 per scrip on sale (₹3.50 depository fee plus ₹16.50 Groww fee) before GST, higher than Zerodha’s.
  • Auto square-off costs ₹50 per position if you leave an intraday position open. Groww also reported technical issues during the Cloudflare outage of 5 December 2025, as covered by Inc42.

2. Zerodha

Main features

  • Kite for trading on mobile and web, Coin for direct mutual funds, and Console for reports and tax P&L.
  • Zero brokerage on equity delivery; intraday and futures at ₹20 or 0.03% per executed order, whichever is lower; options at a flat ₹20.
  • Free educational content through its Varsity modules.

Benefits

  • Long-term investors pay no brokerage on buying or selling for delivery.
  • Lowest DP charge in this list among those we could verify: ₹15.34 per scrip on sale, including GST (₹3.50 CDSL + ₹9.50 Zerodha + ₹2.34 GST).
  • Account opening is free online for individuals, and AMC is free for the first year for resident individuals (as of October 2026).

Drawbacks

  • AMC applies after year one: ₹300 + GST a year for non-BSDA accounts, charged quarterly. Basic Services Demat Accounts (BSDA) pay nothing up to ₹4 lakh of holdings.
  • Orders placed through a dealer cost an extra ₹50 per order.
  • Zerodha has faced repeated outages over the years, reported by Inc42, and was affected by the December 2025 Cloudflare outage.

3. INDmoney

Main features

  • Net-worth tracker that pulls in mutual funds, stocks, EPF and other assets alongside an Indian stocks and F&O account.
  • US stocks investing from India through the same app.
  • Brokerage of ₹20 or 0.1% per order, whichever is lower, with a ₹2 minimum on delivery and intraday; ₹20 per F&O order.

Benefits

  • ₹0 account opening and ₹0 AMC.
  • Useful if you want one dashboard for family finances, not just a trading screen.
  • No pledge charge for using holdings as margin outside MTF, per its pricing page.

Drawbacks

  • DP charge of ₹18.50 + GST per ISIN on delivery sales, higher than several rivals.
  • Delivery brokerage is not zero.
  • US-stock charges (foreign exchange markup, transaction fees) are listed separately; check the broker’s pricing page before funding a US account.

4. Upstox

Main features

  • Trading app and web platform with option chain, charts and basket orders.
  • Delivery at ₹20 per executed order; intraday at ₹20 or 0.1%, whichever is lower; futures at ₹20 or 0.05%; options at a flat ₹20.
  • Direct mutual funds, IPOs and MTF.

Benefits

  • AMC is zero in the first year for newly onboarded customers.
  • Flat ₹20 on options suits traders who place a few large orders.
  • Its charges page lays out each statutory levy, including the higher STT on options since 1 October 2024.

Drawbacks

  • ₹20 delivery brokerage means a ₹2,000 buy costs as much brokerage as a ₹2 lakh buy.
  • DP charge of ₹20 per scrip per day on sale; AMC of ₹300 + GST a year after year one for non-BSDA users.
  • Call-and-trade costs ₹75 + GST per order, the highest in this list among those we could verify.

5. Angel One

Main features

  • Full-service heritage with a discount-style app, research reports and stock recommendations from its research desk.
  • Delivery and intraday at ₹20 or 0.1%, whichever is lower (₹5 minimum); F&O at ₹20 per order.
  • Introductory offer: ₹0 brokerage up to ₹500 in the first 30 days.

Benefits

  • Free account opening and no AMC in the first year.
  • BSDA clients with holdings up to ₹4 lakh pay no AMC.
  • No extra penalty for auto square-off; it is charged the same as normal brokerage, per its pricing page. Call-and-trade costs ₹20 per order.

Drawbacks

  • AMC of ₹60 + GST a quarter (₹240 + GST a year) after year one for regular accounts.
  • DP charge of ₹20 + GST per equity ISIN on sale.
  • Research calls can encourage frequent trading; treat them as one input, not instructions. Angel One was also hit by the December 2025 Cloudflare outage.

6. 5paisa

Main features

  • Flat ₹20 per order across delivery, intraday and F&O.
  • ₹0 brokerage for the first 30 days for new accounts.
  • Mutual funds and IPO applications with no transaction cost.

Benefits

  • Simple pricing: one rate for every segment.
  • Free account opening.
  • No pledge charges for portfolios above ₹5 lakh, per its charges page.

Drawbacks

  • Demat AMC of ₹25 a month plus GST (₹300 + GST a year), per its charges page.
  • Auto square-off and call-and-trade each cost ₹20 + GST.
  • We could not confirm the per-scrip DP charge on its official page; check the broker’s pricing page before selling small holdings.

7. Paytm Money

Main features

  • Stocks, F&O, ETFs, IPOs, mutual funds, MTF and a T+5 pay-later product.
  • Flat ₹20 brokerage across segments since 15 January 2025, per its official blog. Older users may stay on legacy cohort rates.
  • ₹0 brokerage for the first 30 days, capped at ₹100.

Benefits

  • ₹0 account opening and ₹0 AMC for life, per its pricing page.
  • Platform fee removed (made zero for life) in its January 2025 revision.
  • Easy onboarding for existing Paytm users.

Drawbacks

  • Delivery brokerage is ₹20, not zero.
  • Pricing varies by when you joined, which makes comparisons confusing.
  • We could not confirm the full DP charge on its pricing page; check the broker’s pricing page.

8. ICICI Direct

Main features

  • 3-in-1 account linking an ICICI Bank savings account, demat and trading account.
  • Several plans: the default MoneySaver plan (0.29% on delivery, 0.029% on intraday and futures, ₹49 per lot on options), the iValue plan for traders, and prepaid Prime plans for investors.
  • Research, MTF and access to bonds, IPOs and mutual funds.

Benefits

  • Money moves automatically between bank and trading account.
  • The iValue plan, for a one-time ₹299, cuts F&O to ₹20 per order and intraday to ₹20 or 0.05%, and lowers AMC to ₹300 + GST.
  • Prime 9999 plan quotes delivery at 0.07% and MTF interest at 9.69% a year (as of October 2026).

Drawbacks

  • Default plan is expensive for delivery: 0.29% on a ₹1 lakh buy is ₹290, against ₹0–₹20 elsewhere.
  • Standard AMC of ₹700 a year; DP charge of ₹20 + GST per scrip on sale.
  • Plan structure is complex, and call-and-trade costs ₹50 per order.

9. HDFC Sky

Main features

  • HDFC Securities’ discount app for stocks, F&O, ETFs, IPOs and mutual funds.
  • Delivery, intraday and futures at ₹20 or 2.5% per order, whichever is lower; options at ₹20 per order.
  • Free account opening.

Benefits

  • No AMC in the first year.
  • Flat fees suit investors placing larger orders.
  • Call-and-trade costs ₹20 per order, per its support page.

Drawbacks

  • AMC of ₹20 a month after year one.
  • Delivery is not free: on any order above ₹800, the ₹20 cap applies.
  • DP charge of ₹20 per scrip on sale. Its pricing and support pages quote different auto square-off fees, so check the broker’s pricing page.

10. Dhan

Dhan is a discount brokerage platform. You can invest in both Indian and US markets from one dashboard. The platform covers stocks, mutual funds, bonds, IPOs and ETFs. It also allows you to track and monitor all your investments from one single platform.

It doesn’t charge account opening fees or AMC. Equity delivery trades, IPOs and mutual fund investments are free, and intraday costs ₹20 or 0.03%(whichever is lower)per executed trade.

Main Features

Here’s what you get with Dhan:

  • Zero-cost account setup and free Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC)
  • Free equity delivery trades and direct mutual fund investments
  • ₹20 or 0.03% (whichever is lower) per order for intraday trades
  • Integration with TradingView, allowing users to trade directly from live charts
  • Proprietary DEXT trading engine optimised for low-latency, sub-second order execution
  • Dedicated Options Trader app with live Option Chains, strategy builders, and Option Greeks
  • Free DhanHQ trading APIs and developer infrastructure for algorithmic traders
  • Margin Trading Facility (MTF) and instant margin pledge features

Benefits

Dhan offers a variety of products for active traders. The DEXT T3 terminal and Options Trader app give serious F&O traders tools that most other brokers either lock behind paid subscriptions or don’t offer at all. It provides integration with TradingView charts with 100+ indicators. Free API access is another standout.

Drawbacks

The platform’s features might intimidate newly registered users on Dhan who are looking to just purchase some stocks or initiate a SIP in mutual funds.

How to pick the right app

Small fee differences add up only if you trade often. Here is a worked example of how charges affect a single delivery trade.

Suppose Priya buys 50 shares at ₹400 (₹20,000) and later sells them at ₹440 (₹22,000). On Groww she pays ₹20 brokerage on each side plus a ₹20 DP charge: ₹60, or ₹70.80 with 18% GST. On Zerodha she pays ₹0 brokerage and a ₹15.34 DP charge including GST. Both apps also pass on the same STT of 0.1% on each side (₹20 + ₹22 = ₹42) and stamp duty of 0.015% on the buy (₹3).

For an active trader the maths changes. Ten intraday orders a day at ₹20 is ₹200, or ₹236 with GST. Over 20 trading days that is ₹4,720 a month before STT and exchange fees, so per-order caps matter more than AMC.

Hidden costs to check

Statutory charges are the same on every app; brokers only collect them. Several were changed recently, so older comparisons may be wrong.

  • STT (securities transaction tax): 0.1% on both buy and sell for delivery; 0.025% on the sell side for intraday. From 1 April 2026, Budget 2026 raised STT on futures sales from 0.02% to 0.05% and on options premium sales from 0.1% to 0.15%.
  • Exchange transaction charges: levied by the exchange on turnover. Since 1 October 2024, SEBI’s true-to-label rule requires brokers to pass on the exact exchange charge instead of a marked-up flat rate.
  • SEBI turnover fee: 0.0001% (₹10 per crore) on buy and sell.
  • GST: 18% on brokerage, exchange charges, SEBI fees and DP charges.
  • Stamp duty: 0.015% on the buy side for delivery and 0.003% for intraday.
  • DP charges per sell: ₹13 to ₹20 plus GST per scrip each time you sell from your demat, regardless of quantity. Selling ₹500 of a stock can cost ₹20+ in DP charges alone.
  • Auto square-off fees: up to ₹50 + GST per position on some apps if you don’t close intraday trades yourself.
  • Call-and-trade fees: ₹20 to ₹75 per order across the apps above.

Common mistakes

  • Choosing on the headline “free” alone. Zero delivery brokerage can come with AMC after year one, and ₹0 AMC can come with delivery brokerage.
  • Selling tiny positions often. The DP charge is per scrip per day, so trimming ₹1,000 holdings wipes out much of any gain.
  • Ignoring the minimum brokerage. A ₹5 minimum on a ₹500 order is 1% of the trade.
  • Using MTF without checking interest. At 14.95% a year, borrowed money needs a high return just to break even.
  • Moving into F&O because the app makes it easy. SEBI’s studies show most individual F&O and intraday traders lose money; read whether you can make money in intraday trading first.
  • Not checking SEBI registration. Some apps that look like brokers are only front-ends or unregistered tip services.

FAQ

Which trading app has the lowest charges in India?

It depends on what you trade. Zerodha and Dhan charge ₹0 on equity delivery, while most others charge ₹20 per order or a percentage capped at ₹20. For intraday and F&O, nearly every app here charges ₹20 or less per executed order (as of October 2026).

Is it safe to keep shares with a discount broker app?

Your shares sit in your own demat account with CDSL or NSDL, not with the app. Check that the broker is SEBI-registered, enable two-factor login, and review the monthly statements the depository sends you.

Can I have demat accounts on two apps?

Yes. You can open multiple demat and trading accounts with different brokers using the same PAN. Each may charge its own AMC, so close accounts you don’t use.

Do I pay DP charges when I buy shares?

No. DP charges apply only when shares are debited from your demat, which happens when you sell delivery holdings. They are charged per scrip, not per share.

What is a BSDA account?

A Basic Services Demat Account is a low-cost demat for small investors with one demat account. Under the current rules, brokers such as Zerodha and Angel One charge no AMC on BSDA accounts with holdings up to ₹4 lakh.

Sources