In this Groww vs Zerodha Review and comparison, at the end we will find out who is best stock broker among both by comparing different services such as brokerage, web/desktop based trading platform (Groww App vs Kite App), account opening charges, customer service, margin and lot more products both stock broker offers to its clients.
But before we begin let me brief you about a quick fact about both stock brokers i.e. the latest number of active clients and total clients according to the latest NSE Data.
Zerodhais at no.1 position in terms of active clients, they have about 56,04,501 (5.6 millions) whereas Groww have about 2.8 million+, to be precise 28,51,472 active client list.
I know the difference is very high but one need to know, Groww established just 4.9 years ago i.e. 2016 first as a mutual fund distributor and in 2019 they made debut in stock broking.
Looking at this number does shows the trust they have created for users in their products and services.
Whereas Zerodha established in year 2010 and rest is history. Zerodha brought the changes indeed required in the broking industry with his tech innovation.
Zerodha, with his low cost brokerage, technology driven fast services, left the other brokers, majorly the full time brokers such as ICICIDirect far behind the only competition as of now is Upstox for them which is at second position.
Groww have made a place to be in the top5 stock broking company in terms of total clients in India.
Just to let you know, you can read the detail review of Zerodha here, similarly checkout the complete Review of Groww here.
So without further delay, let us start first with Groww Vs Zerodha overall review in 13 brief points and later below you can check them in detailed guide if you want.
Just to let you know the post may be little long as it covers all aspects of the Groww and zerodha stock broker in detail, you can move through table of contents for the info you are looking.
Table of Contents
I have already used both stock broker services as well as wrote the reviews about them in detailed way separately, based on my experience and facts below are things you can consider before opening an account with them.
- Zerodha have best trading platform for desktop/mobile app, you can do fundamental as well as technical analysis quite easily and is much better than groww trading platforms.
- Zerodha have third party and it own in house developed other services such as Sensibull, Smallcase, Tickertape, Streak, Refinitiv, Zlearn.
- Recently Groww have also made tie up with Tickertape and smallcase as of now.
- Zerodha brokerages are lower than Groww, Zerodha are charging little lower as they charging Rs.20 or 0.03% whereas Groww is charging Rs.20 or 0.05% (whichever is lower).
- Zerodha also gives free delivery based trades, Groww charges for these types of trades with Rs.20 or 0.05% (whichever is lower).
- Groww as well as Zerodha offers brokerage or say commission free mutual funds investment and platform for its users.
- Account opening charges as well as AMC (Annual Maintenance Charges) is Zero for Groww, whereas Zerodha do charges one time fee of Rs.200 for equity and Rs.300 for (Equity, FNO, Currency, commodity) and Rs.300 AMC.
- With Groww you can make investment in Digital Gold, Fixed deposits, US stocks such as Apple, Amazon, Google etc. online using Groww platform whereas no such facility with Zerodha as of now.
- As of now you can only trade and invest in stocks (equity) segment at groww at NSE & BSE, FNO , currency and commodity is in Beta (testing version) are yet to be launched, whereas with Zerodha you can trade and invest in all segments.
- Other than this you can make investment in Initial Public Offerings (IPO), Sovereign gold bonds (SGB), Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), with both stockbrokers.
- If we talk about Margin at Groww vs zerodha, after SEBI Rules on Intraday margin every stockbroker is giving same margin 5X throughout India, hence this does not matter anymore.
- Call N trade facility is not available with groww as of now where as with zerodha you can place orders over call.
- Overall, Zerodha when compared on all parameters is still better than Groww as of now.
If you are thinking with whom to go with, then it depends upon your need i.e. to say if you are more of a trader doing intraday trading on regular basis than go with Zerodha.
However if you are less of a trader and more of an investor for short, medium or long term,than you can choose Groww without any doubt.
To open a Zerodha trading/demat/mutual fund account click on this link.
Now, let us go dive deep to cover all different services and features of Grow and Zerodha step by step and see who is best between both discount brokers by in depth analysis.
About Groww Vs Zerodha:
Before we dig deeper to understand the various services offered it becomes utmost import to know in brief about Zerodha and Groww history.
Harsh Jain is the Co-Founder & COO of Groww, he was also the product manager earlier with flipkart. Groww is based in Bangalore, Karnataka, Here is interesting fact about groww very few people know, the company use Groww as a brand name although it is registered by name Nextbillion Technology Private Limited.
Groww operates as an online investment platform and offers mutual funds, tax planning, investment management, and financial information services. As of now you can trade and invest in only stocks (equity), derivatives i.e. FNO, whereas Commodity, Currency segment is about to get launched.
Moreover, groww also offers Digital gold, US Stocks, and Fixed Deposit as other investment options apart from stock broking. Groww has partnered with CDSL to provide the depository services to clients.
Groww offers trade execution facilities for equity cash segments on BSE and NSE.
Groww founded in 2016, and had initially started as a direct mutual fund investment platform for users. By the time they have crated immense popularity among users in the mid-2020s, Groww expanded its product offering to include Equity trading.
As of April 2021, Groww had partnered with 40 mutual fund houses and more than 6000+ mutual funds were available on the platform.
As of Sep 2020, the company had raised $59 million in venture capital an now have more than 11 million users on its platform.
This year in April 2021, Growwhas raised $83 million in a Series D funding round led by Tiger Global, making the onlineinvestment platform the latest entrant in Unicorn list.
Groww is also backed by some of the well know investor companies such as Ribbit Capital, SEQUOIA, Combinator etc.
Nithin Kamath, founder and CEO of zerodha established the company in year 2010 and rest is history. The term ‘Zerodha’ is derived from the blending of an English and Sanskrit word. ‘Zero’+’Rodha’ where ‘Rodha’ means barrier in Sanskrit, thus zerodha means ‘Zero Barrier’.
Zerodha headquarter is situated at Bengaluru, and it is associated with all three major stock exchanges in India NSE, BSE & MCX. Zerodhahas partnered with both NSDL & CDSL to provide the depository services to clients.
You can trade and invest in Equity, Derivatives i.e. Futures and Options, Commodities, Currency, Mutual funds, Bonds etc. online using their advanced trading platforms without hassle.
They do have a dedicated platform for mutual fund investments through monthly SIP as well as Lumpsum in mutual funds known as Coin without any commission similar to what Groww.
Let us now move on to know the margin at Groww Vs Zerodha
To open a Zerodha trading/demat/mutual fund account click on this link.
Groww Vs Zerodha Margin Comparison:
Margin in stock market refers to buying/selling of securities (shares) by borrowing money from your broker. This is very much similar to taking loan for short period of time. This helps traders in buying or selling more with less money in intraday trading.
If you are an active trader or a beginner who knows what exactly going on with recent changes brought by SEBI, Higher Margin won’t be a factor anymore, now the competition among the broking industry is in terms of better trading platforms and lower brokerages plans.
The upfront margin collection in cash segment has been kept at flat 20%, which means now the leverage for all stocks would be 5x also the penalty provision for short-collection/ non-collection of upfront margin in cash segment has been postponed till 1,dec, 2020.
This means regardless of any broker you won’t get more than 5X times margin in equity cash segment and in FNO you need to have the full margin span+exposure to take any position.
However, this will get implemented in a phased manner from Dec,1,2020 till Aug 2021, so no need to worry as of now. You can read more about it here.
Therefore, the margin or leverages offered will be equal irrespective of the stock brokers in India going forward.
In simple term margin will be:
Maximum of 20 times until Feb 2021
Maximum of 10x from Mar to May 2021
Maximum of 7x from Jun to Aug 2021
Maximum of 5x from Sep 2021 onwards
Above are rough estimates only, it may be more or less similar. check the complete VAR+ELM list here. With 10x leverage, if you have 10k in your account your purchasing power becomes 100k, with 5x leverage it comes down to 50k, so you will have to adjust accordingly.
Margins will increase for Option writing as well, margin requirements will be as below:
- 25%(4X) of the SPAN + Exposure margins until Feb 2021
- 50%(2X) of the SPAN + Exposure margins until from Mar to May 2021
- 75%(1.33X) of the SPAN + Exposure margins until Jun to Aug 2021
- Full SPAN + Exposure margins from Sep 2021
From 1st Dec 2020, intraday FnO positions needs a margin requirement of 25% of 1L, which is 25,000 for intraday FnO position. This requirement goes-up to 100% of FULL span + exposure margin or full 1L from Sep 2021.
Keep in mind this also applies to Currency and commodity derivatives as well.
For example: if there is a 20% margin requirement on a particular stock, then you will have to pay only Rs.20 to buy a stock of Rs.100. Another way to look at it is that if you have Rs.100, you will be able to buy five stocks instead of one.
Hence, the margin requirement will be same for all brokers including Groww and Zerodha for intraday trading in equites and derivatives.
One need to understand taking more margin means more risk and chances of your money getting wiped out is even more, so it is always advisable to use it in limited way.
So going forward please choose stock broker not in terms of margin or leverage as it is same for all brokers through out India.
Groww Vs Zerodha Brokerages Comparison:
Brokerage is the most important factor when you trade and invest, both Zerodha and Groww have quite low brokerages. Let us know brokerage for both discount brokers one by one.
Zerodha Brokerage Structure:
Zerodha brokerage is what make them ahead in the game, as you can see , there is no charge for taking delivery of the trades to your demat account. Whereas for intraday trades across equity, currency, commodity, it is flat Rs.20 or 0.03% (whichever is lower).
What they mean is, suppose you bought stock xyz priced at Rs.100, quantity 100 on intraday basis,
so the total turnover would be bought 100, sold 100(100*200)= 20,000 on this amount they will charge either whichever amount is lower as 0.03% of 20000, is Rs.6 so they will charge that instead of flat Rs.20.
Groww Brokerage Structure:
At groww the brokerage charges are Rs.20 or o.o5% (whichever is lower) on every order executed.
What they mean is, suppose you bought stock xyz priced at Rs.100, quantity 100 on intraday basis,
so the total turnover would be bought 100, sold 100(100*200)= 20,000 on this amount they will charge either whichever amount is lower as 0.05% of 20000, is Rs.10 so they will charge that instead of flat Rs.20. Below is the screenshot taken from Groww brokerage calculator for intraday trading.
Whereas brokerage charges if you do investment i.e. taking delivery of the stocks to your demat account or doing Buy today sell tomorrow (BTST) trades the brokerage charges are same as of above.
So , overall the brokerage charges for both stock brokers are kept at quite decent priced considering the broking industry norms.
Groww Vs Zerodha Trading and Demat Account Opening Charges:
To open a trading/demat account at Groww there are no charges Rs.0 if you open an account through this link, Whereas the Annual Maintenance charge (AMC) is also kept at Zero.
As a one time offer you will also get Rs.100 if you open an account using this link.
Moreover there is 0% commission charges for investing mutual funds through Groww Platform. As compare to other stock brokers, they may charge some AMC charges for maintaining the account yearly, whereas Groww is not charging anything, this makes them apart for sure.
If we talk about Zerodha, Account opening charges are (one time) Rs.200 for Equity and Rs.300 for Equity, FNO, Commodity, Currency segment.
Moreover you also need to pay Rs.300 Annual Maintenance charges i.e. AMC in a year on quarterly basis which gets deducted from your trading account balance.
Likewise, Coin which is a dedicated mutual fund platform for zerodha users are free to use with 0% commission charges.
So, overall Groww is best as it is not charging anything at all for account opening of trading/demat/mutual funds as well no AMC in comparison to Zerodha.
Groww Vs Zerodha Account Opening Process Online:
The account opening process is online and it’s very seamless and smooth. Here is what you need to do:
To open an account with Growwonline, you can sign up using your mobile number through this link.
Similarly, To open an A/c online with Zerodha , Click on this link and first enter your mobile number.
You will receive an OTP to your number and you can get started with the process.
You will be required to enter your PAN, Bank account details and personal details to continue with the sign-up.
Once you sign up you need to upload certain documents listed below:
1. Your PAN card
2. Your Aadhaar
3. To complete the e Sign process, you will have to authenticate it with an OTP. So, make sure you have the number linked to your Aadhaar handy. If not, you will not be able to complete the process. If the number linked to your Aadhaar is inactive, or if you don’t have any number linked, then you can visit your nearest Aadhaar Seva Kendra to get it updated.
4. A photo or scanned copy of your signature proof will be required to be uploaded.
6.Income proof –
It is mandatory to submit income proof if you wish to trade in Futures and options – Equity, Commodity, and Currency. You can submit one of the below documents.
Form-16
Income tax returns acknowledgment
6-month Bank statement
Latest salary slip
Demat holding statement, or
A CA certifying your net worth
Note:The documents mentioned are for a Resident Individual Account.
Groww Vs Zerodha Trading Platform Comparison:
The most important part of any trading platform is the tools and resources it has for technical and fundamental analysis. If we talk about Groww first below is what you can expect as an trader and investor:
The trading platform seems to provide great in-depth financial as well as technical analysis. There are 2 platform available at groww.
- Groww Web based Trading Platform
- Groww Mobile App for Android and OS
There are no desktop downloadable version available for trading as of now with groww.
The web based version at groww is quite clean and well designed, as the UI (user interface) looks dynamic and smooth. Talking in terms of what is unique about the platform specially in respect to trading and investing,
Groww platform offers great financial analysis for every stocks including the one listed in US (Nasdaq).
Checkout the image below to know more:
As, you can see in above image on left they have given the space for seeing charts sowing current trading price of stock in market, which includes candlestick charts with volumes patterns overtime, you can see the historical data. On the right side of the screen you can easily place the intraday or delivery trades in a click.
If you go downwards you can see other great financial insights such as performance of stock, other different brands of that company, About the company and lot more.
Company statistics such as, Profit & loss, balance sheet of company, cash flows, P/E ratio (price to earning), P/B ratio (price to book) Book value etc. are one click away on groww web based trading platform.
Now, I understand that Groww first being a investment platform for users have great financial information for users moreover if you are someone who loves doing intraday based trading it does requires technical indicators, tools and other resources, which at groww web based version is also available.
So, If you are someone who do trading and investing for short, medium or long term, Groww has everything in place for you. You will see more new features gets added and also the downloadable trading platform version in future.
This is certainly going to happen as I mentioned above that recently they have got financial support from tiger global in investor bidding of about $83 Millions.
Let us now check Zerodha trading platform in comparison to Groww in a detailed way:
Zerodha is known for its best trading platform since inception, they have 3 dedicated platforms for its users:
- Zerodha Pi for desktop, which is a downloadable version
- Zerodha Kite for Web, which a browser based trading platform
- Zerodha Kite Mobile App, which a mobile App
So, Whether you want to use, MACD indicator Bollinger Bands indicator RSI indicator Volume Indicator Support and Resistance indicator Different Candlestick patterns etc. you name the indicator and it will be there, so all in all Zerodha has everything what is needed for a hassle-free trading platform.
Similarly the mobile based version i.e. Groww Mobile App have same features as I mentioned above and Zerodha Kite also have similar features.
The reason I am not involving all the features of different trading platform, because unnecessary post will be long, however you can read them in detail if you want here for Zerodha trading platform for Groww trading platform.
Overall Zerodha in comparison to groww trading platform offers much better user interface as well as they have many other services integrated within the platform such as Sensibull, small case, tickertape, streak, etc. although they are paid.
While Groww need to come up with other integrated tools and resources yet, they do however have great fundamental/technical tools and resources.
To open a Zerodha trading/demat/mutual fund account click on this link.
Groww Vs Zerodha Other Charges Comparison:
Zerodha Intraday Auto Square-off Timings:
Equity/Cash is 3:20PM (10 minutes before market close)
Equity Derivatives is 3:25 PM (5 minutes before market close)
Currency Derivatives is 4:45 PM
For Commodities it is 25 minutes before Close
Groww Intraday Auto Square-off Timings:
Square-off Timing At Groww for all MIS (Intraday) orders by yourself anytime before 3:20 p.m. for Equity and F&O. 4:45 p.m. for Currency derivatives and 11 p.m. for MCX segment via Groww trading platform.
Call and Trade Charges At Groww?
There is no facility to place trades using calls as of now groww. You need to do that using the trading platform or APP provided by groww by your own as of now.
Call and Trade Charges At Zerodha?
Zerodha offers you to place order by call and trade which will be charged Rs.50 per order through phone and you can modify an order as many times you want to during a day.
Auto squared off charges by Zerodha and Groww?
Rs.50 per position open (intraday) excluding GST. will be charged as auto square-off at groww and zerodha, in case you do not do it by yourself from the trading platform.
Apart from above, the following types of charges are levied on your trades at every broker:
- Brokerage charges– A flat Rs. 20 or 0.05% (whichever is lower) fee charged by groww for all intraday/delivery trades. Zerodha it is Rs.20 or o.o3% (whichever is lower)
- STT– TheSecurities Transaction Tax is a direct tax levied on every purchase and sale of securities.
- Transaction charges– This is a charge levied by the exchange on every transaction placed.
- Clearing charges– This is a charge levied by the exchange for clearing the trade.
- GST– A Goods & Services rate of 18% is levied on every purchase and sale transaction of securities.
- State stamp duty– This duty is levied on the value of shares transferred and varies as per the individual state.
- SEBI turnover fees– This fee is charged by SEBI on the purchase and sale of all securities.
My Opinion On Groww Vs Zerodha:
I hope you have now thoroughly understood most of the services offered by Groww and Zerodha, if you ask me in Groww vs Zerodhawho is better?
Zerodha in itself is the universe, whether you are a beginner or experience trader and investor, zerodha has all resources set at one place for you.
Expressing my opinion in terms of all technological tools, advanced platforms, robust management I would rate Zerodha 9.6 out of 10 and hence is better than Groww in overall comparison as of now.
To open an account with Zerodha right away click on this link.
On the other hand
Groww might be new in discount broking industry, but they do have more than 4.9 years of experience in providing a rich platform for users to invest in mutual funds scheme.
As we already saw they have more than 28 lakh+ active clients in stock broking and 10 million + overall clients on the platform, this itself shows the trust it has developed among the users.
In my opinion they still need to do a lot to fulfill all the stock broking requirements such as allowing, currency and commodity trading which is going to happen very soon.
Having said that, I like their USP of allowing clients to invest in US, their strength in financial data for fundamental analysis, Free mutual funds investments.
If I have to rate Groww after looking at there breakthrough pricing model for brokerages as well as other charges and experiencing there simple yet great user interface for trading platform I would give it 8.9 out of 10.
Therefore, if you are someone who do more of investing and trading in Stocks, IPO’s, ETF, SGB, Mutual funds, than Groww is the perfect choice for you.
There are no charges to open an account with groww plus no AMC plus No commission on mutual funds, so without any doubt one can open a demat and trading account.
I am still being harsh as it is a new company particularly in stock broking, but you may see the ratings may go higher with time in my opinion.
In my opinion you can open account with both stock brokers, as there is nothing to lose particularly in case of Groww as there are no charges at all.
Always have atleast 2 to 3 trading and demat accounts, it gives you more different experience of platform and different services offered by them.
If you are a beginner in trading and investing, please read this amazing guide on How stock market works in India?
Learn the basics of option trading step by step here.
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You can check my review on 5Paisa, Fyers Review here
You can also check my comparison for Zerodha vs 5paisa here , Zerodha vs Fyers Here
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