Buy-and-hold wealth is built on ₹0 delivery brokerage, zero-fee direct mutual funds, and a platform you'll still like in ten years.
✓ Pricing last verified 22 Sept 2026 against official sources.
Updated 22 Sept 2026 · Educational comparison, not personalised advice.
At a glance: 31 of 31 brokers qualify · 28 support mutual funds · 28 support IPOs · cheapest delivery brokerage from ₹0
✓₹0 delivery
✓Low AMC
✓Direct mutual funds
✓IPO access
Who is this guide for?
This guide is for investors who buy stocks and hold them for years, and care more about delivery charges, account costs, product range and platform trust than per-trade trading costs.
For buy-and-hold investors the maths is simple: ₹0 delivery brokerage brokers win by default, and the tie-breakers are AMC, mutual-fund support (direct plans), and platform trust over years.
The gap between cheap and expensive compounds quietly. A 0.5% delivery brokerage on a ₹1L buy is ₹500 per side — paid twice (buy and sell) plus DP charges — while a ₹0-delivery broker charges only the statutory stack on the same trade. Over dozens of buys across a decade, that difference alone can exceed a full year of expected returns.
Pair your broker with a SIP habit — the SIP calculator shows what a monthly habit compounds to — and keep F&O far away from the retirement corpus.
TL;DR
Flat-₹0 delivery brokers win by default for buy-and-hold — you pay only STT and exchange on every top-up. The shortlist below separates on AMC, direct mutual funds and IPO access, so one account covers the whole decade-long journey.
Ranked by the same transparent scorer as the find-my-broker quiz — editorial rating plus persona fit over live fee data. A starting point for research, not personalised advice.
Every broker below, scored for long-term investors on delivery brokerage, AMC, account opening, DP charges plus mutual-fund support, IPO support, platform scores. Sort any column, filter to what matters to you.
Top 8 of 31 · click a column header to sort
Best broker for long-term investors compared: Delivery, AMC / year, Account opening, DP charge, Mutual funds, IPO, Platform
Lowest marks the cheapest listed figure per column; slab plans may cost less for small trades. † means we haven't re-verified that figure yet. Statutory charges (STT, exchange, SEBI, GST, stamp duty) apply equally everywhere — see the true cost of a trade.
For most buy-and-hold investors, the decision comes down to three things: ₹0 delivery so every top-up is nearly free, a low AMC so the account doesn't leak money in quiet years, and direct mutual funds plus IPO access so one account covers the whole journey. Brokers charging percentage delivery brokerage only make sense if you value their research or banking relationship enough to pay for it on every single buy — do that maths explicitly before committing.
How we compare brokers
Every broker is scored by the same transparent scorer as the find-my-broker quiz — editorial rating plus persona fit over live fee data. The comparison for this guide considers:
✓Equity delivery brokerage (effective ₹ at a ₹50k order size)
✓AMC and account-opening charges
✓Direct mutual-fund support in-app
✓IPO support
✓Platform and onboarding scores plus editorial rating
Labels like “lowest” are computed from the fee figures in the table above — never assigned by hand. Verify pricing on the official site before opening an account.
FAQs
What is the best broker for long-term investing?+
There is no single best broker — the right one depends on delivery pricing, AMC, product range (mutual funds, ETFs, IPOs) and platform quality. Compare the table above on those factors rather than looking for a universal recommendation.
Is ₹0 delivery brokerage really free?+
Brokerage-free, not charge-free: STT (0.1% each side), exchange, GST, stamp and DP charges on selling still apply. See the full cost breakdown in the brokerage calculator.
Should I keep stocks and mutual funds in one app?+
One app is simpler and this ranking rewards it; specialists may still prefer a dedicated MF platform for analytics. Both approaches work.
What charges should I compare before choosing a broker?+
Brokerage per segment, AMC, account-opening charges, DP charges, and the statutory stack — STT, exchange, SEBI, GST and stamp duty — which applies equally everywhere.
Zerodha vs Groww for long-term investing — which suits buy-and-hold?+
Both charge ₹0 delivery, so compare AMC, direct mutual-fund experience and platform trust over years. Groww leans simpler for MF-first investors; Zerodha's Coin and Varsity suit investors who also want equity research depth. The table above shows both side by side.
Is ₹20 brokerage per order or per lot?+
Per order: one buy order costs ₹20 (or less) in brokerage whatever its size, plus STT, exchange, GST and stamp. Per-lot pricing (₹39–100 per lot) is a different model used by some full-service brokers for F&O — compare carefully, since frequent traders overpay fast on per-lot plans.
Affiliate disclosure: LetsInvest earns a commission if you open an account via links on this page — at no extra cost to you. Rankings are editorial and never sold. Read how we make money and our methodology.
How we research. Every fee on this site carries a source and a verification date. Data is re-checked against official broker pages; read our editorial methodology. LetsInvest is a research publication, not a financial adviser — see our terms.
