Head-to-head
Zerodha vs Dhan: Incumbent vs Trader's New Favourite
Dhan has won active traders with TradingView-native charting and rapid feature shipping. Zerodha counters with scale, stability and ₹0 delivery. Here is the honest trade-off.
Pricing last verified 13 Sept 2026 against official sources.
4.6/ 5 | 4.4/ 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Cost-conscious DIY investors who mainly buy-and-hold stocks or trade F&O occasionally. | Active F&O and intraday traders who live in charts. |
| Account opening | ₹0 (free)source | ₹0 (free)source |
| Annual maintenance (AMC) | ₹0 first year, then ₹300/yearsource | ₹0 lifetimesource |
| Equity delivery | ₹0source | ₹0source |
| Intraday | ₹20 or 0.03% per ordersource | ₹0 or 0.03% per ordersource |
| Options | ₹20 per ordersource | ₹0 per ordersource |
| Futures | ₹20 or 0.03% per ordersource | ₹0 per ordersource |
| Research & advisory | — | — |
| Charting | ✓ ChartIQ + TradingViewsource | ✓ Full TradingView integrationsource |
| Mobile app | ✓ Kite (Android + iOS)source | ✓ Dhan + Options Trader appssource |
| Web platform | ✓ Kite Websource | — |
| US stocks | — | ✓ From $1, fractional shares, 10,000+ stocks & ETFs (IFSCA route)source |
| Customer support | ✓ Ticket + call-and-tradesource | — |
| Trading API | — | ✓ Data + order APIssource |
| IPO investing | — | ✓ Supportedsource |
| Mutual funds | ✓ Supported | ✓ Supported |
| IPO | ✓ Supported | ✓ Supported |
| US stocks | — | ✓ Supported |
| Fees & pricing score | 4.8/5 | 4.5/5 |
| Trading platforms score | 4.7/5 | 4.7/5 |
| Customer support score | 3.9/5 | 3.8/5 |
| Research & education score | 3.5/5 | 3.0/5 |
| Ease of opening score | 4.2/5 | 4.4/5 |
Highlighted rows differ. “Confirming” means we haven't re-verified that figure yet — check the official pricing page.
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4.6/ 5
Pick Zerodha for proven stability, Varsity education and the lowest long-term cost for buy-and-hold portfolios.
4.4/ 5
Pick Dhan if you trade options or intraday seriously and want the best charting and execution UX in India.
Investors: Zerodha. Serious options/intraday traders: Dhan deserves a trial.
Zerodha: strengths & weaknesses
What we like
- ₹0 equity delivery brokerage
- Simple flat ₹20 intraday/F&O pricing
- Mature Kite web + mobile platform
- Strong Varsity investor-education library
- Free account opening
Watch out for
- ₹300/year AMC after free first year
- No research-advisory for beginners
- Support can be slow on volatile days
Dhan: strengths & weaknesses
What we like
- Excellent options-trading and charting UX
- Free account opening, zero AMC positioning
- Trader-first feature velocity
- Clean modern interface
Watch out for
- Young broker — shorter track record
- Advisory is light — platform-first, not full-service
- Mutual-fund experience is secondary
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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.