Brokerage Wars and Fees: What Indian Retail Investors Are Saying About Zerodha, Groww, and Upstox in 2025

Brokerage wars are heating up the Indian retail scene in 2025: Zerodha vs Groww is a debate about cost, trust, and simplicity. Upstox rides in as a criticized underdog, while investors chase sharper stock-analysis tools.

Rivalry snapshot — Groww has captured a massive following with a simple, scroll-friendly interface and 12.6M active users, while Zerodha stays focused on a clean core and zero brokerage for delivery ^[1].

Pricing and features — Zerodha Coin offers 0 fee for mutual funds, and Groww is described in threads as charging similar FnO brokerage to Zerodha; some opinions say Groww doesn’t charge AMC, relying on brokerage instead ^[1].

Upstox under fire — a critical post accuses Upstox of being the most expensive broker, with Rs. 50+GST for nominee changes, Rs. 20 withdrawals, and a push toward the “Upstox Plus” plan that can raise costs. It also cites broken lifetime AMC promises and aggressive MTF pitches, plus concerns about company culture and investor optics ^[3].

Avg buy price after transfer — Traders transferring positions to Zerodha ask how to properly know their average buy price, with a note to update it in the Kite console ^[2].

Stock-analysis resources — readers show interest in stock-analysis sites, with mentions of a website that analyzes stocks from screener data and references to TradingView and screener.in ^[4].

Bottom line: in 2025, cost clarity, platform reliability, and accessible analysis tools are shaping where Indian retail investors park their money. Watch how Zerodha, Groww, and Upstox evolve on those fronts.

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