Upstox
Depends
Confidence: Medium
A legitimate, low-cost Indian broker that works fine if you trade cheaply and never need help.
New check
Comparison
Upstox vs Zerodha
Upstox lands on Depends, and Zerodha lands on Worth it.
Zerodha
Worth it
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you are an India-based retail investor or trader who wants low flat fees and a mature, beginner-friendly platform.
| Compare | Upstox | Zerodha |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Worth it |
| Best for | Cost-sensitive active traders in India | Beginner Indian investors |
| Who it's not for | Anyone who might need responsive customer support | US/global investors . India-only accounts; use Interactive Brokers instead |
| Privacy | Major April 2021 data breach disclosed; now runs a bug bounty program and public trust-and-security page.⁸ | SEBI-regulated broker with segregated client funds and Cloudflare WAF; one reported cybersecurity incident and a 2021 platform outage. |
| Support quality | SEBI referrals, horror threads, negative Trustpilot | 2021 glitch drew public investor fury |
| Public sentiment | Long-term users accept the pricing and app, but Reddit and Trustpilot repeatedly flag bad support, new AMC fees, and difficult account closure.¹ | Users praise Zerodha as a cheap, beginner-friendly broker while grumbling about per-order charges and occasional outages. |
| Biggest gotcha | Account maintenance charges introduced/raised; users report surprise fees on existing accounts³ | A 2021 exchange glitch froze the platform during market hours; plan for downtime risk |
Pick Upstox when
- Cost-sensitive active traders in India
- Beginners wanting stocks, MFs, IPOs in one app
- Chart-focused intraday traders
When Upstox is not a fit
- Anyone who might need responsive customer support
- Idle or small account holders hit by AMC fees
- Non-India users . the broker is India-focused
- Users unwilling to accept its 2021 data breach history
Pick Zerodha when
- Beginner Indian investors
- Cost-conscious active traders
- DIY long-term investors (ETFs, mutual funds)
- Intraday and F&O traders
When Zerodha is not a fit
- US/global investors . India-only accounts; use Interactive Brokers instead
- Anyone wanting advisory or robo guidance . it is just a broker
- Uptime-critical day traders . live outages have happened
- Foreign nationals without Indian PAN/KYC
Sources
- Upstox customer service reviews on Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview
review
- Reddit: HIGH Upstox AMCreddit.comreview
- Reddit: Upstox charging ₹20 per orderreddit.comreview
- Upstox Brokerage Charges (official)upstox.comofficial
official
- Upstox data breach . Have I Been Pwnedhaveibeenpwned.comsecurity
security
- Upstox Bug Bounty Program (official)upstox.comofficial
- Upstox launches US equities trading via Alpacaalpaca.marketsnews
- Upstox partners with TradingView for desktop platformibsintelligence.comnews
- Tiger Global-backed Upstox FY24 profit jumps 8xvccircle.comnews
- How Upstox secured 10 million+ user basezebralearn.comnews
- Zerodha homepagezerodha.comofficial
- Zerodha productszerodha.comofficial