Open your first demat account with the right broker

There's no single best demat account for everyone — the right one depends on how often you trade, whether you want a full-service broker with research and advisory support, or a discount broker with the lowest brokerage. Use our broker comparison tool to see account opening fees, AMC, delivery brokerage and real user ratings across SEBI-registered brokers side by side, so you can match the account to how you actually plan to invest.

For a first demat account, look beyond the headline "zero account opening fee" and check the annual maintenance charge (AMC), delivery and intraday brokerage, and how easy the app is to use day to day. Brokers like Zerodha, Groww and Upstox are popular starting points for beginners because of their simple onboarding and low ongoing costs — run them through our comparison tool before opening one.

A handful of brokers, including Dhan and Shoonya in our comparison, charge ₹0 on account opening, AMC and equity delivery brokerage. The fastest way to find them all is the brokers page — use its zero AMC and zero brokerage filters to instantly shortlist every qualifying broker, since new ones get added over time. These zero-cost accounts suit investors who mainly buy and hold, though it is worth checking their intraday and F&O charges separately since those are not always free.

No — a high rating tells you how satisfied existing users are, but not whether the account fits your needs. Use the rating alongside the actual charges (AMC, brokerage, hidden fees) in our comparison tool, and confirm the broker is SEBI-registered and linked to CDSL or NSDL before opening an account.

At minimum, compare the account opening fee, annual maintenance charge (AMC), equity delivery brokerage, intraday and F&O brokerage, and any charges for fund transfers or account closure. Our brokerage calculator estimates the real cost for your typical trade size across brokers, and the brokers page filters let you narrow the list to zero AMC or zero brokerage options first.

Yes. You can open a demat account with a new broker and transfer your existing holdings to it, or simply stop using the old account — though some brokers still charge AMC on an inactive account, so check that before switching. There is no need to settle for a broker that is not working for you; our comparison tool makes it easy to line up alternatives.