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Brokerage calculator — the real cost of a trade on NSE

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Short answer

A trade on NSE costs far more than the brokerage: on top of the broker’s fee you pay STT (0.1% both sides on delivery, 0.025% sell-side intraday, 0.05% sell-side on futures, 0.15% of premium sell-side on options), NSE transaction charges, SEBI fees, stamp duty on the buy side, 18% GST on brokerage and transaction charges, and DP charges when you sell delivery holdings. This calculator adds all of it up for Zerodha, Fyers, Dhan, Angel One, Upstox, Alice Blue and Shoonya, and shows the price move you need just to break even.

Brokerage
STT
NSE transaction charges
SEBI charges
Stamp duty
GST (18%)
DP charges
Total charges

Gross P&L

Net P&L after charges

Breakeven move

Estimate for one NSE round trip (one buy + one sell order). Brokers round each component per order, so contract notes can differ by small amounts. For options, prices are premiums and quantity is lots × lot size.

Discount brokers advertise ₹0 or ₹20 trades, but the contract note always says more, because most of the cost of an Indian trade is not brokerage — it is tax and exchange charges that apply no matter which broker you use. Securities Transaction Tax alone dwarfs brokerage on delivery trades, and Budget 2026 raised STT again on the sell side of futures (to 0.05%) and options (to 0.15% of premium).

Pick a broker and segment, enter your prices and quantity, and the calculator itemises every component and computes your net P&L and breakeven. The exact rates used are printed in the assumptions table below the tool, with the date they were last verified.

What a trade actually costs on NSE

Seven components make up the cost of a round trip. Brokerage is the broker’s own fee, per executed order — zero to ₹20 at the brokers covered here. STT is a central tax on turnover, and the single largest cost on most trades. NSE transaction charges fund the exchange, at rates that differ by segment. SEBI charges ₹10 per crore of turnover. Stamp duty applies to the buy side only, at rates set nationally since July 2020. GST at 18% applies to brokerage, transaction charges and the SEBI fee — not to STT or stamp duty. Finally, DP (depository) charges apply per scrip per day when you sell holdings from your demat account.

The mix shifts by segment. On equity delivery, STT at 0.1% on both sides dominates and brokerage is often zero. On intraday, brokerage and STT are of the same order and frequency multiplies both. On options, the flat per-order brokerage is small against the premium, but STT on the sell side at 0.15% of premium and NSE’s 0.03553% transaction charge on premium add up fast for sellers.

Breakeven: the number that decides strategies

The most useful line in the result is the breakeven — how many points the price must move in your favour before the trade stops being a loss. A scalping strategy that targets 0.1% moves and pays 0.05% in charges hands half its edge to the cost stack; the same strategy at a lower-cost broker, or at lower frequency, might keep it. That arithmetic — not the headline brokerage — is what separates viable intraday systems from ones that only work in a costless fantasy.

This is also why any backtest that ignores charges is fiction. Every INDfolio AI backtest deducts this exact cost stack — brokerage, STT, exchange charges, SEBI fee, GST and stamp duty — from every simulated trade, so a strategy that survives the backtest has already paid its way. If a strategy idea survives this calculator’s breakeven test, backtesting it properly on NSE history is the natural next step.

Which broker is cheapest?

It depends on the segment. For equity delivery, Zerodha, Dhan and Shoonya charge no brokerage at all, so the difference comes down to DP charges on the sell. For intraday and F&O, Shoonya’s ₹5-capped orders are currently the lowest per-order fee among the seven, while the rest cluster at ₹20 caps with slightly different percentage rules that only matter on small orders. But statutory charges — the majority of the cost — are identical everywhere, so switching brokers moves the needle far less than reducing trade frequency does.

Use the broker selector in the calculator to compare the same trade across all seven, or open the dedicated per-broker calculators linked below for each broker’s full charge schedule.

Worked examples: total charges at every broker

Total round-trip cost of four typical NSE trades, computed by the same engine as the calculator above. Each trade is bought and sold at the same price, so the figure is the pure cost — statutory charges are identical everywhere, so the differences are brokerage and DP charges alone.

Broker Delivery, ₹1 lakhIntraday, ₹1 lakhFutures, 75 × ₹25,000Options, 75 × ₹150
Zerodha ₹237.82₹82.68₹1,107.60₹73.87
Fyers ₹284.43₹82.68₹1,107.60₹73.87
Dhan ₹237.23₹82.68₹1,107.60₹73.87
Angel One ₹293.28₹82.68₹1,107.60₹73.87
Upstox ₹289.68₹82.68₹1,107.60₹73.87
Alice Blue ₹287.38₹82.68₹1,107.60₹39.95
Shoonya ₹233.10₹47.28₹1,072.20₹38.47
  • Delivery, ₹1 lakh: Equity delivery — 100 shares at ₹1,000, bought and sold (₹1,00,000 each side)
  • Intraday, ₹1 lakh: Equity intraday — 100 shares at ₹1,000, bought and sold (₹1,00,000 each side)
  • Futures, 75 × ₹25,000: Futures — 75 units at ₹25,000, bought and sold (₹18,75,000 each side)
  • Options, 75 × ₹150: Options — 75 units at ₹150 premium, bought and sold (₹11,250 each side)

Rates this calculator uses

Verified September 2026 against each broker’s published charge schedule . Brokers revise pricing without notice — cross-check before relying on results.

Broker Equity deliveryEquity intradayFuturesOptions DP (sell)
Zerodha ₹00.03% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lower0.03% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lowerFlat ₹20 per order ₹15.34 per scrip per day (incl. GST)
Fyers 0.3% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lower0.03% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lower0.03% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lowerFlat ₹20 per order ≈₹14.75 per scrip per day (₹12.5 + GST)
Dhan ₹00.03% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lowerFlat ₹20 per orderFlat ₹20 per order ₹14.75 per instruction (₹12.5 + GST)
Angel One 0.1% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lower (min ₹5)0.1% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lower (min ₹5)Flat ₹20 per orderFlat ₹20 per order ≈₹23.60 per ISIN per day (₹20 + GST)
Upstox ₹20 per order0.1% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lower0.05% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lowerFlat ₹20 per order ₹20 per scrip per day on sell
Alice Blue 2.5% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lower0.05% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lower0.05% or ₹20 per order, whichever is lower0.05% of premium or ₹20 per order, whichever is lower ≈₹17.70 per scrip on sell (₹15 + GST)
Shoonya ₹00.03% or ₹5 per order, whichever is lower0.03% or ₹5 per order, whichever is lowerFlat ₹5 per order ≈₹10.62 per scrip (₹9 + GST)

Statutory charges (identical at every NSE broker)

Charge Equity deliveryEquity intradayFuturesOptions
STT 0.1% on buy and sell0.025% on sell0.05% on sell0.15% of premium on sell
NSE transaction charges 0.00307%0.00307%0.00183%0.03553% of premium
SEBI charges ₹10 per crore₹10 per crore₹10 per crore₹10 per crore
Stamp duty (buy side) 0.015%0.003%0.002%0.003% of premium
GST 18% on brokerage + txn + SEBI18% on brokerage + txn + SEBI18% on brokerage + txn + SEBI18% on brokerage + txn + SEBI

These calculators are free, run entirely in your browser, and store nothing. They produce estimates for NSE trades based on published rates and standard formulas — not investment advice, and not a substitute for your broker’s contract note. INDfolio AI builds algo trading software; the honest connection is that our backtests apply this same cost arithmetic to every simulated trade.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How is brokerage calculated on NSE trades?

Per executed order. Discount brokers charge either a flat fee (typically ₹20, ₹5 at Shoonya) or a percentage of order value capped at that flat fee, whichever is lower. A round trip is two orders — buy and sell — so a flat-₹20 broker costs ₹40 in brokerage per completed trade. Statutory charges (STT, exchange charges, SEBI fee, stamp duty, GST) come on top and are the same at every broker.

What is the biggest charge on a trade — brokerage or tax?

Usually tax. On a ₹1 lakh delivery round trip, STT alone is ₹200 (0.1% on both sides) while brokerage is ₹0 at several brokers. On options, STT on the sell side is 0.15% of premium — on a ₹50,000 premium sale that is ₹75, nearly double a ₹40 brokerage round trip.

Did STT rates change in 2026?

Yes. Budget 2026 raised STT on the sell side of futures from 0.02% to 0.05% and on the sell side of options from 0.125% to 0.15% of premium, effective 1 April 2026. This calculator uses the new rates. Delivery (0.1% both sides) and intraday (0.025% sell side) equity rates were unchanged.

Are the results exact?

They are close estimates. Brokers round each component per order, some quote DP charges excluding GST, and account-specific plans can differ. The rates used are printed in the assumptions table with the date they were verified — always reconcile against your contract note.

Does the calculator cover MCX, currency or BSE trades?

No — it models NSE equity delivery, equity intraday, futures and options only, which is also the scope INDfolio AI automates. BSE, MCX commodity and currency segments have different transaction charges and are not included.

Backtest with these exact costs deducted.

Every INDfolio AI backtest charges brokerage, STT, exchange fees, GST and stamp duty on every simulated trade — so strategies that pass have already paid their way. Free to start.

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