Which is better, Zerodha or Upstox? Provide justifications for your answer.
Here’s probably the only answer in this thread with no affiliate links in the post ;)Both are good choices. You might be surprised to hear me say that, since I’m a CoFounder of Upstox, but in business it’s important to be transparent since users/readers can easily see through BS. Plus, it’s really not in my nature to not be truthful :)Zerodha had first mover advantage over us, so naturally they have a larger client base. In many ways, they have set the trend for discount broking in India to pick up. Furthermore, they have done it while building a loyal user-base and legitimately innovating in a space that has seen little innovation is a long time.When we came to India in 2009, they were just starting out. We didn’t become a retail-facing firm until 2012, and by then Zerodha was already doing very well.So it’s important to understand Why we decided to launch a discount brokerage when there was already a respected, innovative player in the league. In business, the Why matters more than the How or the What.The honest truth is that we did it because we wanted to build a great product that was super user friendly and loved by tens of thousands of active traders. Coming from a trading background, the three of us knew how important it was for the end user to enjoy the trading experience. It wouldn’t have really mattered if there were three established discount brokers in the space; as long as we felt that we could build a better product, while keeping brokerage at Rs. 20 or lower per order, it was worth it.We eventually became the first in the country to build a complete in house product. We were the first to build a platform on the Web. We were the first to launch Aadhar based account opening. And of course, we were the first to launch free delivery trading.Like I said, you can’t go wrong with either option, but when you look at the Why, you’ll understand that Upstox is a pretty good choice.