Before getting into the brawl of Full Service Broker vs Discount Broker, let us understand what are the various types of stock brokers are present in India.
Full Service Broker vs Discount Broker comparison
Full-service Broker
Full service brokers offer you several services along with buying & selling of shares, options of research and advice as well as retirement and tax planning. They mainly offer stocks, annuities, bonds, derivatives and insurance. Besides an exchange, they charge considerably higher fees.
Among the full-service brokers, there are several bank subsidiaries that will offer you a 3-in-1 account, that is, a savings bank account, a Demat account and an online trading account. Examples are ICICI Direct, HDFC Securities, Kotak Securities, etc. Full-service brokers solicit business and are paid mostly through commissions. This also means they get compensated not according to how well your portfolio performs with time, but by how often you trade. Other full-service brokers provide all these facilities except a savings account. Some renowned brokerage houses are Angel Broking, Sharekhan, India Infoline, Motilal Oswal, Edelweiss & others.
Discount Brokers
They offer no-frill stock broking accounts. They only provide the necessary trading facility at the least possible cost. Discount brokers are a recent trend in India and are catching up fast.
Discount brokerages make money by doing business in greater volume, competing mostly on price and “reliability” of the service: Whoever has the lowest prices and the best service gets the most trades in the brokerage business.
Discount broker charges are much lower than that of Full-service brokers. Among the most prominent discount brokers in India are: RKSV/Upstox , Zerodha, 5Paisa, SAS Online & others.
Let’s see how these stock broking business type fares in following parameters
Full Service Broker vs Discount Broker – Research & Advisory
Full Service brokers will always be rated high compared to Discount Brokers when it comes to all types of Research & Advisory. Check here –
| Reports | Full Service Brokers | Discount Broker |
| Fundamental Reports | Yes | No |
| Research Reports | Yes | No |
| Company Reports | Yes | No |
| Annual Reports | Yes | No |
| Company Stock Review | Yes | No |
| Free Stock Tips | Yes | No |
| IPO Reports | Yes | No |
| Top Picks | Yes | No |
| Daily Market Review | Yes | No |
Full Service Broker vs Discount Broker – Brokerage Charges & Fees
Discount broker will always win this race against full service broker. Lets see the comparison –
| Brokerage Charge & Fees | Full Service Brokers | Discount Broker |
| Equity Delivery Trading | High | Low |
| Equity Intraday Trading | High | Low |
| Commodity Options Trading | High | Low |
| Equity Futures Trading | High | Low |
| Equity Options Trading | High | Low |
| Currency Futures Trading | High | Low |
| Currency Options Trading | High | Low |
| Demat AMC Charges | High | Low |
| Trading AMC Charges | Yes | Yes |
| Margin Fees | Yes | No |
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Full Service Broker vs Discount Broker – Products & Service Offered
This is one area where both the broker types are quite competent, Full service brokers are marginally ahead compared to discount brokers here.
| Products & Service | Full Service Brokers | Discount Broker |
| Demat Services | Yes | Yes |
| Trading Services | Yes | Yes |
| 3 in 1 Account | Yes | No |
| Intraday Services | Yes | Yes |
| IPO Services | Yes | Yes |
| Stock Tips | Yes | No |
| PMS | Yes | No |
| Margin Funding | Yes | No |
| Equity Trading | Yes | Yes |
| Commodity Trading | Yes | No |
| Currency Trading | Yes | No |
| Options | Yes | Yes |
| Futures | Yes | Yes |
Full Service Broker vs Discount Broker – Trading Platform Comparison
In comparison of trading platform, both types of brokers are equally competitive. Let’s check their review
| Trading Platforms | Full Service Brokers | Discount Broker |
| Desktop Platform – Windows | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform – Mac | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Browser Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Site Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Android App Platform | Yes | Yes |
| iOS App Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Windows App Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Other Mobile OS Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Real time Updates | Yes | Yes |
| Portfolio Details | Yes | Yes |
| Online MF Buy | Yes | Yes |
| News Flash | Yes | Yes |
| Research Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Easy Installation | Yes | Yes |
| Global Indices | Yes | Yes |
| Stock Tips | Yes | Yes |
| Personalized Advisory | Yes | Yes |
| Interactive Charts | Yes | Yes |
| Live Markets | Yes | Yes |
| SMS Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Email Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Multi Account Management | Yes | Yes |
Full Service Broker vs Discount Brokers – Stock broking experience
In this category, Full Service brokers will beat discount brokers very easily. Full service brokers have been in existence since ages & discount brokers are a new trend. But Discount broking firms are growing at a very fast rate as they charges very less brokerage, they are attracting traders towards them & engaging with them significantly.
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List of all Full-Service Brokers in India –
Angel Broking , Motilal Oswal , Kotak Securities , HDFC Securities , Sharekhan , India Infoline / IIFL , ICICI Direct , Edelweiss , Karvy , SBI Cap Securities , Geogit BNP Paribas , Anand Rathi , Religare Securities , Indiabulls Ventures , Just Trade , Ventura Securities , Aditya Birla Money , Axis Direct , SMC Global , GEPL Capital , IDBI Direct , GCL Securities , Arihant Capital , Mangal Keshav , MasterTrust , Networth Direct , Reliance Securities , Sushil Finance , LSE Securities
List of all Discount Brokers in India –
Zerodha , 5Paisa , Upstox / RKSV , Samco , SAS Online , Wisdom Capital , Trade Smart Online , Tradejini , Beeline Broking , Compositedge , RK Global , Achiievers Equities , Bonanza Portfolio , MDirect , TradingBells , EzWealth
List of Stock Broking Franchise in India –
Angel Broking Franchise , Kotak Securities Franchise , ICICI Direct Franchise , Sharekhan Franchise , Motilal Oswal Franchise , IIFL Franchise / India Infoline Franchise , SMC Franchise , Nirmal Bang Franchise , Sushil Finance Franchise , Profitmart Franchise
Important Blog Posts –
Top 10 Stock Brokers in India , Best Stock Broker in India , Top 10 Intraday Trading Brokers in India , Top 10 Sub Broker Partner in India , Best Demat Account in India , Full Service Broker vs Discount Broker in India , 10 Best Practices of Share Market Investment , Mutual Fund vs Real Estate Investment