₹25,620 crore saved on brokerage: What Zerodha's Nithin Kamath wants you to know

Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath on Thursday said the firm's zero-brokerage model for equity delivery trades has helped users save an estimated ₹25,620 crore over the past decade.

Sharing a chart, Kamath said the savings were calculated against a traditional 0.3% brokerage model between 2016 and 2025. Even against a lower 0.1% benchmark, users saved ₹8,540 crore, while under Zerodha's own pricing model, they paid ₹2,518 crore less over the same period.

Kamath said the company’s approach stems from its decision to avoid external funding and investor pressure. "Not having to answer to investors or chase revenue targets is a huge advantage and, honestly, a blessing," he said. He added that this independence has allowed Zerodha to stick to its core principles, including not charging brokerage on equity delivery trades.

"It's what has allowed us to stick to our philosophies like not spamming users, not tracking behaviour, not having different pricing for different people, and not doing things that aren't in the interest of customers," he said.

In a blog post, the company said it remains among the few brokers offering zero brokerage on delivery trades and outlined several practices it has avoided.

"We don't send you notifications designed to make you trade more. We don’t push margin funding (MTF) to get you to borrow and trade. We don’t have differential pricing for trading, MTF, or anything else. We don’t cross-sell financial products. We don’t advertise. We don’t track your usage data or mine it to find new ways to extract revenue from you," the company said.

Zerodha said this model has been possible because it has not raised external capital. "There are no investors to show growth numbers to, no pressure to justify revenue targets," it said.

The company added that broking remains a cyclical business influenced by market conditions and regulatory changes, noting that entire segments have been affected in recent years by policy decisions.

Despite not advertising, Zerodha said 25% to 30% of its new accounts come through referrals. "Traders and investors who use Zerodha like what they see and tell their friends and family," it said.

Kamath said maintaining this approach is not always easy. "All of this is easy to say and harder to stick with, especially when I look at the charts of listed brokers," he said.

The savings were highest during the post-pandemic trading surge, with ₹7,000 crore in 2024 and ₹5,200 crore in 2025 under a 0.3% brokerage comparison. For 2026 so far, the estimate stands at ₹1,705 crore.
 
Zerodha said its philosophy remains unchanged. "We'd rather grow with our customers than at their expense."