Intraday traders take and close a position on the same day. It is one of the most difficult and riskiest forms of trading. Although there are many brokers that let you buy and sell scrips on the same day, not all of the platforms are worth using. New stock brokers may have attractive subscription plans but their performance may not be good. I had a horrid time with one such broker in the past. I wouldn’t name it here.
Why is the performance of the stock market app crucial? If the price of the stock is not up to date, you may not know the exact status of your position. Also, if the position is not squared off quickly, your profit or loss may not be the one you saw before squaring off the order. Which application should you use? Here are the four great high-performance and feature-rich day trading applications you can use in India:
Best intraday trading apps in India
Kotak Securities Neo
Kotak Securities had some serious performance-related problems in December 2022. Now, the platform is robust and trustworthy. The reason why I think KS is perfect for day traders is its zero brokerage plan.
The company has been adding new features to its desktop and mobile applications of late. Some of the notable features are as follows:
- Revamped option chain.
- Option chain for commodity contracts.
- Enhanced charts, etc.
The zero brokerage plan of KS is for intraday orders only. If you carry forward the position, you will have to pay 20 Rs brokerage.
ICICI Direct
ICICI Direct flash trade module has been specially built for intraday options traders. It shows a chart, the list of scrips, and the condition of the order selection. It also shows the current loss or profit you’ve made after taking a position.
The company has launched a 7rs brokerage plan for users using the flash trade feature of ICICI Direct to place orders. You will have to register for the same if you have a trading account with the company. If you don’t see any offer after signing into the dashboard, you may not be eligible for the offer.
Another reason why I-Dir is a great broker for day traders is its NEO plan which lets users enjoy zero brokerage on Futures trading. ICICI Direct has also introduced a “prime bullet plan” wherein trades squared off within five minutes won’t be charged any brokerage.
Nuvama Wealth
Nuvama, earlier known as Edelweiss, is one of the leading and oldest stock brokers in India. Its mobile trading app for Android and iOS has a rating of 4.5. The rating is good because the number of people using the application is over 5 million. The company has launched two plans – Lite and Elite. The brokerage charged in the Lite plan is just 10 Rs per order.
This company supports bracket orders. You can thus place an order and forget it. Nuvama will book the profit automatically when the price of the stock is equal to the target price you’ve set or square off the position if its price is down by X points. You have to set the value of X while placing the bracket order. Nuvama supports ChartIQ charts and it also offers two desktop trading apps – Extreme and TX3.
Sharekhan Espresso
Espresso is a subsidiary of one of the most popular stock brokers in India i.e. Sharekhan. It is a discount broker that charges Rs 20 per order. Why am I recommending it? Other companies will charge a brokerage no matter what the outcome of your trade/positions is. Espresso won’t charge you for a sell order if your position is a loss-making one.
The company offers leverage on options buying. It also gives users access to TradingView Pro charts. Espresso saves users time by populating the watchlist with appropriate scripts. For example, there’s a module called Ezy Option that will fill the watchlist with N strikes automatically. Espresso is one of the best platforms out there for intraday trading. It is also a great option for delivery-based trading as the brokerage charged for the same is zero.
Dhan
Unlike Espresso, Dhan will charge you 20 rs brokerage for buy and sell orders. I like this broker because it has some unique and time-saving features. For example, you can find out top gainers, losers, gainers by volume, and stocks trading at their 52-week high/low price in a matter of seconds, and place an order with just 2 clicks of a button. Dhan offers a toggle option to change the order type from buy to sell or vice versa or call to put to from put to call. If you’re an options trader, Dhan offers a dedicated trading website for you where you can build strategies, see pre-built strategies, view the option chain data, etc in real-time.
Reasons why Zerodha, Upstox, Groww, etc are not ideal for newbie day traders:
20 Rs brokerage is the reason why these three platforms are not ideal for new or wannabe traders. Zerodha reported a massive profit in the last quarter. I wouldn’t be surprised if over 50% of the revenue of the firm is from brokerage charged to users whose account is new or aged under 2 years.
