Upstox has over 10 million users. We can thus consider it as one of the top 3 stock brokers in India. I created an account on the site this month and have been using it every day. Is Upstox good for trading? In the following paragraphs, I have shared the features which traders (people who buy and sell the shares on the same day) of this broker will find useful. I have also shared some of the important features you won’t find in the applications of Upstox.
Supports GTT
Upstox mobile and web application doesn’t support bracket order. It lets you create GTT orders. The option to create the same is available in the GTT tab of the Upstox orders interface. You can configure the GTT to trigger when the price is below or above a certain number. You have to set this number. In Zerodha, you have to enter the stop loss and target percentage. In its counterpart, this is optional. The textbox to enter the target and stop loss will appear only when you select the checkbox.
Integrated with TradingView and ChartIQ
Two of the most popular charting libraries i.e. ChartIQ and TradingView are available in the mobile and desktop application of Upstox. You can easily switch between the two with one click of the button.
Options smartlist
Creating and managing watchlists is a waste of time. Some of the stock brokers have pre-popular watchlists comprising various instruments (derivatives, equities, etc). Upstox has a feature dubbed options smartlists which gives you access to instruments that you can buy or sell quickly. You can filter the options in this list by the following conditions:
- Price under 5000, price under 10000.
- Top traded, most active, OI gainers, OI losers.
- Price gainers, price losers, IV gainers, IV losers.
Trade from charts
Trade from charts is one of the features that apps of most stock brokers in India lack. Upstox lets you buy and sell stocks from the TradingView charts. You can also create stop loss orders with the same. Once your order has been sent to the exchange, you can see its position and the stop loss price on the chart itself. Upstox lets you modify the positions by moving the horizontal lines on the chart.
Brokerage
Traders have to pay a huge brokerage if they place many orders. Even though Upstox charges Rs 20 per order, the total brokerage you end up paying at the end of the day can be significant. For example, if the total profit for the day is 2000 Rs and you have placed 100 orders, you will be paying Rs 2000 fees to Upstox. In addition to the 2K Rupees, you will also be charged GST, STT, exchange fees, etc. Thus, instead of making a profit, you will end up at a loss.
Now let’s have a look at the features that you won’t find in Upstox but its alternatives provide (example Kotak Securities)
You cannot change the time frame without opening the subdomain
You cannot change the timeframe in the charts which open when you open the Upstox web or mobile application. To change the same, you will have to click on the “TradingView” icon. When you do so, the broker will open a sub domain “trade with tradingview’. You can change the timeframe in the sub domain.
Doesn’t let users set default orders
If you buy a share in the last 15 minutes of the day’s trading session, you may forget to square off the position. Here’s when the MIS feature comes handy. By default, the order type is set to “delivery”. To place MIS orders, you will have to click on the “Intraday” button each time. This is because Upstox doesn’t let you set the default order.
