Kotak Securities review
Independent review of Kotak Securities — brokerage, app, account opening, customer support and the kind of investor it actually fits. Kotak Securities (broking arm of Kotak Mahindra Bank) operates on the Kotak Neo platform with four plans: Trade Free (0.20% delivery, ₹10 per order intraday and F&O), Trade Free Youth for under-30s (free delivery), Trade Free Pro (₹249/month, 0.10% delivery), and Dealer-Assisted (0.20% delivery, 0.02% intraday/futures, ₹35 per lot options).
Verdict
Investors who want a full-service, bank-backed broker with the option of a 3-in-1 Kotak Mahindra Bank account plus low-cost discount-style pricing through Kotak Neo.
Brokerage at a glance
Headline brokerage on the default Kotak Securities trade free plan plan. On top of brokerage you also pay STT, exchange transaction charges, SEBI fee, stamp duty, GST and DP charges — see full charges for the breakdown.
About Kotak Securities
Kotak Securities (broking arm of Kotak Mahindra Bank) operates on the Kotak Neo platform with four plans: Trade Free (0.20% delivery, ₹10 per order intraday and F&O), Trade Free Youth for under-30s (free delivery), Trade Free Pro (₹249/month, 0.10% delivery), and Dealer-Assisted (0.20% delivery, 0.02% intraday/futures, ₹35 per lot options). Trade Free plans charge F&O per executed order, not per lot.
The Kotak Neo trading app
- Trade and invest in equity, F&O, IPO, ETF, mutual funds and SIP in one app
- Margin Trading Facility (MTF) with pay-later, up to 4x leverage
- TradingView charts with technical indicators and screeners
- Mutual fund SIP investing starting at Rs 100 across 1000+ schemes
- Portfolio analysis and watchlist management
- Digital KYC account opening with e-signature
Opening a Kotak Securities account
Account opening is fully online for Indian residents. Keep your PAN, Aadhaar (with mobile linked for OTP), a bank cancelled cheque or statement, a passport-size photo and a signature on white paper handy. Aadhaar e-KYC, in-person video verification and e-sign typically take 1–3 working days end-to-end. Start at www.kotaksecurities.com.
Customer support
Kotak Securities support is available customer service all days 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; live chat and whatsapp all days 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; grievance officers 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on trading days. For complete contact details, the four-level SEBI escalation path (broker desk → compliance officer → SCORES → SMART ODR), and what to have ready before escalating, see the Kotak Securities customer care page.
Pros and cons
How we judge this: these pros and cons are drawn from Kotak Securities’s published charges and platform features, its app-store ratings — cross-checked against its SEBI registration and NSE / BSE membership. They are our editorial assessment, not a sponsored placement, and not financial advice.
What users say about Kotak Securities
Paraphrased themes from public app-store reviews and forums — these are users’ opinions, not our testing, and not financial advice. Sampled 2026-06-14.
- TradingView-powered advanced charting inside the app
- Single platform for equities, F&O, mutual funds, IPOs, ETFs and commodities
- Margin Trading Facility (MTF) with payoff analyzer and margin calculator tools
- In-house research recommendations across intraday, short-term and long-term horizons
- Biometric (Face ID / fingerprint) login and multi-factor authentication
- Zero brokerage on API orders via the Neo Trade API
- Some users report slower customer support response during peak / high-traffic periods.
- Some users report delays in getting issues resolved.
Alternatives to Kotak Securities
By active client count, Kotak Securities is the #6 largest of 38 retail brokers on the NSE (as of 2026-04-30). If you're weighing it against the field, these are the brokers people most often compare it with:
See the full ranked list of every retail broker in India on the stock brokers in India page, or compare exact landed cost on a typical trade with the brokerage calculator — switch brokers in the dropdown without leaving the page.
Frequently asked
What people ask about Kotak Securities.
Kotak Securities is SEBI-registered and holds NSE / BSE membership, so it meets the regulatory bar every Indian broker must clear. Whether it is a good fit depends on what you trade. Investors who want a full-service, bank-backed broker with the option of a 3-in-1 Kotak Mahindra Bank account plus low-cost discount-style pricing through Kotak Neo.
Equity delivery is 0.2%. Equity intraday is ₹10 / 0.05%. Equity options is Flat ₹10. On top of brokerage you pay STT, exchange transaction charges, SEBI fee, stamp duty, GST and DP charges. The brokerage calculator on this site shows the all-in landed cost for a sample trade.
Kotak Securities is registered with SEBI and a trading member of NSE / BSE. Demat accounts are held with CDSL or NSDL — the broker does not hold your shares, the depository does. Funds are held in a SEBI-regulated client bank account separate from the broker's own funds. The risk to investors from broker failure is limited; the larger risk to manage is account fraud via phishing and OTP sharing.
Trade and invest in equity, F&O, IPO, ETF, mutual funds and SIP in one app. Margin Trading Facility (MTF) with pay-later, up to 4x leverage. For a full feature list and download links see the Kotak Securities app page.
Account opening is fully online for Indian residents. You need PAN, Aadhaar (with mobile linked for OTP), a bank cancelled cheque or statement, a passport-size photo and a signature on white paper. Aadhaar e-KYC, in-person video verification and e-sign typically take 1–3 working days. Apply via https://www.kotaksecurities.com.
Discount brokers comparable to Kotak Securities include Zerodha, Groww, Upstox, Dhan and Angel One. Full-service alternatives include ICICI Direct, HDFC Securities, Kotak Securities and Sharekhan. Compare brokerage rates side-by-side on the brokerage calculator before switching.