Zerodha API charges and algo trading
Kite Connect separates order access from market data. Choose a Personal or paid app according to the data you need; the API fee does not replace the brokerage on trades.
Facts checked through . Each row links to the broker’s published instructions. Account-specific eligibility and terms can change after this date.
Algo trading & API: published facts
| Topic | Published terms / instructions |
|---|---|
| Trading API fee | Personal API: ₹0 for orders, positions, holdings and funds. Live and historical market data are excluded.Official source: Trading API fee · Verified |
| Trading + data fee | Paid Kite Connect: ₹500 per month per API key, including live and historical data. Confirm applicable tax at subscription checkout.Official source: Trading + data fee · Verified |
| Conditional developer credits | From October 2026, paid users generating at least ₹2,000 brokerage in a calendar month receive 500 developer credits worth ₹500 toward the following month’s renewal. Zerodha’s example: ₹2,000 or more brokerage in September covers the October 2026 renewal. Eligibility is checked at month-end; below the threshold the published ₹500 subscription applies.Official source: Conditional developer credits · Verified |
| Login and session | Kite login returns a request token; the server exchanges it using an API-secret checksum. The access token expires at 6 AM the next day unless invalidated earlier. Keep the secret off client-side code.Official source: Login and session · Verified |
| Static IP setup | From 1 April 2026, API order placement needs a whitelisted static IP. In the developer account open Profile → IP Whitelist, enter a primary and optional secondary IP, then Update. Changes are limited to once per calendar week; data streams and read APIs are not restricted to that IP.Official source: Static IP setup · Verified |
| Order and request limits | Order placement: 10 requests/second, 400 orders/minute and 5,000 orders/day per user/API key. Quotes: 1 request/second; historical candles: 3/second. At most 25 modifications per order. These are endpoint/RMS limits, not a throughput guarantee.Official source: Order and request limits · Verified |
| Testing environment | Zerodha does not provide a Kite Connect sandbox. Technical API queries use the developer forum rather than regular phone/ticket support.Official source: Testing environment · Verified |
Subscription, trading cost and permissions
An API subscription buys connectivity or data access. Brokerage, exchange charges, taxes, account fees and any ISP/cloud/static-IP costs are separate. A free API does not mean a free trade. A market-data entitlement does not establish permission to redistribute that data.
NSE’s retail-algo standards distinguish ordinary API order access from exchange-registered strategies exceeding the 10 orders/second threshold. Orders below the threshold still require the exchange’s generic identifier and broker controls. Registration is through the broker to the relevant exchange; it is not an investment approval or a return guarantee.
The framework applies fully from 1 April 2026. Registered static IPs, two-factor authentication and daily session logout requirements coexist with broker-specific endpoint quotas. Do not confuse a data-request limit with an order allowance. Confirm the current setup directly with Zerodha.
Regulator sources re-read 2026-10-11. KYB provides information; it does not connect to your account, collect API keys or place orders.
Zerodha Algo trading & API FAQ
Personal API: ₹0 for orders, positions, holdings and funds. Live and historical market data are excluded.
Paid Kite Connect: ₹500 per month per API key, including live and historical data. Confirm applicable tax at subscription checkout.
Kite login returns a request token; the server exchanges it using an API-secret checksum. The access token expires at 6 AM the next day unless invalidated earlier. Keep the secret off client-side code.
From 1 April 2026, API order placement needs a whitelisted static IP. In the developer account open Profile → IP Whitelist, enter a primary and optional secondary IP, then Update. Changes are limited to once per calendar week; data streams and read APIs are not restricted to that IP.
Order placement: 10 requests/second, 400 orders/minute and 5,000 orders/day per user/API key. Quotes: 1 request/second; historical candles: 3/second. At most 25 modifications per order. These are endpoint/RMS limits, not a throughput guarantee.