5paisa vs Upstox in 2023

5paisa and Upstox are two leading discount brokers in India that offer you to invest in stocks, mutual funds, and other investment products. Both stockbrokers offer the same features in many ways. You may find it difficult to make difference between the two based on their annual charges, brokerage charges, or leverage. 

The decision of which option is best for you can only be made based on your individual investment needs. Let’s understand the difference.

5paisa vs Upstox: Which is Better for You 

Upstox allows you to invest in stocks, mutual funds, and IPOs. You can trade in equity, commodity, and currency segments in Upstox without paying any account opening or AMC fee.

5paisa also allows you to trade in all the above-mentioned segments but you can also invest in US stock from India through 5paisa which is a plus point for 5paisa.

Upstox announced the US stock investment from India about 3 years ago, but there is still no progress on it. 

Upstox wins in terms of trading platforms, on the other side, 5paisa wins in terms of providing more services to clients including, US stocks, and Portfolio management services.

You can choose based on your investment preference like if you want to invest in US stock then go with 5paisa. For a decent trading platform with no account opening or AMC fee, Upstox is the right option for you. 

If you only want to invest or trade only in equities then you can decide based on your preference between the trading platform and the multiple services you want in one place.

Let’s compare 5paisa and Upstox side by side for each feature

5paisa vs Upstox Investment Products

You can invest with 5paisa in

  • Stocks
  • Mutual funds 
  • IPO 
  • US Stocks 
  • Equity F&O 
  • Currency F&O
  • Commodity F&O
  • Portfolio Management Service

Upstox offers a wide range of products similar to 5paisa except for US stock investment and PMS services. Investment products offered by Upstox include 

  • Stocks 
  • Commodity 
  • Currency 
  • Mutual Funds
  • IPOs
  • F&O in all segments 

Winner – 5paisa

You can also learn how to read Japanese candlestick charts to trade in these different investment products including stocks, commodity, mutual funds and currency.

5paisa vs Upstox Account Charges 

5paisa and Upstox offer free account opening and zero annual maintenance charges. 

Upstox5paisa
Account OpeningFreeFree
AMC 0Rs 25 per month

I am not sure that Upstox wouldn’t change the offer in the future as earlier, Upstox keeps changing their offers on account opening and AMC. 

If you can open an Upstox account with Rs 0 AMC, you may be charged for AMC fee in the future. You can check out the details about all 5paisa charges including AMC, and brokerage.

Winner – Upstox

5paisa vs Upstox Brokerage Charges

5paisa and Upstox both charge discounted brokerage fees, Upstox charges a lower of Rs 20 or 0.05% on equity intraday, Futures, and Options. Whereas, 5paisa has 3 brokerage plans – 

  • Regular – Zero subscription fee
  • Power Investor – Rs. 599 per month
  • Ultratrader – Rs. 1199 per month

Paisa brokerage charges under different plans are as under

SegmentRegular PlanPower InvestorUltra Trader
Equity DeliveryRs. 20 per orderRs. 10 per orderZero
Equity IntradayRs. 20 per orderRs. 10 per orderRs. 10 per order
Equity F&ORs. 20 per orderRs. 10 per orderRs. 10 per order
Currency F&O TradesRs. 20 per orderRs. 10 per orderRs. 10 per order
Commodity F&O TradesRs. 20 per orderRs. 10 per orderRs. 10 per order

Since Upstox has a single plan, we can compare the regular 5paisa plan for a better understanding. 

Segment5paisa (Regular Plan)Upstox
Equity DeliveryFlat Rs. 20 per executed orderRs. 20 or 2.5% whichever is lower
Equity Intraday Flat Rs. 20 per executed orderLower of Rs. 20 or 0.05% per executed order
Equity FuturesFlat Rs. 20 per executed orderLower of Rs. 20 or 0.05% per executed order
Equity OptionsFlat Rs. 20 per executed orderFlat Rs. 20 per executed order
Currency FuturesFlat Rs. 20 per executed orderLower of Rs. 20 or 0.05% per executed order
Currency OptionsFlat Rs. 20 per executed orderFlat Rs. 20 per executed order
Commodity FuturesFlat Rs. 20 per executed orderLower of Rs. 20 or 0.05% per executed order
Commodity OptionsFlat Rs. 20 per executed orderFlat Rs. 20 per executed order

Winner 

Depends on your investment or trading requirements. For active traders, 5paisa is a better option because 5paisa offers specific plans to match traders’ requirements. 

If your trades are below Rs 40,000 per transaction is your requirement then Upstox is a better option because Upstox offers 0.05% per executed order. You can learn about all Upstox charges in detail here.

5paisa vs Upstox Leverage

After SEBI regulations on peak margins from 1st September 2021, both 5paisa and Upstox provide the same margin of up to 5x leverage for intraday. 

You can trade equity using Margin intraday square off (MIS) and Cover Order (CO) to get up to 5 times leverage for intraday. So, if you have Rs 20,000 lakh, you can buy or short stocks for intraday up to Rs 1 lakh with both Upstox & 5paisa. 

There is no leverage offered by any stockbroker for equity F&O, currency, and commodities segments. 

Winner – both are the same

Margin Trading Facility 

Upstox offers a margin trading facility which is like a short-term loan. On activating MTF, 50% of the transaction value will be used from your deposited funds, and the remaining 50% will be borrowed from Upstox.  

For example, if you place an order of Rs 2,00,000, then Rs.1,00,000 will be used from your Upstox funds, and the remaining Rs 1,00,000 will be paid through Upstox MTF. In simple words, you can buy shares of 2x the value of your Upstox wallet. 

In Upstox, MTF is fixed at 50% of the transaction value. You can borrow up to Rs. 5 lakhs under MTF in Upstox and you can hold stocks for 150 days under MTF.

Upstox MTF charges

You have to pay Rs.20 per day for every Rs. 50,000 borrowed which is separate from the brokerage.

5paisa offers better margin funding as compared to Upstox at nominal interest rates making it an ideal choice for heavy volume traders. 5paisa has named it Margin Plus.

5paisa Margin Plus features 

  • No cash margin is required for Intraday trades across all segments
  • No interest on margin shortfall in intraday trades across all segments
  • 5paisa charges 0.03% per day on all overnight derivates /cash delivery trades
  • No need to maintain a 50% cash margin in F&O 
  • 5paisa levies interest rates initially at 10.95% p.a in F&O 
  • 5x margin leverage for cash delivery orders at .045% per day interest

Winner – 5paisa

5paisa vs Upstox Trading Platforms

You can expect the same trading platform experience with both Upstox and 5paisa. 

Upstox provides simple, clutter-free, and easy-to-use platforms. Upstox Pro, a web-based platform offers a powerful combination of in-depth research, unlimited watchlists, and smart filters. 

You get a range of advanced trading tools, such as in-depth charting, technical indicators, GTT orders, and basket orders. 

You can invest in one place to invest in stocks, mutual funds, and even IPOs using Upstox pro mobile app. You can check out our detailed Upstox review to understand all the pros and cons of a Upstox trading account.

If we talk about 5paisa, the earlier 5paisa customers complained about the lag in the real-time data. But now 5paisa has improved its trading platforms. 5paisa offers a simple web-based platform and an intuitive mobile app. 

5paisa offers a plethora of additional services apart from stocks, derivatives and mutual funds. These services are loans, insurance, digital gold, and US stocks that make the app a little complex to understand for a new user.

I personally found the Upstox app interface more simplistic and easy to use than 5paisa. 

5paisa has also launched VTT (Valid Till Triggered) orders (which is a renamed version of GTT) making stock investment more flexible and personalized for you

Winner – Upstox with a slight edge. 

You may like to readUpstox vs Groww broker comparison

5paisa vs Upstox Customer Support

In my research report on the top 20 stockbrokers in India, Upstox has a lower percentage of complaints filed by customers with the stock exchange in comparison to 5paisa.

In 2022-23, a total of 229 complaints are registered with exchange against 5paisa from a customer base of 8,10,937. 

Whereas 379 complaints are registered with exchange against Upstox from a customer base of 31,58,595. 

CustomersComplaints %ge
5paisa8109372290.028%
Upstox31585953790.012%

You can see 5paisa has almost 2.4x more complaints filed with the exchange as compared to Upstox. An indication of poor customer support. 

5paisa is trying to improve its customer support as it has now set up a dedicated escalation matrix to resolve customer issues as mentioned in the table below. 

Designated OfficerContactEmail Id
Customer careCustomer Service8976689766
Press IVR Option 5
(Mon to Fri 8.30 am to 6.00 pm & Sat 9.30 am to 3.30 pm)
[email protected]
Head of Customer careMr. Shoaib Qureshi 8976689766
Press IVR Option 5
(Mon to Fri 8.30 am to 6.00pm & Sat 9.30 am to 3.30 pm)
[email protected]
Compliance OfficerMs. Namita Godbole 8976689766
Press IVR Option 5
(Mon to Fri 8.30 am to 6.00 pm & Sat 9.30 am to 3.30 pm)
[email protected]
CEOMr. Prakarsh Gagdani8976689766
Press IVR Option 5
(Mon to Fri 8.30 am to 6.00 pm & Sat 9.30 am to 3.30 pm)
[email protected]

Upstox provides general customer support primarily for account opening issues. 


Upstox Customer Care
Account opening number 91-22-6130-9999
Account opening email[email protected]
Trading issues022 4179 2999, 022 6904 2299, 022 7130 9999
Ticket raiseUpstox ticket to raise 

Winner – Upstox 

Why Upstox is Better than 5paisa

Upstox is better than 5paisa for providing free demat and trading accounts with Zero account opening as well as no annual charges.  Whereas 5paisa charges monthly charges of Rs. 25 per month.

Upstox trading platforms have an edge over 5paisa trading platforms. Upstox’s customer support is also better than 5paisa. 

Why 5paisa is Better than Upstox

5paisa is better at providing multiple services in one place whether it is stock investing, mutual funds, Insurance, Loan and digital gold.

5paisa also provides more than 6,000 mutual funds to invest in whereas Upstox has only listed more than 2500.

Secondly, if you want to invest in US stock or want to trade big volumes, then 5paisa is better for you. 

5paisa vs Upstox Related Questions

Can I invest in mutual funds using Upstox?

Yes, Upstox offers users the ability to invest in mutual funds. It offers a range of mutual funds to choose from and allows users to invest in SIPs (Systematic Investment Plans).

Does Upstox charge an annual fee?

No, Upstox does not charge an annual fee.

Is 5paisa better than Upstox for long-term investing?

Upstox and 5paisa both charge almost similar brokerage fees in equity delivery.

However, Upstox may be a better choice for new traders who has a trading amount per order is less than Rs. 40,000 as Upstox charges 0.05% per order. Whereas 5paisa is better for active traders with high volumes.

Which platform offers better customer support, Upstox or 5paisa?

Upstox offers slightly better customer support as compared to 5paisa.

Can I transfer my stocks from Upstox to 5paisa?

Yes, you can transfer your stocks from Upstox to 5paisa by following a few simple steps. You will need to fill out a stock transfer form and submit it to both 5paisa and Upstox.

How does 5paisa make money?

5paisa makes money by charging a brokerage fee as well as value-added services such as advisory services and account management services.

Does Upstox offer a demo account?

Yes, Upstox offers a demo account that allows users to practice trading with virtual money before they start trading with real money.

Can I invest in IPOs using 5paisa?

Yes, 5paisa allows you to invest in IPOs from its platforms.

Is Upstox safe to use?

Yes, Upstox is a safe and secure platform to use. It is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and has robust security measures in place to protect user data and funds.

About Rajan Dhawan

Rajan has covered personal finance and investing for over 5 years. Previously, he was in the IT field for 8 years after completing his MCA but his deep interest in personal finance led him to become an investing expert. He is passionate about investing, stocks, startups, and cryptos.

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