Nextbillion Technology Pvt. Ltd. (Groww app owner company) launched Groww app in 2017 as a direct mutual fund investing app with an easy-to-use user interface (UI). They eventually added additional features such as Indian stock investment, stock or derivatives trading, and US stock investment to become 2nd biggest stock broker in India after Zerodha.
We’ll discuss all of the features, pros, and cons of the Groww app one by one in this article.
Groww App Review (Quick Glance)
The Groww app is an investment-cum-trading app that allows you to invest in mutual funds, stocks, and IPOs. You can also do Intraday and F&O trading.
A user-friendly interface, low brokerage, and good customer service are what I liked about the Groww app.
However, they charge brokerage on equity delivery which is disappointing as most of the newcomers don’t immediately jump into trading. They start with investing small amounts and they don’t like paying brokerage on their investments.
This is where Zerodha excels with zero brokerage on equity delivery.
Another interesting thing about the Groww app is that it is getting transformed from an investment app to an All-in-One personal finance app.
Because they have introduced three new features –
- Groww pay for the UPI payments
- Get a quick personal loan in seconds with the Instaloan feature
Term and health insurances are on the way to being a part of the app as per the latest updates from the Groww team.
Let’s discuss other features and benefits in the next section.
Groww App Features & Benefits
1. Simple User Interface
Groww app has a very simple user interface. When you log in to the Groww app you get a simplistic dashboard divided into two segments – Stocks and Mutual Funds.
I. Stocks segment
You can search stocks, make watchlists, check top gainers/losers of the day, and other useful options for stock investment and trading.
A unique feature “Most bought stocks on Groww” shows in which stocks Groww users are investing the most to help you understand which stocks are popular among people.
That can help you follow the trend or you can make a different strategy if you don’t wanna be a part of the herd.
You also get the option of IPO in the “stocks segment” where you can check out the running and upcoming IPOs and bid in the appropriate one.
You also get other options such as
- Holdings – Checkout your current stock investment details
- Positions – Your intraday, F&O, or after-market orders (AMO) open orders that are not closed yet.
- Orders – Details of orders that you have executed on that trading day. You can also execute GTT orders from the order section.
II. Mutual Funds segment
In this section, you can invest lumpsum or sip in a variety of mutual funds such as index funds, equity funds, debt funds, tax saver funds, and many more.
You can see a list of top mutual funds by clicking on “All Mutual Funds”. The list will be having mutual fund’s name and its 3-yr return. You can change the return tenure to 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years.
III. Profile Menu
You can access the profile menu by clicking on your name or id in the top right corner.
You can access demat account details, track orders, funds, customer support, and reports of your investments and trades.
2. Multiple Investment & Trading Options
We’ll briefly discuss all the investment and trading options available in Groww app. You can also read ‘How to invest in Groww app’ article for in-depth details.
I. Direct Mutual Funds
You can directly invest in thousands of mutual funds. Direct mutual funds investment means you don’t have to pay any commission on mutual funds investment.
You can invest lumpsum amounts in mutual funds or start a SIP (Systematic Investment Plan).
II. Stocks, F&O, and IPO
- Stocks – invest in stocks for the long term or do intraday trading
- IPO – You can subscribe to the latest IPO within the app and invest in the new player in the stock market.
- F&O – You can also trade in derivatives of stocks or indices such as Nifty, or BankNifty on the go from your smartphone.
However, Groww doesn’t offer to trade in currency and commodities segments.
III. US Stock Investment
You can invest in US Stocks through Groww’s Web application only. Currently, it is not available on smartphone apps. A web application is a platform or portal that you open in a web browser like Google Chrome.
Don’t mix the Groww web application with the Groww app for PC. The company doesn’t offer a Groww app for PC.
Groww web portal provides you access to more than 3000 US stocks and ETFs in collaboration with Viewtrade (a US-based broker).
You can invest in popular tech companies like Apple, Tesla, Amazon, and Google. And the best part is that you don’t have to pay any brokerage fees while investing in US stocks from India. However, you have to pay a $9 per withdrawal to the partner bank in the USA.
Groww also offers the flexibility to buy fractional shares of stocks which means you can invest in a fraction of the stock rather than buying the whole share of that stock.
For example, if you want to buy Apple stock and one share of Apple is worth $170 (Rs. 13,940) but you have only Rs 1,000 to invest, you can still buy a fraction of Apple’s share worth Rs 1,000 only.
You can go through our article on How to buy Apple shares in India which will guide understand the process.
3. Free Demat Account and Low Brokerage
Another benefit of the Groww app is that there’s no account opening fee and no annual maintenance fee. So you get a free demat-cum-trading account for life (until Groww announces any charges).
Groww also offers low brokerage on delivery, intraday, and futures n options as shown below –
| Segment | Brokerage |
| Equity Delivery | Lower of Rs. 20 or 0.05% |
| Equity Intraday | Lower of Rs. 20 or 0.05% per executed order |
| Equity Futures & Options | Flat Rs. 20 per executed order |
| US stocks | Zero brokerage |
The fee structure of Groww mimics Upstox, but the Groww app doesn’t offer currency or commodities trading.
You can also read our comparison on Upstox vs Groww to learn more about both discount brokers. We also have a separate article on Groww’s annual charges where I have discussed all the charges that Groww can levy from you.
4. Efficient Customer Support
Groww has drastically improved its customer support in recent years.
According to my report on the top 20 stockbrokers in India, I found that Groww has the lowest percentage of complaints (0.004%) filed by clients with the stock exchange among the top Indian brokers.
In 2022-23, a total of 237 complaints are registered with the exchanges against Groww from a customer base of 5301449 which is 0.004%.
Groww has a special escalation matrix for handling client complaints as mentioned in the table below.
| Designated Officer | Contact | Email Id | |
| Customer care | Customer Service | 9108800604Mon to Fri (9 AM – 7 PM)Sat (9 AM – 2 PM) | [email protected] |
| Head of Customer care | Mr. Sunil Bissa | 8046161210Mon to Fri (9 AM – 7 PM) | [email protected] |
| Compliance Officer | Mr. Boudhayan Ghosh | 8061933732Mon to Fri (9 AM – 7 PM) | [email protected] |
| Designated Director | Mr. Santosh Jayaram | 01161195318Mon to Fri (9 AM – 7 PM) | [email protected] |
5. Groww Pay
Groww has recently introduced a UPI payment interface named Groww Pay. You can do instant online payments with Groww Pay similar to what you do with GPay, or PhonePe.
You can attach your bank account, or an existing UPI ID to register with Groww Pay. You can also create a new Groww Pay UPI ID for future payments.
6. Instant Loan
Another feature that Groww has launched is Instaloan. Instaloan is a personal loan that you can get instantly (I literally mean in a couple of minutes) without any documentation.
You can take the loan at around 12-30% per annum interest rate based on your CIBIL score. no early eclosure charges so you can settle the loan earlier. Easy EMIs starting from 3 months to 60 months.
Groww is providing the instaloan facility to selected customers in partnership with IDFC First Bank Ltd and Aditya Birla Finance Ltd
7. Secure & Reliable App
Groww is a SEBI-registered investment advisor making it a trustworthy platform for your investments.
Regarding the app’s security, the Groww app uses a 256-bit AES encryption standard to secure your personal information entered on the platform.
Groww App Pros and Cons
Pros of Groww App
- User-friendly interface that makes investing and trading easy for beginners
- Free demat account with no account opening fee or annual maintenance charges
- Diverse investment options, including direct mutual funds, stocks, F&O, SGBs, and IPOs
- Low brokerage fees ensure cost-effective trading
- Integration of additional features like Groww Pay and Instaloan for enhanced financial management
- Improved customer service support
Cons of Groww App
- Commodity and currency trading is not available
- US stock investment option only available on the web portal
- Brokerage charges on equity delivery make it a costly affair for beginner investors
Conclusion
The Groww app is a user-friendly, secure, and feature-rich app for investing in various financial assets along with new features of UPI payments and Instaloan is making the app more versatile.
Still, the Groww app has some limitations, such as derivates trading is not available, and US stock investment is restricted to the web app only.
You can go for the Groww app if you prefer a free demat account with no worries of AMC charges and you primarily focus on mutual funds investment and don’t mind paying brokerage on occasional stock investments.
FAQs
Yes, the Groww app is available for both Android and iOS devices. You can download it from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
No, there are no account opening or maintenance charges for a demat account on Groww. It is completely free to open and maintain a demat account.
Yes, you can invest in international stocks using the Groww app. Through a collaboration with Viewtrade, a US-based broker, the app provides access to over 3000 US stocks and ETFs. You can invest in popular tech companies like Apple, Tesla, Amazon, and Google, among others.
Investing in mutual funds through the Groww app is simple. You can choose from a wide range of mutual funds, including index funds, equity funds, debt funds, and tax savings funds. You have the option to invest a lump sum amount or start a SIP (systematic investment plan) for regular investments. The app provides all the necessary information and tools to help you make informed investment decisions.
The Groww app uses 256-bit SSL data encryption and two-factor authentication, to ensure the protection of user information.
Groww app owner are Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh, and Ishan Bansal (all former employees of Flipkart).
They founded Groww in May 2017.
No. Groww doesn’t provide any app for PC. You can use web version or smartphone app.
