Which broker? How to trade options with ₹0 brokerage

1,000 options orders: what each route costs

Prices only mean something when you multiply them out. Take an active options trader who places 1,000 executed orders in a month: about 50 a day across 20 trading days, which multi-leg strategies and adjustments reach quickly.

At 1,000 orders a month, Quantplay plus Kotak's API (₹700) costs less than the Kotak Neo app (₹10,000 in brokerage), and far less than Zerodha or Angel One (₹20,000).

Options brokerage at six brokers

Most large brokers charge a flat ₹20 per executed options order. Kotak Neo is the exception on both routes:

What ₹0 brokerage on Kotak Neo actually means

There are two ways to send an order to Kotak Neo:

• The app or website. You tap buy or sell yourself.
• The Neo Trade API. An API is a way for software to place orders for you: your own script, or a platform such as Quantplay.

Kotak prices these two routes differently. From its support page on Trade API brokerage:

“Brokerage is ₹0 per order on all trade free plans when you place trades via Neo Trade APIs. Only standard exchange, SEBI, GST and statutory charges apply.”

The API has no subscription fee either. Kotak's Trade API page calls it “free of cost at present”. Kotak announced it on 10 November 2025, effective 1 November 2025, for all API orders under the Trade Free plans.

The app works differently. Every Trade Free plan is free for 30 days, then:

• The API ₹0 isn't tied to your first month. The 30-day ₹0 is a welcome offer on app trades; the API price sits on the Trade Free plans. Kotak calls the API free “at present”, so it could change.
• Bracket orders are the exception. Kotak's Trade API page says the square-off leg of a bracket order pays standard brokerage.
• Trade Free plans only. Kotak also sells dealer-assisted plans such as MPower. Check your own plan before assuming the API price applies.
• Market orders become limit orders. Kotak's Trade API page says SEBI rules don't allow market orders for retail algo trading, so Kotak converts them at a price limit it sets. Expect to name a price.
• Static IP and rate limit. API orders need a registered static IP, and Kotak allows up to 10 orders per second.
• Already on Kotak Neo? Turn on the API in the app under Invest → Trade API → API Dashboard, where you generate an access token and register a static IP.

What you still pay on a zero brokerage trade

₹0 brokerage removes the broker's commission. Charges set by the government, SEBI and the exchanges stay. Kotak's pricing page doesn't list them the way Zerodha does, so here is Zerodha's published schedule to show what they look like. Check your Kotak contract note for the exact figures.

GST is 18% of brokerage plus a few other fees. When brokerage is ₹0, there's no GST on it either: a ₹20 fee really costs ₹23.60, and a ₹10 fee costs ₹11.80. For options traders the honest framing is that ₹0 brokerage lowers costs, but STT on the sell side and the exchange charge on premium remain. Zero brokerage on options doesn't mean free options trading.

The all-in cost, every charge included

Here is the month with brokerage, GST, STT, exchange charges, the SEBI fee, stamp duty and Quantplay's fee all added, assuming each order moves ₹5,000 of premium (about one Nifty lot), half buys and half sells.

At 1,000 orders, the government and exchange share is about ₹5,900 whichever route you pick. What changes is the brokerage on top: from ₹23,600 with GST down to ₹0.

At your volume: when Quantplay's ₹700 pays for itself

Not everyone places 1,000 orders. Here is brokerage plus GST at four monthly volumes:

Above about 30 options orders a month, Quantplay's ₹700 costs less than the brokerage you'd pay Zerodha or Angel One (₹700 ÷ ₹23.60 per order). Above about 60, it also costs less than the Kotak Neo app's brokerage (₹700 ÷ ₹11.80).

No code, no AI: trade by hand at ₹0 brokerage

You don't need to write code to use Kotak's API price. Connect Kotak Neo to Quantplay and trade from its web app the way you would in any trading app. Every order goes out over Kotak's Trade API, so it pays ₹0 brokerage on a Trade Free plan, and your orders and positions still show up in the Kotak Neo app.

• Option chain trading

  Buy and sell straight from the chain, with your live quantity, OI, IV and PCR on each strike.

• Basket orders

  Send every leg of a straddle, strangle or spread together.

• Quick adjustments

  Move a position to another strike in a few clicks.

• Exit all

  Close every position at once when you need out.

The same ₹700 for 30 days covers it, with your own static IP included and your Kotak session started every morning. If you also want an AI to trade for you, it's the same fee.

Let your AI place the orders

Prefer to ask instead of click? The same connection works with ChatGPT, Claude, Grok and other AI apps, so you can trade in plain words:

• Orders in plain words

  "Sell 2 lots of the 24500 Nifty straddle at ₹180." Trading stays off until you allow it.

• Stoploss, target and kill switch

  Account-wide limits that run on Quantplay's servers, even when the chat is closed. Your AI can't change the kill switch.

• Market and company data

  Option chains, live prices, FII/DII flows, index P/E, shareholding and corporate actions.

• Talk by voice

  Ask out loud in Grok's voice mode, or through your own agent built on Hermes or OpenClaw.

Reading your portfolio with an AI is free. Setup takes about 10 minutes: connect Kotak Neo to Quantplay.

Limits and caveats

• Plans and prices change. The API ₹0 applies to Trade Free plans, and Kotak calls it free "at present". Prices were checked on 12–13 November 2026.
• Cheaper orders don't make options less risky. Lower costs make it easier to trade more, and that isn't a reason to.
• Neither this article nor Quantplay gives investment advice, tips, targets or return expectations.

How to decide, in five steps

1. 1
   Count last month's executed orders from your contract notes, split into delivery, intraday and options.
2. 2
   Price them three ways: your current broker, the Kotak Neo app after the first 30 days, and the Kotak Trade API at ₹0. Add 18% GST to any brokerage.
3. 3
   Decide how you want to place orders: in the Kotak app, with your own code, or through Quantplay by hand or by AI.
4. 4
   If you do, compare ₹700 against step 2 using the volume table above.
5. 5
   Start read-only, and turn trading on only once you're comfortable.

Sources

All checked 12–13 November 2026 (IST).

• Kotak Neo: What is the brokerage for using NEO Trade API?
• Kotak Neo Trade API (bracket orders, rate limit, market orders)
• Kotak Neo pricing (Trade Free, Youth, Pro)
• Kotak Neo press release, 10 November 2025: zero-brokerage, zero-fee Trade APIs
• Zerodha charges (brokerage and statutory charges)
• Zerodha: charges for Kite APIs
• Angel One brokerage and transaction charges
• Upstox brokerage charges
• Dhan pricing
• Fyers pricing
• Quantplay: Kotak Neo setup and fee

FAQ

Kotak Neo's ₹0 brokerage on Trade API orders is real and in writing. If you want ChatGPT or Claude to place options orders at that price, with a stoploss and kill switch that keep running after you close the chat, that's what we built. Reading your account is free: connect Kotak Neo.