Discount Brokers
Side-by-side audit
Company A
SolidDhan
Fintech / Stock Broker / Trading Platform
FY2025 Revenue
₹877 Cr
FY2025 PAT
+₹408 Cr
Company B
SolidZerodha
Fintech / Stock Broking
Revenue FY2025 (-11.5% from record FY2024)
₹8,810 Cr
PAT, 48% net margin
₹4,232 Cr
The 30-Second Summary
Dhan and Zerodha look like different companies.
The numbers say they're the same business.
- Same margins, both ~47% net.
- Same model, flat-fee per trade, derivatives-led.
- Same discipline, zero debt, full corporate cash tax, self-funded growth.
- Only difference, time.
Zerodha is what happens when this model compounds for a decade. The model is solved. Only time separates them.
Where the Numbers Rhyme
Two brokers in the same regulatory regime can run wildly different P&Ls. Dhan and Zerodha don't.
Net margin (PAT / revenue)
Dhan
46.6%
₹408 Cr profit on ₹877 Cr revenue
Zerodha
48.0%
₹4,232 Cr profit on ₹8,810 Cr revenue
The gap: Both close to half. The unit economics of the flat-fee discount-broking model are essentially identical.
Cash tax paid (full corporate rate)
Dhan
~₹140 Cr
28% of profit; full Indian corporate rate
Zerodha
~₹1,400 Cr
33% of profit; full Indian corporate rate
The gap: Neither has a tax shield. Both report real, taxable profit and pay it in cash.
Capital structure
Dhan
Zero borrowings
self-funded from operating cash
Zerodha
Zero borrowings
self-funded for over a decade
The gap: Identical. Both refuse leverage; both grow from operations.
The operating model has converged. The unit economics are not contested between the two; only execution and acquisition speed are.
The core insight
Dhan and Zerodha disagree on nothing structural. The audits read like the same business at different points on the curve.
Where the Numbers Diverge
The differences are scale and trajectory.
Revenue scale
Dhan
₹877 Cr
FY2025 standalone
Zerodha
₹8,810 Cr
FY2025 standalone
The gap: Zerodha is 10× the size. But the unit economics underneath are the same.
Revenue growth (YoY)
Dhan
+136%
fastest growth in the listed/audited broker cohort
Zerodha
Low-teens
now the market; growing in line with the category
The gap: Dhan is taking share. Zerodha is the category.
Advertising intensity
Dhan
₹74 Cr
+168% YoY; buying acquisition
Zerodha
Negligible
referral-led; earns acquisition
The gap: Same product. Different acquisition strategy. Dhan pays for users; Zerodha doesn't have to anymore.
Liquid asset cushion (treasury / cash)
Dhan
~₹163 Cr
year-end FY2025
Zerodha
Multi-thousand crore
decades of compounded retained earnings
The gap: Cushion size funds optionality (research, asset management, fund products). This is where Zerodha's lead extends beyond brokerage.
The Common Risk
A flat-fee broker is a leveraged bet on retail derivatives volume.
This is what makes the comparison interesting: their fates are correlated. Either both compound, or both compress.
What Each Has That the Other Doesn't
The structural advantages cut both ways.
The advantages that don't transfer
Dhan's edge
Enters a settled category.
In 2010, Zerodha had to educate retail traders on what flat-fee discount broking even meant. Demat penetration was under 5% of households. In 2021, Dhan entered a market where the model is no longer in question. Acquisition cost is higher (everyone competes for the same trader), but product education is done. A ₹2,500-4,000 Cr revenue base at the same margins is structurally available; FY2025 is on that curve.
Zerodha's edge
A decade of cohort depth.
Zerodha has compounded the same demat customers for over a decade. Those customers graduate: cash equity → derivatives → mutual funds (Coin) → bonds → wealth management. Each transition keeps them on the platform. The revenue line has shock-absorbers. Dhan's revenue mix is more concentrated in the cyclical F&O product, a regulatory shock hits Dhan harder.
→ Dhan has the unproven-category problem solved. Zerodha has the multi-product retention that comes only with time. Neither can copy the other.
The Read
This isn't competition. It's a timeline.
Dhan
A smaller Zerodha on the same audited math.
Zerodha
What this model produces after twelve years of cohort compounding.
Same margin. Same discipline. Same playbook. Different points on the same curve.
“The model is solved. Only time separates them.”
UnpopularVoice editorial read
Read Each Audit
The full filing-by-filing breakdown for each company is in the individual articles, with all sources and the audited line items they each surface.