Groww pulls ahead as India’s top retail broker despite F&O slowdown

As of September 2025, Groww commands a 26.3 percent market share with 11.9 million active clients, making it the largest retail broker in India

Groww is tightening its grip on India’s retail broking industry, emerging as the market leader in active clients while maintaining superior margins through sharply lower customer acquisition costs. Analysts at Nuvama said the platform’s reduced dependence on derivatives trading places it in a stronger position than peers as the ongoing slowdown in futures and options (F&O) activity weighs on the broader market.

As of September 2025, Groww commands a 26.3 percent market share with 11.9 million active clients, making it the largest retail broker in India ahead of Angel One’s 48.3 percent industry share in incremental additions over recent years. The platform has grown its client base at 101.7 percent CAGR between FY21 and FY25, outpacing the broader industry rate of 27 percent.

Cash segment drives scale while F&O volatility persists

The biggest push has come from the cash market, where Groww has rapidly widened its presence. Its cash active client base surged 47.7 percent to 10.3 million during FY24 through Q1 FY26. This helped expand its cash equity average daily turnover (ADTV) market share by a substantial 1,048 basis points to 23.1 percent.

Although active F&O users fell 25.9 percent to 1.4 million, Groww still managed to gain share in derivatives turnover, up 684 basis points to 14.4 percent. According to the Nuvama brokerage report, this highlights its ability to deepen engagement among existing F&O traders even when the number of active participants declines.

The current downturn in F&O trading is expected to hit brokerage revenues industry-wide. However, Groww’s impact is projected to be modes at a 5 percent drop in orders may push Q1 FY26 revenue, EBDAT and APAT lower by just 2.5–4.8 percent. In contrast, rivals with higher derivatives dependence, such as Angel One, are expected to face sharper margin pressure, the report said.

Lower costs unlock stronger profitability

One of Groww’s biggest advantages lies in its unit economics, according to Nuvama.
The platform continues to spend materially less on marketing than peers, despite achieving faster expansion. During FY25–Q1 FY26, Groww allocated only 12–12.5 percent of revenue to marketing, compared with Angel One’s 22.5–27.5 percent.

This contributed to a steep decline in customer acquisition cost (CAC), which dropped to just Rs 1,441 per active client in FY25, nearly one-fourth of Angel One’s Rs 6,076.

The low CAC is largely driven by strong brand recall, a simplified product experience and organic user adoption, the report said.

The financial outcome is visible with Groww’s EBDAT margin at 59.7 percent in FY25, above Angel One’s 41.1 percent. Its return on equity (RoE) for the year came in at 49.5 percent.

Nuvama report describe the business model as a “flywheel”, low CAC supports strong margins, which “in turn allows for continued investments into technology and user expansion.”

Granular revenue mix reduces risk exposure

Broking revenues remain the primary contributor to earnings, accounting for 84.6–79.6 percent of total revenue through FY25–Q1 FY26. In comparison, Angel One derived over 60 percent of total revenue from the segment during the same period, indicating greater exposure to market sentiment and trading volume shifts.

The mix supports income stability, the report said. A decline of 281 basis points in orders per active client on Angel One to 62 percent, versus Groww’s milder dip of 98 bps to 74.5 percent, underscores the difference in sensitivity to F&O swings.

Scaling beyond broking

While broking remains the engine of growth, Groww has begun to expand into more value-accretive verticals including lending, insurance distribution, and asset and wealth management.
The report added, these segments are yet to meaningfully contribute to revenue, but analysts see them as key to the platform’s roadmap for monetisation and diversified financial services delivery.