Proposal: Keep Kite app simple, build a separate Kite Super App

sandeep_cs · September 29, 2025, 3:16pm

The current Kite app is loved for its simplicity, speed, and trading focus, and it should remain uncluttered and distraction-free. At the same time, a Kite Super App could offer advanced features to cater to both active and new-gen traders, including stocks, ETFs, F&O, commodities, mutual funds with SIPs, IPO investing, advanced charts, watchlists, alerts, Events, Smart Screeners, Volume Busters, and portfolio analytics.

Proposal: Keep the current Kite app as a simple, lightweight trading platform, and build a separate Kite Super App for users who want a feature-rich experience. This approach lets Zerodha serve both active and new-gen traders without compromising the fast, clean experience of Kite, while providing advanced tools, deeper analytics, and reliable support in the Super App.

sandeep_cs · September 30, 2025, 5:47pm

Following up on my previous proposal for a Kite Super App, here’s I will try to add small use cases, whenever I get the time

Suppose we have a portfolio of 20 stocks and wish list of 200 stocks — and we want to track important events like dividends, bonus issues, stock splits, demergers, or any other corporate actions. Currently, Zerodha doesn’t offer an in-house way to track all these events directly in Kite. Users rely on scattered third-party apps like Tijori, Ticker Tape, Moneycontrol, etc., which breaks the seamless experience.

Proposal:

Integrate an in-house events tracker directly into Kite Super App or even Kite Watchlist.
Users can see upcoming and past events for all stocks in their watchlist at a glance.
Include filters and notifications — e.g., dividend announcements, splits, bonuses, or corporate actions — for active and new-gen traders.
This removes dependency on external apps and keeps the entire trading & investing experience within Zerodha.

Such a feature would make Kite Super App a one-stop solution for both trading and informed investing, saving users time and improving engagement.

I’d love to hear from the community:

What features would you expect or love to see in a Kite Super App?
Which tools, notifications, or analytics would make it indispensable for your trading and investing workflow?
Do you support the idea of having a separate Kite Super App, or would you prefer everything in the existing Kite app?

dcd · October 1, 2025, 2:55am

Great idea to address all segments of the investing/trading community. But I will suggest to keep it a single app, with an option in settings to enable Pro mode. Managing releases across two different apps will complicate engineering unnecessarily.

sandeep_cs · October 2, 2025, 7:18am

We propose that Zerodha retain the existing Kite app as the fast, lightweight core platform. In parallel, Zerodha can build a Kite Super experience — either as a separate app or as a togglable advanced mode — which layers in power tools such as corporate actions tracker, rich analytics, alerts, event filters, portfolio deep dive, and advanced charting.

We believe MTF (Margin Trading Facility) has now become a bigger driver of engagement and revenues than even options, especially among new-age traders. Yet, the current experience for MTF users is scattered — they rely on external screeners and news apps to track stocks before taking margin trades. A dedicated MTF-first interface inside Kite (or Kite Super) can solve this by offering a daily discovery dashboard showing most traded stocks, top gainers/losers, intraday movers, MTF-eligible top stocks, and sectoral heatmaps. This will help traders quickly identify opportunities while staying within the Kite ecosystem.

Alongside discovery, the dashboard can feature portfolio-linked news, watchlist alerts, and a clear margin utilization bar that highlights interest cost and potential margin call levels. One-click actions like “Buy on Margin,” “Convert Delivery ↔ MTF,” and “Repay Margin” would make the experience seamless. By giving young traders a fast, transparent, and engaging MTF UI, Zerodha can strengthen retention, capture more of the leveraged trading segment, and expand MTF revenues — while keeping the core Kite app clean and uncluttered.

Alongside discovery, an MTF module should give users complete visibility of their leveraged positions: portfolio snapshot, margin utilization meter, interest clocking per day, and real-time risk alerts (e.g., margin call triggers, circuit moves, sudden news). Integrated stock-linked news for both portfolio and watchlist can further enhance decision-making. Action buttons like “Buy on Margin,” “Convert delivery ↔ MTF,” and “Quick repay margin” will make the journey seamless. By providing speed, risk transparency, and actionable insights in one place, Kite can become the go-to MTF platform for new-gen traders, deepening engagement and strengthening Zerodha’s core revenue stream.

Trader_123 · October 2, 2025, 1:18pm

Or maybe just charge a reasonable interest rate , rather than what we have now ?

sandeep_cs · October 2, 2025, 3:28pm

When option volumes decline, there are likely to be notable shifts in trading behavior. First, intraday volumes in stocks and indices may rise as traders move towards cash market opportunities. Second, leverage products like MTF could see a sharp surge in usage, as traders seek alternative ways to maintain higher exposure. Importantly, strong growth in MTF trade volumes can also help offset costs and ensure that delivery trades remain free, as they are today.

This shift has side effects as well. MTF delivery trades may increase as participants look for profitability outside derivatives, and once delivery charges come into effect, traders could be drawn towards competing platforms that already offer super-functionality-rich apps. To retain and engage these users within the Zerodha ecosystem, a stronger MTF-focused experience becomes critical.

Even though there has been no response from the Zerodha team so far, our intent is not to drag them into a discussion forcefully. However, given the shifts in market behavior and the growing importance of MTF in sustaining both user engagement and revenue, it is essential for Zerodha to start participating in this conversation. Proactive involvement now is not just about innovation — it is about long-term survival and competitiveness in a landscape where other brokers are already moving fast with functionality-rich platforms.

Also refer : Zerodha may soon introduce charges for equity delivery trades, a service previously free .

sandeep_cs · October 6, 2025, 3:54am

Kite is for trading, Console is for tracking & reporting
Personally I love this feature , also I love the reason behind it (as per my knowledge) . Clean, focused UI; no clutter; faster trading experience. I want clutter free , fast experience .

Kite → This is the trading platform. It’s designed for speed, simplicity, and low-latency order placement. You use Kite for:
- Real-time market watch
- Charts and analysis
- Placing buy/sell orders
- Managing positions
Console → This is the back-office and reporting platform. It’s built for compliance, record-keeping, and analytics. You use Console for:
- Trade reports and contract notes
- P&L statements
- Tax-ready reports (capital gains, turnover, etc.)
- Fund transfer history
- Holding and portfolio insights

Why not just one app?

Performance separation: Trading needs a light, fast app. Adding back-office heavy data and reports would slow Kite down.
Different architecture: Kite works on live market APIs, Console runs on post-trade data from the exchange’s clearing system (which is updated after market hours).
Scalability & compliance: By splitting them, Zerodha can keep trading smooth while separately handling all compliance/reporting needs.

New-gen customers (millennials, Gen Z, young professionals) often prefer all-in-one, frictionless experiences. Having to switch between Kite for trading and Console for reports may feel fragmented to them, especially when other fintech apps combine trading + analytics + portfolio insights in a single interface - Extra logins, context switching, feels outdated compared to “super apps.”

So the real question to validate with customers is:
Do they prefer simplicity + speed (separate apps) or convenience + integration (single app)?

Another question we need to consider is whether the new-gen customers are also actively engaging on TradingQnA, or if their preferences and discussion habits are shifting elsewhere. Because when we are discussing about the super app , their inputs are more valuable …

sandeep_cs · October 6, 2025, 11:50am

Console Performance curve and Analytics section

I should accept , I don’t know what this means (from my portfolio)

But this make sense for me

in the analytics section , even in the AI era , I can see - Silver etfs are counted as debt

zoomtrader · October 7, 2025, 8:26pm

Great idea, but difficult to execute. With the number of bugs in production that i am seeing for Coin, I feel it might just be better for the wider users that they focus on new features and bug fixes over building a new platform.

Just yesterday, the allotment report emails for MF units was bugged and did not have the fund name. Such kind of bugs in live production indicates larger gaps internally and QA issues. Someone signed off on pushing it to live models, but did not test it properly.

Also, Coin is having a lot more discrepancies lately, even though they do get resolved in a couple of days, but it messes up the fund data in the interim.

I am excited about the new features and changes that are being worked on, but simultaneously the bugs are annoying.

zoomtrader · October 7, 2025, 8:33pm

Same! The portfolio performance is another one for me - insightful from an initial glance, but bugged and not very intuitive unless you track your portfolio regularly.

Sheesh!! ETFs are not debt lol.

This is what i mean with my post above. There are many bugs that need to be addressed, before they think of making a new platform.

I know they are working on it, but might just be that the team is understaffed/ overworked.

To add to it, if the equity deliveries start getting charged, then the Zerodha edge takes a huge hit. Lots of people, including me, use Zerodha because of it. Also, a flat fee won’t really work here. They will need to bring it on a percent basis to offset the loss from options.

sandeep_cs · October 9, 2025, 8:18am

I just asked ChatGPT what to expect from a next-gen brokerage app — here’s what it came up with.

1. Smart Investing Core

1.1 AI-Powered Portfolio Manager

Dynamic rebalancing: Uses AI to rebalance your portfolio automatically based on volatility, correlations, and macro trends.
Behavior tracking: Detects panic selling, overtrading, or revenge trading patterns — suggests interventions.
Goal simulation: Lets users simulate portfolio outcomes (retirement, house, education) under different return/volatility assumptions.

1.2 Auto-ETF Builder

Builds ETF portfolios from scratch based on risk score, inflation protection, and yield preference.
Example: “Build me a ₹10L inflation-hedged 2040 portfolio” → platform constructs equity, gold, bond, and REIT ETF mix with SIP rebalancing.

1.3 AI Strategy Coach

Reads your trade history and gives a “trader profile”: e.g. “Momentum-biased, poor exit timing, high profit volatility.”
Suggests risk position sizing and stop-loss discipline improvements.

2. Market Intelligence Layer

2.1 Institutional Flow Radar

Tracks FII/DII flows by sector, timeframe, and derivatives exposure.
Provides alerts like “Smart money rotated from banking to auto in last 3 days.”

2.2 Smart Heatmaps

Real-time, sentiment-driven market maps integrating F&O open interest, volume, and delivery data.
Highlights short covering or accumulation zones visually.

2.3 Gift Nifty Bridge

Integrates live Gift Nifty futures and arbitrage data to show expected Nifty open and volatility cues.

3. Execution Innovation

3.1 Adaptive Order Engine

Detects spreads and dynamically routes orders (limit vs market vs iceberg) to optimize execution.
Example: Slices a ₹50K ETF order into micro-lots automatically to avoid impact cost.

3.2 Pre-Trade Risk Meter

Before you place a trade, it shows a visual gauge of margin risk, portfolio exposure, and probability of loss.

3.3 Passive Income Mode

Converts idle holdings into covered call or lending programs (automated with risk guardrails).

4. User Experience Redefined

4.1 Chat-based Investing Interface

Like talking to ChatGPT inside the broker: “Buy ₹2,000 of Nifty ETF if Nifty < 24,500.”
Converts plain English instructions into limit orders and automates conditional trades.

4.2 Visual Trade Journal

Interactive P/L charts tied to trading screenshots and notes.
AI tags mistakes automatically (e.g., “Exited early due to fear,” “No stop-loss”).

4.3 Community Strategy Boards

Verified retail traders share transparent track records.
You can “clone” a strategy into your account with custom sizing.

5. Transparency & Trust

5.1 Open NAV Validation

Displays NAV source and time stamps for each ETF to prevent NAV mismatch errors.
Blockchain-backed order audit trail for transparency.

5.2 Fee Simulator

Before executing, the app shows you expected total cost (brokerage + STT + slippage).

6. Integrations & Ecosystem

6.1 Bank + Broker Fusion

Instant margin funding, sweep-in/out between savings and trading accounts.
Real-time loan eligibility based on portfolio (e.g., instant overdraft on mutual funds).

6.2 API-First Modular System

Developers and advanced users can build custom dashboards, signals, and bots using plug-in APIs.

6.3 AI Alerts Integration

Connects with Telegram/WhatsApp or voice assistants: “Hey, Nifty just broke 24,500 — do you want to deploy GROWWNIFTY ₹1,000?”

7. Future-Ready Add-ons

7.1 Fractional Smart ETFs

Auto-create fractional baskets like “Top 10 PSU Stocks,” “Green Energy India,” or “AI Infrastructure Theme.”

7.2 Tokenized Securities Layer

When SEBI allows, tokenized equity and bond units trade 24x7, not limited to NSE/BSE hours.

7.3 AI-Generated Financial Reports

Platform summarizes your portfolio’s monthly performance in a human-readable newsletter (“Your ETFs outperformed Nifty by 0.8% this month due to your timely silver exposure.”).

sandeep_cs · October 10, 2025, 5:27am

Just for the info , tickertape team have came with new screeners , thank you team

•⁠ ⁠Strong Buy Ratings: Discover top picks from SEBI-registered analysts
•⁠ ⁠Penny Picks: Find NSE-listed penny stocks priced under ₹10
•⁠ ⁠Bollinger Reversal Signals: Spot stocks poised for a potential rebound
•⁠ ⁠FII Favourites: Track stocks recently accumulated by FIIs with stable ownership