Several brokers charge extra to automate your trades, either a monthly fee or a paid API. HDFC SKY claims its Open APIs are free meaning your cost of using an algorithmic trading software is the brokerage you would pay anyway on the orders.
The Open API Costs ₹0
HDFC SKY’s developer portal provides free trading APIs for traders, developers and fintech startups through its Open APIs and calls them zero-cost. Its Open API guide confirms the APIs are free for everyone. The orders are priced for the cost, not the automation itself.
F&O Brokerage: ₹20 per Options Order
HDFC SKY lists its future and options brokerage as follows.
| Segment | Brokerage |
|---|---|
| Futures, intraday and carry forward | ₹20 or 2.5% of value, whichever is lower |
| Options, intraday and carry forward | ₹20 per order |
An Algo which executes orders based on options pays the same ₹20 order rate as the manual trader.
What 20 Orders a Day Costs for the Year
Let’s say your algorithm sends 20 options orders a day for around 250 trading days a year. That’s 5,000 orders for ₹1,00,000 in brokerage (5,000 × ₹20). The automation fee on top is ₹0.
If the comparison platform charged extra, say, ₹2,000 a month for the automation or API access (not a real number, just for the example’s sake), that would be an additional ₹24,000 a year or around a quarter on top of that ₹1,00,000 brokerage. The more orders you execute, the more important the free API is to your bottom line.
What the Free Access Covers
HDFC SKY promises low-latency Trading, Market Data, Portfolio and WebSocket APIs to build algorithmic trading systems and execute automated trades. The platform provides real-time access to prices, order updates, portfolio changes and transaction history. It also has documentation with guides and code examples to help developers integrate the APIs.
Charges That Still Apply
“No fee above brokerage” is not “no fees at all”. On its pricing page, HDFC SKY lists additional charges on stock market trades, such as STT, GST, stamp duty, transaction charges, SEBI turnover charges and DP charges. Square off charges will be ₹50 + 18% GST for each squared off position. These apply to both manual and algorithmic trading. Use the brokerage calculator to get an estimate of your cost per order.
One note: The free offer applies to the Open API. I have not found any fee references for the separate AlgoBulls-powered strategy catalogue in the sources I checked, so make sure to clarify this with HDFC SKY before budgeting for it.
Trade F&O Within the Same Costs
The F&O trading platform at HDFC SKY has an auto order slicer where big trades are sliced into smaller ones so as to not hit the circuit filter. The futures and options page also mentions a strategy builder to design and backtest strategies on historical data. Both work within the same brokerage pricing structure outlined above.
Quick Checklist Before You Start
- Confirm the brokerage on the HDFC SKY pricing page, as it may change.
- Calculate your daily orders, and then double that by ₹20 to get the options.
- Add the additional statutory charges to get your cost per order.
- Keep in mind, derivatives are a high-risk area of trading and algorithmic trading is not a free pass from the risk associated with trading on the market.