Firstrade vs Zebpay: Fees, Security, Features & Which to Choose (2025)

Trying to choose between Firstrade and Zebpay This side-by-side comparison reveals total cost (fees + spreads), security & licenses, coins/derivatives, deposits/withdrawals, and app quality. In 2 minutes you’ll see who wins for beginners, active traders, and long-term holders. Clear pros/cons, a quick verdict, and safe links to get started.

Last updated on January 2, 2026

Firstrade

Zebpay

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Available Countries

United States

Yes

Europe

Latin America

India

China

Canada

United Kingdom

Yes

United States

Yes

Europe

Yes

Latin America

Yes

India

Yes

China

Canada

Yes

United Kingdom

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Firstrade is ideal if:

Perfect if you value simplicity and self-led growth — Firstrade shines for investors who want a straightforward platform enhanced by rich educational content and intuitive tools like Options Wizard and FirstradeGPT.
Great for cost-conscious traders focused on the US market — It delivers commission-free trading across stocks, ETFs, options, and mutual funds, ideal if you prioritize low ongoing costs and trade U.S. securities.
Not ideal if you need advanced or global asset access — The platform doesn’t offer futures, forex, crypto, IPOs, or international markets, so it's not suited for highly diversified or exotic investment strategies.

Zebpay is ideal if:

Beginner-Friendly with Smart Tools – Offers intuitive tools like curated CryptoPacks and performance analytics, so newcomers can diversify and follow asset trends easily.
Robust Security & Trust – Maintains rigorous protection with multi-sig cold storage, bug bounty programs, and encryption, building confidence in safeguarding your assets.
Convenient Global Access – Supports fiat-to-crypto transactions across device types in many regions, making it a flexible choice for users worldwide.

Firstrade isn’t ideal if:

If you seek automated or advisor-led services — Firstrade doesn’t provide AI-driven trading automation, robo-advice, or personalized financial planning options.
If you need access to non-U.S. or exotic markets — It excludes futures, forex, international equities, and advanced asset classes, limiting your global exposure opportunities.
If you prioritize sleek navigation and advanced macroscopic insights — The platform’s layout can feel cluttered, with limited portfolio tracking and broader market analytics visible at a glance.

Zebpay isn’t ideal if:

Limited crypto diversity for global users – Outside core markets, the exchange offers a narrower selection of coins compared to larger global platforms.
No margin, leverage, or passive income flexibility – Advanced traders won’t find features like margin trading or extensive staking/investment options.
Mixed customer feedback quality – While some users report responsive support, others cite unresolved disputes or slow resolutions, impacting reliability perception.

Fees & Total Costs

Spot Maker/Take

Firstrade does not operate on a crypto exchange-style maker/taker fee model since it primarily offers commission-free trading for stocks, ETFs, options, and mutual funds; there are no volume-based discounts tied to a native token.

ZebPay’s spot trading fees often follow a tiered structure—beginners may be charged around 0.15% maker and 0.25% taker, while high-volume users can benefit from reduced rates (e.g., 0.06% maker, 0.10% taker)—but there is no public mention of discounts via native token holdings.

Futures/Derivatives

Firstrade does not support trading in futures, options on crypto, or any leveraged derivative contracts, so there are no maker/taker or funding fees in this category.

Futures trading on ZebPay is available mainly to KYC-verified Indian users via perpetual contracts (e.g., BTC-INR, ETH-INR), though fee and funding specifics aren’t openly disclosed on the main help pages.

Average Spreads on Liquid Pairs

As Firstrade does not currently offer direct spot cryptocurrency trading, there are no applicable spreads for BTC/USDT or ETH/USDT pairs within its platform.

ZebPay’s publicly shared data doesn’t specify average spreads for pairs like BTC/USDT or ETH/USDT, suggesting this detail isn’t prominently published or may vary by region and market conditions.

Fiat Deposits & Withdrawals

Deposits and withdrawals are processed via ACH, wire transfers, and check requests; ACH is typically free and fast (1–2 business days), while wires may have a fee and take 1–3 days depending on the bank.

ZebPay typically offers fee-free fiat deposits and withdrawals via bank transfers, though in some regions instant deposit methods (like UPI or net banking) may carry small flat fees—processing time varies based on the local payment network.

On-chain Withdrawals

Since Firstrade does not facilitate direct on-chain crypto transfers, there are no blockchain network withdrawal fees for BTC, ETH, TRX, or other tokens.

Withdrawal fees depend on the specific cryptocurrency and location—e.g., India-based users pay around 0.0006 BTC for a Bitcoin withdrawal, while international users may enjoy free withdrawals; fees for other assets like ETH or TRX aren’t clearly listed.

Hidden Costs

The main extra cost to be aware of is currency conversion for non-USD accounts; Firstrade does not charge inactivity or expedited account verification fees.

ZebPay applies a monthly inactivity fee (e.g., 0.0001 BTC plus GST) if there’s no trading or lending activity in the prior month, representing a cost that may be overlooked by inactive users.

Real-World Cost Example: “€500 BTC

This action cannot be performed directly on Firstrade, as it does not provide native crypto purchasing; acquiring BTC would require an external platform, where costs would depend on that provider’s commission, spread, and withdrawal fee structure.

For a €500 BTC purchase, you’d incur the current trading fee percentage plus any spread (not publicly quoted), and if you were an Indian user withdrawing BTC, a fixed network fee (e.g., 0.0006 BTC) would apply—resulting in combined but approximated costs based on standard spot fees and withdrawal charge.

Crypto Offering & Trading Features

Number of Coins & Pairs

Firstrade offers trading in approximately 38–41 cryptocurrencies, focusing on spot pairs only—there’s no full order book with crypto-to-crypto pairings, just single-asset buys priced in USD on their platform.

ZebPay supports over 300 different cryptocurrencies, with the top 20 by volume typically including major names like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, and others among the largest market-cap assets.

Product Range

Firstrade supports only spot cryptocurrency trading; it does not support margin, perpetuals, futures, options, ETFs on crypto, staking, lending, copy trading, grid bot tools, or automated DCA programs.

The platform offers spot trading, perpetual futures (for KYC-verified Indian users), fixed-term crypto lending via a “Lend” feature, and curated CryptoPacks—however, there are no margin trading, options, ETFs, copy-trading, grid bots, or automated DCA tools.

Liquidity

Firstrade does not disclose actual 24-hour volume or order book depth data for crypto; trading occurs via their internal system with instant settlement but without traditional exchange-level liquidity metrics.

While precise liquidity figures aren’t publicly indicated, ZebPay handles large trading volumes (billions in trade volume reported) implying sufficient depth particularly in BTC/ETH pairs—though order book details remain undisclosed.

Tools

Their crypto offering includes basic order types, real-time quotes, charts, and research features, but lacks advanced tools such as stop/OCO orders, advanced charting, native TradingView integration, alerts, or API/WS access for crypto.

Users can place basic Market and Limit orders, utilize tools like Take Profit/Stop Loss, and benefit from a single-window interface—advanced features like OCO, native TradingView charts, real-time alerts, or full API/WebSocket support aren’t clearly emphasized.

Geographic Restrictions by Product

Crypto trading is available only to users in the United States; there are no crypto markets or services offered outside U.S. jurisdictions.

Futures trading is restricted to KYC-verified Indian users, spurred by regional regulatory choices; other products such as lending or spot trading are available more broadly, subject to country eligibility rules.

Innovation

Firstrade has not rolled out innovation tools like launchpad/launchpool, nor any flexible vs blocked crypto-earned programs—its crypto offerings remain simple and limited to direct spot purchases.

ZebPay offers innovative features like CryptoPacks bundles and fixed-term lending with auto-renewal; however, there’s no launchpad or launchpool activity, nor flexible vs locked earn distinctions publicly highlighted.

Security, Regulation & Custody

Operating Entity & Jurisdiction

The crypto service is delivered through Firstrade Crypto LLC, a U.S.-based subsidiary operating under parent company Firstrade Securities Inc., founded in 1985 and headquartered in Flushing, New York.

ZebPay is operated by Awlencan Innovations India Limited, founded in 2014 and headquartered in India (with ties to Singapore), functioning under Indian jurisdiction for its core operations.

Licenses/Registration

Firstrade Securities operates as a registered broker-dealer under FINRA and the SEC; crypto trading itself is facilitated by Apex Crypto LLC, acting under regulatory standards but without explicit VASP or MiCA licensing.

The exchange is registered under India’s Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), reflecting its full compliance with local crypto asset regulations and standards.

Custody

Cryptocurrency custody is handled by Apex Crypto LLC as a third-party provider—not held on Firstrade’s own infrastructure. There’s no publicly shared proof of reserves, audit reports, or stated cold-storage percentages.

ZebPay partners with trusted third-party custody services to implement multi-chain security and cold storage, with around 98% of assets held offline. It claims to maintain 100% reserves and supports third-party audit protocols like Proof of Reserves using Merkle trees.

Insurance & Protection Funds

While traditional account assets benefit from SIPC and possibly FDIC protections, crypto holdings are not covered under these programs and have no dedicated insurance or extra custodian protection.

There is no public mention of specifically insured assets or a dedicated protection fund for users, suggesting that standard insurance or compensation policies are not prominently featured.

Incident History

Firstrade hasn’t suffered publicized hacks or major suspensions tied to its crypto platform; however, it recently received FINRA censure and a fine for misleading communications about crypto offerings via an affiliate.

ZebPay maintains a clean incident record, signalling it has not experienced any hacks, outages, or regulatory penalties to date, demonstrating a strong operational track record.

Risk Controls

Firstrade enforces strong security measures including multi-factor authentication, SSL encryption, firewalls, fraud detection systems, phishing education, and a secure security center, but doesn’t highlight features like API permissions or sub-accounts for crypto.

The platform features robust risk controls including mandatory two-factor authentication (2FA), phishing safeguards, bug bounty programs, and advanced wallet protection measures like MPC/Multi-Sig, IP whitelisting, and transaction-level velocity checks.

Transparency

There’s no public monthly reporting or wallet audit data available for crypto holdings. Users rely on Firstrade’s Online Protection Guarantee for unauthorized trades, yet there’s no SLA or public wallet addresses disclosed.

While ZebPay emphasizes high compliance and security standards, it does not publish regular transparency reports, public wallets, or specific service-level agreements (SLAs), indicating limited user-facing audit transparency.

Deposits, Withdrawals, KYC & Support

Fiat Deposit Methods

Firstrade supports fiat deposits via ACH, wire transfer, check, and transfers from other brokerages; ACH from U.S. bank accounts is fee-free and takes a couple of business days, wires are faster but involve sending-bank fees, and check deposits vary by type and processing, with some available immediately.

International users can deposit fiat via bank transfer (AUD, EUR, etc.), with minimum/maximum transaction limits visible in the app and typical processing times of up to two business days; Indian users enjoy Instant Deposit via IMPS or UPI and manual NEFT/RTGS options, with region-specific minimums and restricted to registered bank accounts.

Supported Fiat Currencies & Conversion

KYC (Verification Levels)

There’s no formal tiered KYC structure; account opening requires ID verification, and once verified, users can access full services—there are no intermediate “basic” or “advanced” levels with differing limits.

The platform applies tiered KYC levels—ranging from basic to advanced—with higher verification unlocking larger withdrawal limits and daily transaction caps; upgrading requires submitting additional documents via support ticket.

Withdrawals

Withdrawals are available via ACH, check, or wire—ACH (up to $50,000 per day) is free and takes 1–2 business days, checks may take up to two weeks depending on delivery, and wires cost a fee and take several days; crypto token withdrawals (e.g. ERC20/TRC20) are not supported.

Crypto withdrawal limits scale by KYC level and whether the address is whitelisted, with whitelisted transfers offering much higher daily caps; fiat withdrawals go to registered bank accounts only, processed within up to two business days.

Customer Support

Support is offered via email and U.S. phone during business hours, complemented by a Help Center with FAQs—there’s no 24/7 live chat, and response times and knowledge base depth are moderate and office-hour dependent.

Support is provided via in-app tickets, live chat, and social media channels; response quality varies, with some users praising timely help and others citing unresolved issues—support aims to respond promptly and offers a detailed help base.

Languages & Localization

The platform and mobile app support English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese; the interface displays USD values only, with no localized support for Spanish or Euro-based users—reflecting its U.S.-centric design.

ZebPay’s interface is natively in English, with fiat values typically displayed in local currencies like €/USD/INR depending on region; the platform tailors its offerings according to local regulations and payment infrastructure.

App Quality & Stability

The Firstrade app (iOS/Android) is well-rated, noted for intuitive navigation and sync across devices, though some users report occasional crashes; regular updates enhance features and UX, but no official crash-rate metrics are disclosed.

ZebPay provides mobile apps for iOS and Android that are generally stable and user-friendly; while crash stats aren’t disclosed, the platform regularly updates the app and pushes security improvements to enhance reliability.

Experience, Performance & Ecosystem

UX/UI

Firstrade delivers a clean, beginner-friendly interface that helps new users get started quickly, though it doesn’t offer distinct “Lite” or “Pro” modes; advanced traders may find the layout functional but not deeply customizable.

ZebPay delivers an approachable interface with a sleek, dark-themed design that guides users—from beginners to pros—through intuitive navigation and educational tooltips; it lacks explicit “Lite” or “Pro” modes but offers a tailored experience via its progressive onboarding quiz.

Performance

Firstrade offers solid performance under normal conditions, but during high-volatility events, users sometimes note slight delays in order execution; account verification remains swift even during surges, with KYC queues rarely causing major hold-ups.

The platform maintains solid responsiveness and fast performance under normal conditions, though some mobile users report occasional lag during high volatility; overall, system stability holds up even when many users are onboarded simultaneously due to phased KYC processing.

Education

The platform provides a rich library of written and video educational resources for investing concepts, though it lacks a dedicated simulator or demo trading environment and does not yet offer educational content in Spanish.

ZebPay features a rich learning hub with a beginner-focused crypto education series (CryptoKiPathshala) and blog content, yet it lacks a hands-on demo or simulator, and Spanish-language materials are limited or absent.

Community

Firstrade does not operate official community channels like Discord or Telegram. It did run a referral program in the past, but that has been discontinued, and users must rely on formal help centers rather than peer-driven forums.

While ZebPay fosters community via its blog and social channels (like Telegram and Twitter), it currently offers no dedicated forums or Discord, but does include a referral program to encourage user growth and engagement.

Integrations

Firstrade recently integrated advanced research tools from Trading Central, but doesn’t support direct TradingView charting, bot trading, or built-in tax/accounting integrations—users rely on manual methods or third-party tools.

ZebPay provides robust REST APIs for developers and is exploring visual strategy-building tied to TradingView, though it does not yet support external tax tools or accounting integrations natively.

Who Each One Is Best For

Firstrade shines with investors who value a reliable, easy-to-use platform with educational support and occasional advanced tools—ideal for self-directed U.S. investors prioritizing simplicity over complex trading setups.

ZebPay is best suited for users seeking a secure, beginner-friendly platform with mobile-first design and API capability, while active traders needing community forums, multi-language education, or deep third-party integrations might find it less tailored to their needs.