A practical guide to tracking your NSE and BSE investments for free — including portfolio trackers, spreadsheets, and why documenting your thesis matters more than just tracking prices.
Most Indian investors track their NSE/BSE portfolios in one of three ways: the Zerodha console, a Google Sheet, or a WhatsApp screenshot. All three have a fundamental problem — they track what you own, not why you own it.
This guide covers the practical tools for free portfolio tracking, and why the best investors add one more layer that most miss.
If you trade through Zerodha, Console is the most accurate tracker you have. It automatically syncs all trades, shows P&L across holdings, and calculates XIRR on your portfolio. The downside: it only tracks what you do through Zerodha. Demat holdings elsewhere won't show up.
Best for: Zerodha users who keep everything in one place.
Smallcase's tracker works across brokers if you link your CDSL/NSDL holdings via CAMS or Kfintech. You get an aggregate view of your full demat, mutual funds, and smallcases in one place. Free for basic tracking.
Best for: Multi-broker investors who want an aggregate view.
For the technical investor, a Google Sheet using the GOOGLEFINANCE() function pulls live NSE/BSE prices. The setup takes 30 minutes and gives you complete control over how data is displayed. There are dozens of free templates on r/IndiaInvestments.
Best for: Investors who want full customisation and don't mind maintenance.
Primarily mutual fund trackers, but ET Money now shows stocks too. Kuvera is excellent for direct mutual funds but limited for equity tracking. Both are free.
Best for: Investors with significant mutual fund exposure.
Every tool above answers one question: how much is my portfolio worth today?
None of them answer the more important questions:
The difference between an investor who compounds wealth over 10 years and one who cycles through tips is not access to better data — it's documentation discipline.
Before each position, serious investors write a thesis. A simple one covers:
Writing this down before buying does something powerful: it forces you to confront what you actually believe vs. what you heard in a WhatsApp group. It also creates a record you can review later — did your reasoning hold? Were you right for the wrong reasons?
The most accountable investors make their portfolios public. Not their tips — their documented thinking. There's a meaningful difference. A tip says "buy X." A public investment journal says "I bought X because of Y, my exit condition is Z, and here's the risk I'm accepting."
SEBI rules are clear: sharing documented reasoning about your own holdings is not investment advice. What crosses the line is promising returns or soliciting money. A public portfolio is simply transparency about your own decisions.
Lekha is built specifically for this — a free tool for Indian investors to document and share their NSE/BSE portfolio publicly, with their reasoning. Every portfolio shows holdings, thesis, and performance history. No tips. No signals. Just documented conviction.
For free portfolio tracking:
The first two tell you your score. The third tells you whether you're actually getting better at the game.
Ready to open your books?
Lekha is a free investment journal for Indian investors. Document your portfolio, share your thesis, build real credibility.