What's the difference between Regular and Direct mutual fund plans?

Both plans hold the exact same portfolio and are managed by the exact same fund manager — the only difference is the expense ratio. Regular plans include a trail commission paid to the distributor/bank that sold you the fund, making their expense ratio 0.5-1.5% higher than the identical fund's Direct plan, which has no such commission.

Is switching from Regular to Direct free?

Switching itself has no separate transaction fee, but it is treated as a redemption + fresh purchase for tax purposes — capital gains tax (LTCG/STCG) applies on the units you sell, and an exit load may apply if you're within the fund's exit-load window. This calculator's breakeven-months figure accounts for the exit load; check your own tax situation separately.

Why can't I find a Direct-plan match for my fund?

This tool only shows a Direct-plan equivalent when it can confidently match the same AMC, category, and option type in our fund catalog. If no confident match exists — for a very new or niche fund, for instance — the tool tells you rather than guessing.

Does a higher expense ratio always mean worse returns?

Expense ratio is deducted from a fund's returns before they're reported as NAV growth, so for two share classes of the identical portfolio (Regular vs Direct), the Direct plan's NAV will always compound faster by exactly the expense-ratio gap. This is different from comparing two completely different funds, where a higher-ER fund might still outperform on stock selection.

How much can switching to Direct plans save over a long SIP horizon?

Even a 1% annual expense-ratio gap compounds significantly over long horizons — on a ₹10 lakh investment held for 15 years at 12% gross return, a 1% ER difference can mean a gap of several lakh rupees in final corpus, purely from the fee difference, assuming identical underlying performance.

Portfolio Management

Direct Plan Savings Calculator

Find out how much commission your Regular plan mutual fund is costing you every year compared to its Direct plan equivalent. Free calculator for Indian investors.

Your Regular-plan fund

How much have you invested in this fund?

What is Direct Plan Savings Calculator?

Regular-plan mutual funds pay a trail commission to the distributor or bank that sold you the fund, embedded permanently in a higher expense ratio — typically 0.5% to 1.5% more per year than the identical fund's Direct plan, which has no distributor commission built in. Since both plans invest in the exact same portfolio of stocks/bonds under the exact same fund manager, the only difference is this ongoing fee — yet most Indian investors who bought through a bank or an advisor without realizing the distinction are quietly paying it, year after year, silently compounding the drag on their long-term returns. This calculator shows the ₹ commission drag for one fund at your invested amount, and how many months it takes to recover any exit load if you switch.

How to use this tool

Search for and select your Regular-plan mutual fund.

Enter how much you've invested in it.

See the estimated annual ₹ commission drag versus the Direct-plan equivalent.

If an exit load applies, see how many months it takes for the switch to pay for itself.

The Formula

Annual Commission Drag = Invested Value × (Regular Expense Ratio − Direct Expense Ratio) / 100

Breakeven Months = ceil((Exit Load Amount / Annual Saving) × 12)  — only shown if an exit load applies

Key Benefits

✓See the exact ₹ cost of staying in a Regular plan for a fund you actually hold.
✓Understand exit-load breakeven before deciding whether to switch.
✓Free, instant, no signup required for a single-fund check.
✓Uses the same expense-ratio data and matching logic as FundSageAI's full Cost Savings feature.

Practical Example

Invested Value: ₹5,00,000 Regular Plan ER: 1.8% | Direct Plan ER: 0.6% - Annual Commission Drag: ₹6,000 - Exit Load: 1% if redeemed within 1 year → ₹5,000 - Breakeven: 10 months After month 10, staying in the Direct plan is pure additional saving every year.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

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