Direct vs Regular mutual fund plans

Every mutual fund scheme comes in two flavours: Direct and Regular. The portfolio, fund manager and strategy are identical — the only difference is cost.

The one difference: commission

A Regular plan pays a commission to the distributor/agent who sold it to you, baked into a higher expense ratio. A Direct plan is bought straight from the AMC with no middleman, so its expense ratio is lower — typically 0.5%–1% cheaper per year.

What that costs you

That gap compounds. Over 20+ years, choosing Direct over Regular on the same fund can leave you with lakhs more — for doing nothing different. The Direct plan's NAV simply grows a little faster every day.

How to spot it

Look for "Direct" in the scheme name (e.g. "...Fund - Direct Plan - Growth"). On Dhanik, the screener defaults to Direct + Growth so you see the cost-efficient version.

→ All funds in the MF Screener default to Direct plans.