Equity Delivery refers to buying shares and holding them for more than a single day. When you opt for delivery, you pay for the shares and they get credited to your demat account after the regular settlement period (usually T+1 working days). At that point, you become the shareholder; you own the shares, and you can keep them for as long as you wish, be it days, months, years, or more.
Intraday Trading (also known as “day trading”) means buying and selling the same share or stock within the same trading day. You open a position in the morning or afternoon (buy or sell) and close that position before the market closes, never holding any share overnight.

Key Differences Between Delivery and Intraday Trading
Time Horizon
Delivery trading has no fixed time limit. You may hold the shares for as long as you want. Intraday trading always starts and ends within the same trading session.
Ownership
With delivery trading you become an actual shareholder once shares are credited to your demat account. This means you are entitled to dividends, bonus shares, and other corporate benefits if the company distributes them.
In intraday trading, shares are never actually delivered to your demat account, you trade them as contracts that are squared off the same day.
Objective and Risk Profile
Delivery trading is typically used by investors aiming for long-term growth, relying on a company’s fundamentals and expecting appreciation over months or years. This approach tends to carry lower immediate risk, though long-term market risk remains.
Intraday trading seeks quick profits from short-term price movements. It is often riskier due to market volatility, and success requires fast decision-making, good timing and discipline.
Capital Requirement and Leverage
Intraday trading often allows leverage (margin), meaning you can trade with less capital for larger exposure but it also increases the risk of losses.
Delivery trading generally requires full payment for the shares, so capital requirements are higher, but you avoid margin risk.
Transaction Cost and Taxes
Since intraday traders buy and sell frequently, the cost of brokerage can add up. Moreover, intraday trades don’t qualify for corporate benefits like dividends or bonus shares.
With delivery trades, since you hold shares long term, frequent transaction cost is lower. Also you may enjoy dividends, bonus shares or corporate actions if offered by the company.
Required Skills and Monitoring
Intraday trading demands continuous monitoring of markets during trading hours, ability to react quickly, and often relies on technical analysis and short-term market trends.
Delivery trading allows you to adopt a buy-and-hold mindset. It relies more on evaluating a company’s long-term potential as opposed to watching price charts minute by minute.

Who Should Use Which Approach
If you are new to the markets, prefer a calmer investing style and want to build wealth over time without monitoring the market daily then delivery trading is usually more suitable.
If you have time to track the markets daily, are comfortable with higher risk, and are looking to take advantage of short-term price movements then intraday trading might appeal to you.
However, intraday trading tends to suit those with experience, discipline, and willingness to handle volatility. Delivery trading suits those who believe in long-term value and want to benefit from the company’s growth and corporate actions.

Summary
Equity delivery and intraday trading are two fundamentally different approaches in the equity market. In equity delivery, you buy and hold shares and you become a shareholder, benefit from dividends or bonuses, and follow a long-term strategy. 

Intraday trading is a high-speed, high-risk game: you try to profit from short-term market fluctuations, but you must close positions before market close.
Both have their advantages and drawbacks. Your choice depends on your financial goals, risk appetite and how actively you want to trade. Making an informed decision about which approach suits you best is often the most important step.