Cheapest Payment Gateway in India: Razorpay vs Cashfree vs PayU vs Instamojo (2026)

When you sell online in India, the payment gateway fee is a direct tax on every order. A difference of 0.3% does not sound like much until you are doing a few lakh rupees a month in sales, at which point it is real money leaving your margin. This guide compares what the main Indian gateways actually charge, in plain numbers, so you can pick on cost and fit rather than marketing.

All figures below are standard published rates as of 2026 and exclude 18% GST on the fee. Negotiated rates exist for high volume, so always confirm your own pricing with the provider before committing.

Payment gateway charges in India at a glance

Standard published domestic rates as of June 2026. The after-GST column adds the 18 percent GST charged on the fee, which is the number that actually leaves your account.

The full method-by-method breakdown and the true cost by transaction mix is in our payment gateway cost study.

The two charges the headline rate hides

A 2 percent gateway is not really 2 percent. Two things inflate it:

1. GST. The 18 percent GST on the fee turns a 2 percent rate into an effective 2.36 percent. On 10 lakh rupees of monthly sales that is about 3,600 rupees a month the sticker rate never shows you.
2. UPI pricing. UPI's underlying MDR is legally zero for merchants, yet many flat-rate gateways still charge their full percentage on UPI. If most of your orders are UPI, a flat-rate gateway makes you pay card-level fees on near-free transactions. Our study found a UPI-heavy merchant can overpay roughly 1.2 lakh rupees a year this way.

So if UPI is a big share of your volume, prioritise a gateway with method-differentiated UPI pricing over the lowest flat headline rate.

Setup and integration charges

Most Indian gateways charge no setup fee and no annual fee on the standard plan. You pay per successful transaction and nothing to start. The real cost of adding a gateway to your website is developer time, and Razorpay, Cashfree and PayU all offer drop-in checkout, hosted payment pages, and plugins for Shopify, WooCommerce and WordPress that remove most of that work. A few gateways such as CCAvenue offer optional paid plans that trade a setup or annual fee for a lower per-transaction rate, which only pays off at high volume. For a typical website the integration charge is effectively zero, and the transaction rate is the number that matters.

How payment gateway pricing works

How payment gateway pricing works in India

Most Indian gateways charge a percentage of each successful transaction (the MDR, or merchant discount rate) rather than a monthly subscription. There is usually no setup fee and no annual maintenance fee on the standard plan. The rate varies by payment method: UPI is the cheapest, domestic cards sit in the middle, and international cards and EMI cost the most.

One important nuance: under government policy, UPI and RuPay debit transactions carry zero MDR for merchants. In practice some aggregators still apply a small platform fee on UPI, and the headline percentages quoted below apply to cards, netbanking and wallets. Read each gateway's UPI line carefully.

Razorpay

Razorpay is the default for most Indian startups and SMBs because of its clean developer experience, payment links, and wide method support. Its standard rate is 2% per successful transaction on domestic UPI, cards, netbanking and wallets, with no setup or annual fee. Corporate cards are around 2.15% and international cards up to 3%.

It suits teams that want a polished integration, subscriptions and payment links out of the box, and do not mind the flat 2%.

Cashfree

Cashfree is the value pick on headline rate: its standard charge is 1.95% per transaction on UPI, cards, netbanking and wallets, with Amex at 2.95% and international cards at 2.99%. There is no setup fee, and new merchants sometimes get promotional rates.

If your volume is card and netbanking heavy, that 0.05% difference versus Razorpay adds up over a year. Cashfree also has strong payouts and settlement features for marketplaces.

PayU

PayU is one of the oldest gateways in India and is commonly quoted at around 2% + GST per transaction across UPI, cards, netbanking and wallets, with Amex and Diners higher. It has broad payment-method coverage and is widely supported by Indian platforms. PayU's public pricing page is light on numbers, so confirm your exact rate during onboarding.

Instamojo

Instamojo targets very small sellers and solopreneurs who want to start collecting payments with minimal setup. Its free Payment Links charge 2% + Rs.3 per transaction (plus GST), and it layers paid annual plans on top (Smart from around Rs.4,999/yr) that add an online store and features. For a tiny operation that just needs a link to get paid, it is the fastest start.

Which gateway should you choose?

• Lowest headline rate, card-heavy volume: Cashfree at 1.95%.
• Best all-round developer experience and features: Razorpay at 2%.
• Already on a platform that bundles it, or want a long-established player: PayU.
• Tiny seller who just needs a payment link today: Instamojo.

If you are early-stage, our best payment gateway for startups in India guide narrows it further. For most Indian SMBs the practical choice is between Razorpay and Cashfree, and the deciding factor is usually integration fit and support rather than the 0.05% gap. If you sell globally, check the international-card rate specifically, since that is where the gateways differ most.

Two things to remember regardless of choice: settlement to your bank typically takes one to three business days, so plan cash flow accordingly, and the quoted rates exclude 18% GST. You can compare these and other options side by side in the payments category.

Rates change. Always confirm current pricing on the provider's own site before you commit.