We Tested Every Indian Payment Gateway. Here's Our Honest Take.
We've integrated payment gateways for fintech, eCommerce, and SaaS customers across the spectrum. Here's the honest, opinionated comparison no one writes because everyone takes referral commissions.
Key takeaways
- Razorpay wins overall on developer experience and checkout UX.
- Cashfree is the best for payouts and competitive pricing on volume.
- PayU has enterprise relationships and international depth.
- Stripe India is the cleanest API but limited to certain segments and pricier.
- PhonePe Business / Paytm Business are strong when you want their UPI app's user base advantage.
What we measured
Across 5 gateways, on real integrations:
- UPI checkout conversion (relative)
- Card success rate
- Refund completion time (median)
- Developer experience (SDK, docs, sandbox)
- Settlement reliability (T+1/T+2 actual delivery)
- Dispute handling
- Pricing
Results in brief
Razorpay
- UPI conversion: highest in our tests
- Card success: high, especially with checkout 2.0
- Refund speed: median 24-48 hours for UPI
- Dev experience: best in class
- Pricing: 1.9-2.2% standard
- Settlements: T+1 reliable
Best choice for general-purpose merchant integration. The one we recommend by default.
Cashfree
- UPI conversion: comparable to Razorpay
- Card success: good
- Refund speed: comparable
- Dev experience: strong
- Pricing: competitive, especially at volume
- Payouts (gateway-to-bank-account-of-payee): best-in-class, the differentiator
- Settlements: T+1 reliable
Best when you need both collection and payouts (marketplaces, gig platforms).
PayU
- UPI conversion: solid
- Card success: best for international cards
- Refund speed: variable
- Dev experience: middling
- Pricing: negotiable at enterprise tier
- Settlements: T+2 default
Best for enterprise relationships, international reach.
Stripe India
- UPI: works, conversion slightly below local gateways
- Card success: clean
- Refund speed: fast
- Dev experience: cleanest API of any
- Pricing: 2.5%+, premium
- Settlements: T+7 default (longer than locals)
Best for global SaaS already on Stripe extending into India.
PhonePe Business / Paytm Business
- UPI: their own app gives slight conversion edge on their user base
- Card support: limited compared to general gateways
- Dev experience: improving
- Pricing: competitive on UPI
Best as a complement, not a primary gateway, unless you specifically target their app's user base.
What we recommend
Razorpay as primary for most. Add Cashfree if you have payout needs. Add PayU or Stripe for enterprise or international. Avoid lock-in: build an abstraction layer that lets you swap gateways.
Common pitfalls
Picking based on advertised UPI conversion claims (everyone claims highest). Test your own funnel.
Underestimating dispute handling load. The best gateway is the one whose dispute dashboard fits your team's workflow.
Pricing negotiations, list price is rarely real price. Negotiate at any meaningful volume.
FAQs
What about EaseBuzz, Instamojo, ICICI iMobile? Smaller players with niche strengths. Generally not first picks for primary gateway.
International cards? PayU and Stripe lead.
Subscription billing? Razorpay Subscriptions and Cashfree Subscriptions are solid.
Chargeback rates? Mostly comparable; differences are in dispute support quality.