Cheapest Payment Gateway in India in 2026: 9 Providers Compared by Charges
The cheapest payment gateway in India on published rates is Cashfree, at a 1.95% platform fee. On ₹1 lakh of monthly sales that is ₹2,301 once 18% GST is added, which is ₹59 a month below the three providers sitting at 2%.
We compared Cashfree, Paytm, PhonePe, Razorpay, PayU, CCAvenue, Instamojo, Easebuzz and BillDesk on what each publishes: the platform fee, the GST on top of it, what the rate covers by payment method, and how fast the money reaches your bank account.
The right choice depends on two things that matter more than the headline percentage. The first is which payment methods you take: the seven providers with a published rate sit within ₹59 a month of each other at ₹1 lakh of sales, while premium cards, EMI and international transactions are priced well above the headline wherever a provider breaks them out. The second is your settlement cycle, which runs from T+1 to T+3 and decides how much of your cash is permanently in transit.
If you are not sure which charges apply to you yet, start with the four components of a payment gateway charge below, then go to the ranked table.
What Makes Up a Payment Gateway Charge?
A payment gateway charge in India has four components, and most comparison tables show only the first one.
| Component | What it is | What it costs | Who states it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | The percentage deducted from each successful transaction, also called TDR or MDR | 1.95% to 2% across the seven providers with a published tariff, plus ₹3 per transaction at Instamojo | All seven ranked providers |
| GST | An 18% tax on the gateway's service fee | 18% of the platform fee, so a quoted 2% is really 2.36% | Cashfree, CCAvenue, Paytm, Razorpay and Instamojo |
| Settlement | The cost of receiving money faster than the default cycle | Cashfree publishes 0.30% for instant settlement and Instamojo 0.25% for next-day payout, both excluding GST. The rest say "nominal" | Cashfree and Instamojo |
| Refunds and chargebacks | Charged when a transaction is reversed | Razorpay publishes a refund processing fee of ₹0. No provider we checked publishes a chargeback fee | Razorpay, on refunds only |
Most merchants only ever see the first row. The second applies whether the pricing page mentions it or not. The third and fourth are the ones that surface on an invoice months after signing.
The 9 Cheapest Payment Gateways in India in 2026
Ranked on published all-in merchant cost, with settlement speed breaking ties between providers on the same rate. Easebuzz and BillDesk are unranked because neither publishes a tariff you can read before signing.
| # | Provider | Key differentiator | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cashfree | Cheapest published rate at 1.95%, with a complete per-method card dated 10 August 2026 | Anyone who needs to model a payment mix before signing |
| 2 | Paytm | 1.99% stated as applicable on all transactions, GST called out, typical T+1 settlement | Merchants who want one rate covering UPI and cards |
| 3 | PhonePe | Same 1.99% with documented T+1 settlement, but shown struck through with no stated offer end | UPI-heavy merchants accepting an undefined offer period |
| 4 | Razorpay | 2% with a dated method reference, zero setup, zero AMC and a published ₹0 refund fee | Merchants who want the widest integration ecosystem |
| 5 | PayU | 2% standard with domestic Amex, Diners and EMI priced on the page at 3% | Merchants with premium card or EMI volume |
| 6 | CCAvenue | 2.00% plus a published schedule of method exceptions, but the slowest default cycle | Multi-method merchants not selling through Shopify |
| 7 | Instamojo | 2% plus ₹3 for physical goods and 5% plus ₹3 for digital goods, with no plan required | Sellers of physical goods who want payment links or a store |
| NR | Easebuzz | Pricing on request. Advertises a 1.5% average and T+1 on all payment modes, the fastest default here | Merchants who will negotiate a rate for faster settlement |
| NR | BillDesk | Pricing on request. No published tariff, and its pricing URL returns a 404 | Institutions collecting at scale under a negotiated contract |
Has the New UPI MDR Started?
No. NPCI announced a 0.4% MDR on select person-to-merchant UPI transactions from 15 October 2026, then postponed it two days before it was due, saying it would be implemented immediately post Diwali at a date to be notified separately. Its FAQ updated 15 October 2026 repeats that at Q5. No start date has been notified, so UPI is still free to accept and none of the terms below is on your bill yet.
| Announced term | What it says |
|---|---|
| Up to ₹2,000 | No MDR, which NPCI puts at more than 95% of UPI P2M volume |
| Above ₹2,000 | 0.4%, capped at ₹300 from ₹75,000 upwards |
| Railways, telecom, insurance and fuel among others | A flat ₹5 above ₹2,000 instead of the percentage |
| P2PM merchants receiving up to ₹1 lakh a month by QR | Zero |
| UPI AutoPay and mandates | Zero |
Two things to note if it does start. The ₹2,000 threshold applies per transaction, not to your average ticket, so a low average does not exempt the larger sales inside it. And NPCI states the merchant pays the charge to its acquiring bank and cannot pass it on to customers.
How Do the Cheapest Payment Gateways in India Compare on Charges?
Priced on ₹1 lakh of monthly sales at a ₹1,000 average ticket, with 18% GST included and promotional rates excluded.
| Provider | Standard platform fee | GST at 18% | All-in cost on ₹1 lakh | Promotion running |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cashfree | 1.95% | ₹351 | ₹2,301 | 0% platform fee to ₹20 lakh GMV, new sign-ups from 21 Jul 2026, to 31 Mar 2027 |
| Paytm | 1.99% | ₹358 | ₹2,348 | None |
| PhonePe | 1.99% | ₹358 | ₹2,348 | "Free" for a period the page does not state |
| Razorpay | 2% | ₹360 | ₹2,360 | 0% for 3 months or ₹5 lakh of GMV, whichever comes first |
| PayU | 2% | ₹360 | ₹2,360 | None |
| CCAvenue | 2.00% | ₹360 | ₹2,360 | None |
| Instamojo, physical goods | 2% plus ₹3 | ₹414 | ₹2,714 | None |
| Instamojo, digital goods | 5% plus ₹3 | ₹954 | ₹6,254 | None |
Source: each provider's own pricing page or documentation, linked in the ranked table above. GST is calculated on the platform fee at the statutory 18%.
How to read this table
- Six of the seven sit inside ₹59 a month. Cashfree at ₹2,301 against Razorpay, PayU and CCAvenue at ₹2,360 is a difference of 2.6% on the fee. At this volume, choosing between those six on headline rate alone is choosing on noise.
- GST applies whether or not the page says so. An 18% GST applies to the gateway's service fee as a supply of services. Cashfree, CCAvenue, Paytm, Razorpay and Instamojo state it. PayU and PhonePe do not, and charge it anyway.
- What you sell changes your rate at Instamojo. Its standalone gateway charges 2% plus ₹3 for physical goods and 5% plus ₹3 for digital goods. That is a product distinction, not a plan upsell, and for a digital-goods seller it is nearly three times the cluster.
- Both zero-rate offers are capped, and GST is not waived in either. Razorpay's runs for three months or ₹5 lakh of GMV, whichever comes first, and carries a possible ₹199 plus tax KYC processing fee. Cashfree's runs to ₹20 lakh of GMV or 31 March 2027. Cashfree states GST is still charged during the waiver, computed on the standard 1.95%, so its 0% offer still costs ₹351 a month at this volume. Both offers exclude Amex, Diners, corporate credit cards and all EMI.
Merchants often compare payment gateways on the headline percentage, but the actual cost depends on their payment mix, settlement cycle and merchant category. A rate that looks cheaper upfront can end up costing more once GST, premium card or EMI charges, and faster settlement fees are factored in. The best way to evaluate a gateway is to calculate the total cost against your actual transaction mix, not just the advertised rate.
What a Payment Gateway Charge Actually Costs: A Worked Example
Say a business does ₹1 lakh of monthly sales at a ₹1,000 average ticket, selling physical goods on domestic cards and UPI.
| Cashfree | Paytm | Razorpay | Instamojo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | ₹1,950 | ₹1,990 | ₹2,000 | ₹2,000 plus ₹300 |
| GST at 18% | ₹351 | ₹358 | ₹360 | ₹414 |
| Total monthly cost | ₹2,301 | ₹2,348 | ₹2,360 | ₹2,714 |
Now change the payment method rather than the provider. On ₹33,000 of EMI volume, PayU charges a flat 3%, which is ₹1,168 with GST. Cashfree quotes credit card EMI starting at 1.90% plus 0.25%, which is ₹837 with GST, though one of its own articles quotes 2.2% for the same thing. CCAvenue prices cardless EMI at 3.5%. The honest reading is that EMI costs materially more than the headline everywhere, and that the spread between providers on EMI is wider than the spread on standard cards.
What this tells you
Multiply every quoted rate by 1.18 before comparing it. GST turns a 2% quote into 2.36% and a 1.95% quote into 2.30%, and two of the seven never mention it.
The methods above the headline are where the money is. The six-provider cluster differs by ₹59 a month on standard cards. On EMI the published rates run from 1.90% to 3.5%, a spread several times larger.
Ask what counts as your product. Instamojo's split between physical and digital goods is the clearest example, but merchant category drives pricing at every provider here, and CCAvenue says so on its own pricing page.
How Do the Cheapest Payment Gateways in India Compare on Settlement Speed?
Settlement speed is the second ranking factor, because the gap between T+1 and T+3 is two days of sales permanently in transit.
| Provider | Default settlement cycle | Faster option | Cost of the faster option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easebuzz | T+1 on all payment modes | Transaction-wise and instant T+0 | Not published |
| PhonePe | T+1 for online payments | Not published | Not published |
| Paytm | T+N, typically T+1 | Same Day and Early Settlement | "Minimum fees", not published |
| Cashfree | T+2 bank working days, T+1 by 8 PM during the current offer | Instant Settlements | 0.30% excluding GST |
| Razorpay | T+2 working days | Instant Settlements | Not published |
| PayU | T+2 working days | Priority Settlements | Not published |
| CCAvenue | T+3 or T+2 | Express Settlements, same working day | "A very nominal fee", not published |
| Instamojo | T+3 business days | Next Day, Same Day and Instant Payout | Next Day at 0.25% plus 18% GST |
| BillDesk | Not published | Not published | Not published |
Source: each provider's technical documentation or support centre, linked above. Several providers state the cycle is subject to bank approval and merchant category.
How to read this table
- The spread is two days. Easebuzz and PhonePe settle at T+1, Cashfree, Razorpay and PayU at T+2, and CCAvenue and Instamojo at T+3. For a business running ₹1 lakh a month, two days of sales is roughly ₹6,667 of cash sitting in transit at any moment. Whether that beats a ₹59 monthly fee gap depends on your cost of capital: at a 12% annual funding cost it is worth about ₹67 a month, at 6% about ₹33.
- Two providers price faster settlement with a number. Cashfree publishes 0.30% excluding GST for instant settlement and Instamojo 0.25% plus GST for next-day payout. CCAvenue says "very nominal", Paytm says "minimum fees", and Razorpay and PayU say nothing.
- Separate the standard cycle from the promotional one. Cashfree's general default is T+2 bank working days. Merchants on its current campaign get T+1 by 8 PM IST. Comparing the campaign cycle against another provider's standard cycle is not a like-for-like comparison.
- Your stated cycle is a starting point. Razorpay says its cycle is subject to bank approval and varies by business vertical and risk factors. PhonePe says the cycle depends on transaction type, merchant and business model and should be confirmed at commercial closure.
What users say
Review sites add a reality check to the tables above, though a limited one. These profiles mix merchant and payer experiences and are not a standardised comparison of fees, so read charge-related reports as individual allegations rather than proof of a provider's standard terms.
Trustpilot ratings here are low across the board. It holds 456 reviews for Razorpay at 1.4, 53 for PayU at 1.9 and 44 for Cashfree at 1.4. The samples differ by an order of magnitude and the counts move, so treat them as indicative only.
The agreed rate is not always the billed rate. A merchant reviewing Cashfree on 9 September 2026 described agreeing discounted commercial terms with a salesperson, integrating on that basis, and discovering roughly ten months later that the discount had never been applied, after a merchant category code change reverted the account to standard pricing. That is one merchant's account, not a measured pattern.
Surcharges can appear at checkout too. A payer-side report on 16 March 2026 described an unannounced 2.5% charge on a PayU transaction made through Amazon Pay, visible only after the payment completed.
Merchant category is worth getting in writing. CCAvenue states on its pricing page that commercials may differ based on merchant categories. NPCI states that MDR applicability is determined by overall merchant account categorisation. Razorpay and PhonePe both say the settlement cycle depends on merchant and business model. Confirm your merchant category code and reconcile a month of settlements before assuming your agreed terms are being applied.
9 Payment Gateways in India Reviewed in Detail
Every provider on this list solves a slightly different problem. Here is what each one charges, how fast it settles, and where you might run into limits.
1. Cashfree
Best for: Merchants who need to model the cost of a payment mix before signing anything.
Charges published: 1.95% platform fee, with a per-method card dated 10 August 2026. Settles T+2, or T+1 by 8 PM during the current offer.
Picture a direct-to-consumer brand taking cards, UPI, netbanking and EMI in roughly equal measure. Cashfree is the provider here that lets you price that mix in advance, because it publishes a rate for every method in its documentation and tells you when it last checked them.
Pros:
- Cheapest published rate. A 1.95% standard platform fee works out to ₹2,301 all in on ₹1 lakh of monthly sales, ₹59 a month below the three providers at 2%.
- A dated, method-by-method card. UPI 1.95%, UPI on RuPay credit card 2.15%, domestic cards 1.95%, netbanking 1.95%, wallets 1.95%, prepaid cards 1.95% and Pay Later 2.20%, all marked accurate as of 10 August 2026.
- Instant settlement carries a published number. 0.30% excluding GST, where most competitors describe the same service only as "nominal".
- GST explained rather than implied. Its terms state how GST is computed during the promotional period, which few providers here address at all.
- No setup or integration cost, stated in its documentation.
Cons:
- Its own sources conflict on two methods: the pricing page says UPI follows applicable law and prices RuPay credit card on UPI on request, while the help table gives firm figures. Its credit card EMI is quoted as starting at 1.90% plus 0.25% in one place and 2.2% in another.
- The general default cycle is T+2 bank working days. The T+1 by 8 PM figure applies only to merchants on the current campaign.
- The 0% offer is narrow: new sign-ups from 21 July 2026, to a ₹20 lakh GMV cap, ending 31 March 2027.
- GST is still charged during the waiver, computed on the standard 1.95%, so the 0% offer still costs ₹351 a month at ₹1 lakh of sales.
- The rate card lives in documentation rather than on the pricing page, so most merchants never find it.
Choose it if: You want the lowest published rate and you want to see the method breakdown before you integrate.
2. Paytm
Best for: Merchants who want one rate covering UPI and cards, settled fast.
Charges published: 1.99% platform fee on all transactions, plus 18% GST. Settles T+N, typically T+1.
Picture a services business taking a mix of UPI and cards where no single method dominates. A per-method table would not help much, because every method prices the same. What matters is that the rate is stated plainly, GST is on the page, and the money arrives the next day.
Pros:
- Second cheapest published rate. 1.99% works out to ₹2,348 all in on ₹1 lakh, ₹47 above Cashfree and ₹12 below the providers at 2%.
- One rate across all transactions, so UPI and cards cost the same and there is no method mix to model.
- A typical T+1 cycle, a day faster than Cashfree's standard cycle, Razorpay and PayU.
- GST at 18% stated on the pricing page.
- Zero setup fee and zero annual maintenance charge, both confirmed in the page's own FAQ along with no hidden software upgradation charges.
Cons:
- The cycle is documented as T+N with T+1 given only as the typical case, not a commitment.
- Same Day and Early Settlement are offered at "minimum fees" with no figure published.
- No method breakdown, so Amex, EMI and prepaid card costs are unknown before signing.
- International card acceptance needs a separate activation step after account approval, with no rate published.
- No chargeback fee published.
Choose it if: You take a broad payment mix, you want UPI and cards at one rate, and a next-day cycle matters to your cash flow.
3. PhonePe
Best for: UPI-heavy merchants who want T+1 settlement and will re-check the rate later.
Charges published: 1.99% struck through, currently "Free" for a period the page does not state. Settles T+1 for online payments.
Picture a quick-commerce merchant whose average ticket is low and whose customers almost all pay by UPI. For that business the current offer is the cheapest thing on this page and the settlement cycle is among the fastest. The question is what happens when the offer ends, and the page does not say when that is.
Pros:
- Currently free, so near-term cost is lower than anything else ranked here.
- T+1 settlement for online payments, documented in its developer docs.
- Same 1.99% standard rate as Paytm once the offer reverts.
- Zero setup fee, zero annual maintenance fee and zero hidden charges, all stated on the pricing page.
- Backed by the largest UPI app in India by transaction volume.
Cons:
- The offer period is not stated anywhere on the page, so there is no way to know when 1.99% starts applying.
- The settlement cycle is explicitly subject to change by transaction type, merchant and business model, to be confirmed at commercial closure.
- No GST statement on the pricing page, and no faster settlement option published.
- No chargeback fee published.
- Live pricing and settlement pages were intermittently unreachable during research, so confirm the current offer directly before relying on it.
Choose it if: Most of your volume is UPI, you want next-day settlement, and you will re-check the rate before the offer ends.
4. Razorpay
Best for: Merchants who want the widest integration ecosystem with a documented rate behind it.
Charges published: 2% headline, with a method reference dated 14 May 2026. Settles T+2.
Picture an early-stage startup that wants to be live this week. Razorpay's offer and the breadth of its integrations make that easy, and its published reference file gives you more detail than its own pricing page does.
Pros:
- A dated method reference. Its public reference file, last updated 14 May 2026, lists domestic UPI, debit cards, RuPay, netbanking and wallets at 2%, corporate and business credit cards at 2.15% and international cards at 3%.
- Setup fee ₹0, annual maintenance charge ₹0 and refund processing fee ₹0, all stated in that same file. It is the only provider here that publishes a refund fee at all.
- A cross-border collections product. International bank transfers through multi-currency virtual accounts at 1% per transaction with no FX markup, aimed at exporters and freelancers.
- The largest plugin and integration ecosystem of the nine.
- Chargeback protection and faster dispute resolution offered as product features.
Cons:
- The method detail sits in a machine-readable reference file rather than on the pricing page, which shows only the 2% headline.
- The 0% offer is capped at three months or ₹5 lakh of GMV, whichever comes first, and a KYC processing fee of ₹199 plus tax may apply.
- That offer excludes prepaid cards, corporate credit cards, Amex, Diners and all EMI-based methods.
- The settlement cycle is subject to bank approval and varies by business vertical and risk factors.
- Merchants above ₹5 lakh a month are invited to custom pricing rather than a published rate.
- Lowest Trustpilot rating in the comparison at 1.4, from much the largest sample at 456 reviews.
Choose it if: Integration breadth matters, and you want setup, AMC and refund costs stated rather than implied.
5. PayU
Best for: Merchants with meaningful Amex, Diners or EMI volume.
Charges published: 2% on standard methods, 3% on Diners, Amex, EMI and international. Settles T+2.
Picture an electronics retailer where a third of orders go through EMI and a visible share through premium cards. PayU puts those numbers on its own pricing page, and the numbers are not flattering.
Pros:
- Premium cards and EMI priced on the pricing page itself, all at 3%, where most providers leave them to a sales conversation.
- A clear split between standard and premium methods. Visa, Mastercard, netbanking, wallets and BNPL at 2%, with everything dearer grouped at 3%.
- Zero setup fee and zero annual maintenance fee, stated alongside a zero-hidden-charges claim.
- International cards priced at a firm 3% rather than a hedge.
- Risk management tools marketed specifically at reducing chargebacks.
Cons:
- UPI is left out of the method table entirely, described only as varying by business type and transaction volume.
- EMI at a flat 3% is the most expensive published EMI rate here.
- No GST statement, despite the zero-hidden-charges claim on the same page.
- Priority Settlements are offered but not priced.
- No chargeback fee or refund fee published.
Choose it if: Premium cards or EMI are a real share of your volume and you want that priced before you integrate.
6. CCAvenue
Best for: Multi-method merchants not selling through Shopify.
Charges published: 2.00% for online payments with 18% GST, plus a schedule of method exceptions. Settles T+3 or T+2.
Picture a travel or education business collecting through netbanking as much as cards, from customers at banks a smaller aggregator may not support. CCAvenue's draw is breadth rather than speed, and its pricing is a headline rate with a list of exceptions underneath.
Pros:
- A published schedule beneath the headline. Credit card on UPI at 2.15%, cardless EMI at 3.5% and multi-currency processing at 3.5%, with separate published lines for corporate and commercial credit cards, credit card EMI, Amex and Diners, and international cards.
- 18% GST stated explicitly on all payments.
- No setup fees and no hidden charges, stated on the pricing page.
- The widest bank and wallet coverage here, with over 50 netbanking options including corporate accounts.
Cons:
- The slowest default cycle in this comparison, at T+3 or T+2, and Express Settlements are priced only as "a very nominal fee".
- The Shopify plugin adds 0.20% plus 18% GST on all payment modes processed, taking the effective rate to 2.20%.
- Commercials may differ based on merchant category, stated on the pricing page itself, so the 2.00% is not a guarantee.
- Offline payments are priced on request only.
- No chargeback fee or refund fee published.
Choose it if: You want breadth of payment methods with the exceptions priced upfront, and a slower cycle does not hurt your cash flow.
7. Instamojo
Best for: Sellers of physical goods who want payment links or a store alongside the gateway.
Charges published: 2% plus ₹3 plus GST for physical goods, 5% plus ₹3 plus GST for digital goods. Settles T+3 business days.
Picture a solo seller with no website who wants to start taking orders this afternoon. Instamojo gives you payment links, a store and the gateway together. What decides your rate is what you sell, not which plan you buy.
Pros:
- No plan required for the standard rate. The standalone gateway charges 2% plus ₹3 for physical goods whether or not you buy a store plan.
- The lowest published price for faster settlement. Next Day Payout at 0.25% plus 18% GST, against Cashfree's 0.30% for instant.
- Payment links, store and gateway in one account, with no separate plugin or developer work.
- GST stated as charged in addition to listed prices.
- A 14-day money-back guarantee on its plans, which no other provider here offers.
Cons:
- Digital goods are charged 5% plus ₹3, nearly three times the cluster, which is a large penalty for software, courses and downloads.
- The ₹3 per transaction penalises low-ticket businesses: at a ₹500 average ticket, ₹1 lakh of physical-goods sales costs ₹3,068 against ₹2,301 at Cashfree.
- The default cycle is T+3 business days, the slowest here, so next-day settlement means paying the 0.25%.
- No UPI-specific or international rate on the main pricing page.
- No chargeback fee published.
Choose it if: You sell physical goods, your average order value is comfortably above ₹1,000, and you want a storefront as well as a gateway.
8. Easebuzz
Best for: Merchants who value settlement speed and will negotiate a rate.
Charges published: No tariff. Its gateway page advertises 1.5% average pricing per transaction; its pricing page says pricing is emailed once an agreement is signed. Settles T+1 on all payment modes.
Picture a school or a housing society collecting fees in instalments, where reconciliation and cash flow matter more than basis points. Easebuzz publishes the fastest settlement cycle anyone here states and bundles six collection products at one price. The rate, though, comes after onboarding.
Pros:
- The fastest settlement anyone here states. T+1 for all payment modes as the default, plus transaction-wise and instant T+0 settlement advertised on its gateway page.
- An advertised average of 1.5% per transaction, below every published tariff in this comparison, though it is a marketing comparison rather than a rate card.
- Six collection products at one price, covering invoicing, instalment fee collection, split payments, forms and reminders.
- Automated refunds and chargebacks, marketed as a fully automated process.
- A separate international payment gateway covering 30+ currencies from 180+ countries.
Cons:
- No rate card anywhere. The 1.5% is an average in a competitor comparison, not a quoted tariff, and the pricing page directs you to a sales conversation.
- Pricing requires a business model discussion and a signed agreement before a number appears.
- Its pricing-page FAQ still says it supports Indian currency transactions only, which conflicts with its own international product pages.
- No published figure for instant settlement, and no chargeback or refund amount published.
- A pricing page headed "Transparent Pricing for Businesses" that contains no price.
Choose it if: Settlement speed and the collection product set matter more to you than seeing a rate before you start.
9. BillDesk
Best for: Institutions and enterprises collecting at scale under a negotiated contract.
Charges published: None. Two institutions publish the schedule they are contractually on, but those are negotiated terms rather than a merchant tariff.
Picture a utility, an insurer or a university collecting from thousands of payers a month. That is the job BillDesk was built for, and at that scale pricing is negotiated rather than published.
Pros:
- Institutional schedules show low per-method rates. The ZCOER card lists ordinary credit cards at 0.90%, Visa and Mastercard debit at 0.90%, netbanking at ₹15 or ₹18 and EMI from 1%, with UPI and RuPay debit at nil.
- A pass-through structure rather than a blended rate, pricing each method close to its regulated level instead of averaging everything into one percentage.
- The longest-standing biller network in India, covering utilities, insurance and government collections.
- Merchant onboarding and developer documentation exist, including test-account registration, so it is not a closed system.
- An enterprise product set including tokenisation, ACS and MPI, and cross-border payments.
Cons:
- No published pricing of any kind. There is no pricing page and the pricing URL returns a 404.
- The institutional cards are specific negotiated arrangements. One carries no date and the other dates to 2022, and neither is a tariff a new merchant can expect.
- Both schedules levy the charges on the payer as a convenience fee rather than on the merchant, which is a different commercial model from every ranked provider here.
- Going live requires KYC, onboarding and production credentials, with no guarantee of approval or of comparable rates.
- No published settlement cycle, chargeback fee or refund fee.
Choose it if: You are collecting at institutional scale and will negotiate commercials directly.
How We Ranked These Payment Gateways
We evaluated each provider on five factors, weighted so that published merchant-borne charges and settlement speed count most, and checked every figure against the provider's own website, using independent sources only where a provider does not publish the information.
How we ranked them
Charges lead the ranking because the article answers a cost question. They could not carry it alone, because the difference between first and sixth is 2.6% of the fee, which is smaller than the difference two days of settlement makes to a business carrying debt. So settlement speed breaks the ties. Paytm and PhonePe rank second and third on the same 1.99% because both settle at T+1. CCAvenue falls to sixth among the 2% providers because its default cycle is T+3 or T+2 while Razorpay and PayU settle at T+2.
Easebuzz and BillDesk are unranked because neither publishes a tariff a merchant can read and act on, and ranking them last would imply they are expensive, which the evidence does not support. A lower rank does not mean a provider is worse either: BillDesk is the right choice for a utility collecting millions of bill payments a month.
What we compared
- Published merchant-borne charges: the standard platform fee plus 18% GST, priced on ₹1 lakh of monthly sales at a ₹1,000 average ticket, with promotional rates excluded.
- Settlement speed: the default cycle stated in each provider's own documentation, plus whether a faster option exists and whether its cost is published.
- What the headline rate covers: which methods sit inside the quoted percentage and which are priced above it.
- Cost predictability: promotional caps and end dates, plugin surcharges, merchant-category caveats and volume thresholds that move a merchant onto another rate.
- Merchant-reported billing accuracy: dated, charge-specific reports on whether agreed terms were the terms billed.
Where our information comes from
- Provider pricing pages and documentation: every rate, fee, settlement cycle and promotional term, read directly from each provider's own site and linked at the point it is used.
- Dated provider references: Cashfree's per-method help table, marked accurate as of 10 August 2026, and Razorpay's public reference file, last updated 14 May 2026.
- NPCI: the UPI MDR framework and its postponement, from NPCI's press release of 13 October 2026 and its FAQ document updated 15 October 2026.
- Third-party documents, labelled as such: BillDesk's per-method schedules, from two institutions publishing the contract terms they are on. BillDesk publishes nothing itself.
- Trustpilot: ratings shown with their review counts and labelled as third-party, read as indicative rather than as a fee comparison.
- Our own calculations: all-in costs, GST amounts and the worked example, computed from the published rates at 18% GST.
- What we could not source: no provider we checked publishes a chargeback fee, several price faster settlement only as "nominal", and enterprise pricing is unpublished everywhere. Where a figure is missing we have written that we did not find it in the sources checked, not that it does not exist.
Which Payment Gateway Is Right for Your Business?
| If this is your priority | Best pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest published rate | Cashfree | 1.95%, ₹2,301 all in on ₹1 lakh |
| Fastest settlement | Easebuzz or PhonePe | Both state T+1, and Easebuzz advertises T+0 |
| Cheap rate and fast settlement together | Paytm | 1.99% with a typical T+1 cycle |
| A dated rate you can hold them to | Cashfree or Razorpay | The only two that date their published figures |
| Amex, Diners or EMI volume | PayU or CCAvenue | Both price premium cards and EMI on the page |
| Selling digital goods | Not Instamojo | 5% plus ₹3 on digital goods is nearly three times the cluster |
| Setup, AMC and refund costs stated | Razorpay | Publishes ₹0 for all three |
| Collecting at institutional scale | BillDesk | Negotiated per-method pricing, no self-serve tariff |
| Receiving money from overseas clients | Depends on the method | See the last scenario below |
If you sell to Indian consumers at a low average ticket
Six of the seven ranked providers are within ₹59 a month of each other at ₹1 lakh of sales. Pick on settlement speed and on whether the rate names UPI explicitly, which points at Paytm or Cashfree, and get your merchant category code confirmed in writing. The announced UPI MDR has not started, so nothing about it should change your decision today.
If you sell high-value goods on EMI and premium cards
Your headline rate is the least important number on the page. PayU prices EMI at a flat 3%, CCAvenue prices cardless EMI at 3.5%, and Cashfree quotes credit card EMI starting at 1.90% plus 0.25% though its own sources differ. Get EMI, Amex, Diners, corporate card and chargeback fees in writing from whoever you shortlist.
If you sell digital goods, courses or software
Check the product definition before the rate. Instamojo charges 5% plus ₹3 for digital goods against 2% plus ₹3 for physical, a distinction most comparisons miss entirely. Other providers price by merchant category rather than by product type, which is why the category code matters.
If your business runs tight on working capital
Settlement speed may be worth more to you than the fee, but do the arithmetic rather than assuming it. Two days of sales on ₹1 lakh a month is about ₹6,667 of cash in transit. At a 12% annual cost of funds that is worth roughly ₹67 a month, against a ₹59 monthly spread on platform fees across the cluster. Below about 10.6% cost of funds the fee gap wins.
If you are growing past ₹5 lakh a month
Razorpay invites custom pricing above that level, and every provider here has an unpublished enterprise tier. Cashfree's offer can also be withdrawn under a credit-card-share fair use rule, and its two official pages give different review triggers, so get the applicable terms in writing. Negotiate on the method mix and the settlement cycle you actually need.
If you are receiving international payments from overseas clients
Several of these providers do serve this, so compare the method rather than assuming a gateway cannot help. On cards, Cashfree publishes 2.99% for Visa and Mastercard and 2.95% for Amex, PayU 3%, Razorpay 3% and CCAvenue 3.5% for multi-currency processing. Razorpay also sells international bank transfer collections through multi-currency virtual accounts at 1% per transaction with no FX markup, and Easebuzz runs a separate international gateway covering 30+ currencies. Card acceptance and bank-transfer collection are different products with different costs, and the exchange rate applied to the conversion usually matters more than the headline percentage.
If you are an exporter, freelancer or SMB invoicing overseas clients rather than selling to international consumers, Skydo is built for that case: an RBI-authorized cross-border payments platform for Indian businesses receiving international payments, with FIRA documentation included. Compare it on the conversion rate and the documentation you need, not on the card percentage.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the cheapest payment gateway in India in 2026?
Cashfree is the cheapest payment gateway in India on published rates, at a 1.95% platform fee, which works out to ₹2,301 on ₹1 lakh of monthly sales once 18% GST is added. Paytm and PhonePe follow at 1.99%, and Razorpay, PayU and CCAvenue at 2%. Easebuzz and BillDesk do not publish a tariff, so they cannot be compared on the same basis.
What are the average payment gateway charges in India?
Among the providers that publish a tariff, the standard platform fee clusters between 1.95% and 2%, with 18% GST on top. That makes the real all-in cost between 2.30% and 2.36% of transaction value. Instamojo's digital goods rate of 5% plus ₹3 sits well above that range.
Is GST charged on payment gateway fees in India?
Yes. GST at 18% applies to a payment gateway's service fee. Cashfree, CCAvenue, Paytm, Razorpay and Instamojo state this in their published material. PayU and PhonePe do not, and it applies regardless. Cashfree confirms that GST is still charged during a 0% promotional period, computed on the standard rate.
Has the new UPI MDR started in India?
No. NPCI announced a 0.4% MDR on select person-to-merchant UPI transactions above ₹2,000 from 15 October 2026, then postponed it in a press release dated 13 October 2026, stating it would be implemented immediately post Diwali at a date to be notified separately. Its FAQ updated 15 October 2026 repeats that position. No start date has been notified.
What is the announced UPI MDR for merchants?
Under the announced framework, transactions up to ₹2,000 carry no MDR and NPCI puts those at more than 95% of UPI person-to-merchant volume. Above ₹2,000 the rate is 0.4%, capped at ₹300 for transactions of ₹75,000 and above. Specified categories including railways, telecom, insurance and fuel pay a flat ₹5 above ₹2,000 instead. Merchants under the P2PM framework receiving up to ₹1 lakh a month by QR stay at zero, and consumers are never charged.
Can a merchant pass UPI MDR on to the customer?
No. NPCI states that merchants on-boarded cannot pass MDR charges on to customers while accepting payments through UPI, and that consumers pay only the posted price. Its FAQ describes the MDR as paid by the merchant to its acquiring bank.
Which payment gateways in India publish their charges?
Seven of the nine publish a tariff you can read before signing: Cashfree, Paytm, PhonePe, Razorpay, PayU, CCAvenue and Instamojo. Easebuzz advertises a 1.5% average on its gateway page but directs you to a sales conversation for an actual rate, and BillDesk has no pricing page at all.
How long does a payment gateway take to settle money in India?
Default cycles run from T+1 to T+3 working days. Easebuzz and PhonePe state T+1, Paytm documents T+N with T+1 as typical, Cashfree, Razorpay and PayU settle at T+2, and CCAvenue and Instamojo at T+3. Several providers state the cycle is subject to bank approval and merchant category, so confirm yours before signing.
What does faster settlement cost with an Indian payment gateway?
Cashfree publishes 0.30% excluding GST for instant settlement and Instamojo publishes 0.25% plus 18% GST for next-day payout. CCAvenue describes express settlement as carrying "a very nominal fee" and Paytm refers to "minimum fees" for early settlement, neither with an amount. Razorpay and PayU offer faster settlement without publishing a price.
What do payment gateways in India charge for a chargeback?
None of the nine publishes a chargeback fee in the sources we checked. A fee is typically levied per dispute, so it needs to be asked for directly and written into the agreement before signing. Razorpay does publish a refund processing fee of ₹0.
Why is my payment gateway charging more than the advertised rate?
Merchant category is a common cause. Pricing is set against a merchant category code, CCAvenue states on its pricing page that commercials may differ by category, and NPCI states that UPI MDR applicability is determined by overall merchant account categorisation. Razorpay and PhonePe both state that the settlement cycle also depends on merchant and business model. Reconcile a month of settlements against your agreed terms before assuming they are being applied.
What is the difference between MDR and a payment gateway platform fee?
MDR, the merchant discount rate, is the charge distributed among the parties that process a payment, including the acquiring bank and the card network or UPI ecosystem. The platform fee is what the gateway deducts from the merchant. Indian gateways usually quote one number that bundles both, and Cashfree calls its figure a TDR, or transaction discount rate. Whether a gateway bundles the announced UPI MDR into its platform fee or bills it separately will depend on your agreement, so confirm the full applicable charge rather than assuming.
Which payment gateway in India is cheapest for international payments?
Which is the cheapest payment gateway in India in 2026?
Cashfree is the cheapest payment gateway in India on published rates, at a 1.95% platform fee, which works out to ₹2,301 on ₹1 lakh of monthly sales once 18% GST is added. Paytm and PhonePe follow at 1.99%, and Razorpay, PayU and CCAvenue at 2%. Easebuzz and BillDesk do not publish a tariff, so they cannot be compared on the same basis.
What are the average payment gateway charges in India?
Is GST charged on payment gateway fees in India?
Has the new UPI MDR started in India?
What is the announced UPI MDR for merchants?
Can a merchant pass UPI MDR on to the customer?
Which payment gateways in India publish their charges?
How long does a payment gateway take to settle money in India?
What does faster settlement cost with an Indian payment gateway?
What do payment gateways in India charge for a chargeback?
Why is my payment gateway charging more than the advertised rate?
What is the difference between MDR and a payment gateway platform fee?
Which payment gateway in India is cheapest for international payments?
