Top Payment Gateways in India Compared: Razorpay vs Cashfree vs PayU vs Stripe
Executive Summary
- ✓ Lowest Standard Domestic Rate: Cashfree leads at 1.90% MDR (+18% GST = 2.242%), saving 10 basis points over Razorpay and PayU's 2.0% standard tier.
- ✓ Zero-MDR Statutory Exemption: All domestic gateways charge 0.0% MDR on consumer UPI and RuPay debit cards in strict compliance with NPCI and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandates.
- ✓ 18% GST Real Cost: Gateways must levy 18% GST on all fees. A ₹10,000 credit card transaction with 2.0% MDR incurs ₹200 fee + ₹36 GST = ₹236 total deduction (2.36% effective take).
- ✓ Cross-Border Export Payouts: Stripe and Razorpay offer automated electronic Foreign Inward Remittance Certificates (e-FIRCs) for RBI Purpose Code compliance.
2026 Core Gateway Fee Matrix (India Domestic & Export)
| Platform | UPI & RuPay | Domestic Cards | Effective (w/ 18% GST) | International Cards | Settlement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cashfree | 0.0% | 1.90% | 2.242% | 3.00% + 18% GST | T+1 to T+2 |
| Razorpay | 0.0% | 2.00% | 2.360% | 3.00% + 18% GST | T+2 Standard |
| PayU | 0.0% | 2.00% | 2.360% | 3.00% + 18% GST | T+2 Standard |
| Stripe India | 0.0% (Beta) | 2.00% | 2.360% | 3.00% + 18% GST | Rolling 5-day |
The Zero-MDR Mandate: Why UPI & RuPay are Free
Unlike the United States (where credit card interchange averages 1.8%–2.5%) and the European Union (where debit cards are capped at 0.20%), India operates under a government-subsidized Zero Merchant Discount Rate (Zero-MDR) policy.
Under Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, no bank or payment system provider may levy any fee on a person making or receiving payments through consumer UPI (Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm) or RuPay debit cards. For e-commerce businesses whose customer checkout mix is 70%+ UPI, your blended acquiring costs will frequently drop below 0.60% effective MDR across total monthly sales.
1. Razorpay: Best All-in-One Developer Platform
Razorpay is the market leader for modern Indian startups, D2C brands, and tech enterprises. Beyond simple checkout buttons, Razorpay provides a unified financial operating stack including RazorpayX corporate banking, automated subscription billing (UPI AutoPay), and Instant Settlements (at a nominal 0.15%–0.30% fee) allowing merchants to receive payouts within 10 seconds 24/7/365.
Razorpay Live Reverse Calculator
Need to invoice an Indian client for exactly ₹50,000 net after card MDR and 18% GST? Use our interactive Razorpay India Fee & Reverse Payout Calculator.
2. Cashfree Payments: Lowest 1.90% Rate & Bulk Payouts
For high-volume merchants processing over ₹25 Lakhs per month on domestic credit and debit cards, Cashfree's 1.90% base MDR yields tangible cash savings. On ₹1 Crore of domestic card volume, Cashfree's 10 bps advantage saves ₹11,800 in direct gateway fees and GST every month compared to a 2.00% provider.
Cashfree is also the uncontested leader in automated outbound disbursements (payouts to vendor bank accounts, delivery driver earnings, and instant customer refund rails). Calculate your volume savings with the Cashfree Fee & Payout Calculator.
3. PayU: High-Volume Enterprise Routing & Redundancy
PayU is the backbone of Indian enterprise acquiring, powering massive ticketing portals (IRCTC), airlines, and e-commerce aggregators. PayU's proprietary dynamic routing engine continuously queries 50+ bank gateways in real time, automatically rerouting card attempts when a bank server experiences latency drops. Check standard rate cards via the PayU India Fee Calculator.
4. Stripe India: Cross-Border SaaS Exporters
While Stripe India maintains a flat 2.0% domestic card rate, its true power lies in cross-border software subscriptions. Under RBI circulars on foreign card processing, Indian businesses exporting digital services must collect electronic FIRCs (Foreign Inward Remittance Certificates) to satisfy goods/services export GST exemptions. Stripe automates monthly FIRC consolidation directly with partner banks (such as ICICI and Axis), saving engineering teams hundreds of administrative compliance hours.
The GST Reverse Formula: What to Invoice in India
Because 18% GST is levied directly on top of the gateway's MDR, standard reverse markup math will result in an accounting shortfall if calculated incorrectly.
The Exact Indian Gateway Reverse Formula
Where Base MDR = 2.0% (0.02) and GST = 18% (0.18):
Effective Fee Rate = MDR × (1 + GST) = 0.02 × 1.18 = 0.0236 (2.36%)
Required Invoice = Desired Net / (1 - Effective Fee Rate)
Example to receive exactly ₹10,000 net payout:
Required Quote = ₹10,000 / (1 - 0.0236) = ₹10,000 / 0.9764 = ₹10,241.71
Frequently Asked Questions
Common merchant processing questions and rate card rules.