Cashfree Payment Gateway

What it does

Businesses can collect online payments with Cashfree through hosted or merchant-hosted checkout, mobile integrations, APIs, plugins, payment links and no-code forms. It also provides payment links, recurring debits, payouts, international payments, identity verification and fraud-detection infrastructure.

Cashfree describes a payment-method catalogue of more than 180 options, spanning UPI, cards, net banking, wallets, EMI and Pay Later. Merchants can collect payments in more than 140 currencies.

Fees and plans

Cashfree lists a festive offer at free for eligible new merchants. Under the campaign terms, no gateway fee is charged on the first ₹20L of qualifying domestic volume, while GST remains payable. American Express, Diners Club, corporate cards, EMI, prepaid cards and Pay Later are excluded, and standard fees apply after the offer ends. The listed offer runs through 31-Mar-27, subject to transaction terms.

The standard Payment Gateway platform fee is price on request and is charged per transaction for listed domestic payment modes. Cashfree lists the Standard platform fee as price on request too; successful-transaction proceeds are charged before settlement. Cashfree says custom pricing may be available for businesses with high average order values or micro-transactions.

Instant Settlements are price on request and include a platform fee, with GST excluded. Availability depends on settlement type and risk assessment. EMI payment fees are price on request per credit-card EMI transaction. Enterprise pricing is price on request, with volume-based custom pricing, custom service levels and settlement requirements.

Cashfree does not list a general free trial. After paperless onboarding, new sign-ups are described as receiving contact from a payment expert within 24 working hours.

Where it runs

The gateway runs through web checkout, APIs and plugins, with hosted redirect, popup, inline and custom card checkout options. Listed plugins include Shopify and WooCommerce, and server SDKs cover Go, PHP, Java, Node.js, .NET and Python.

Mobile integrations are listed for Android, iOS, Flutter and React Native. Cashfree presents the service as hosted payment infrastructure, with APIs, SDKs and plugins instead of a self-hosted gateway.

Cashfree also publishes structured API references, examples, an interactive Dev Studio playground, FAQs, a knowledge base, email or help-desk support, chat and a Discord developer community.

Protection and rules, as Cashfree publishes them

Cashfree states that it is an RBI-authorized Payment Aggregator and holds RBI licences for payment aggregation, cross-border payment aggregation and prepaid payment instruments. These are Cashfree’s statements.

Its site lists PCI DSS v4.0.1 Level 1, ISO 27001/27017/27018/9001 and SOC 2 Type 2 certifications. Its security and compliance materials also identify PCI DSS, ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certifications.

The provider reports 90-day availability of 99.9869% for Payment Gateway and 99.9801% for Payouts on its status page when accessed.

Strengths

Businesses can offer over 180 payment methods, take payments in more than 140 currencies and select hosted checkout, web elements, APIs, mobile SDKs, plugins, links or forms.

Recurring payments support subscriptions, UPI AutoPay and eNACH. Cashfree says its UPI gateway is integrated with more than eight banks and dynamically directs transactions among them.

Catches

Most ongoing prices are not published as fixed amounts. Listed charges are generally price on request, and the festive free offer is limited to eligible new merchants, selected domestic transactions and a ₹20L volume threshold. GST still applies.

Cashfree states that the default UPI settlement cycle is T+2 days. Instant Settlements can make funds available within 15 minutes only for approved businesses, with availability tied to settlement type and risk assessment.

Cashfree describes the cross-border products as for businesses. The hosted service is proprietary, even though several official SDK and sample repositories are public under Apache-2.0 or MIT licences.

Who should skip it

It may not fit someone seeking a published, fixed price list, a consumer payment app or a self-hosted gateway.

Verdict

Cashfree suits businesses that need several checkout routes, Indian payment methods, international currency collection and recurring-debit support in one hosted service. Its development materials cover web, mobile, server SDKs and plugins, while the free festive offer may reduce fees for qualifying new domestic merchants.

It is a weaker fit when the buyer needs clear standard rates before contacting sales, a consumer-facing phone app or self-hosting. Settlement timing, offer exclusions, GST and eligibility for instant settlement all need checking against the business’s transaction pattern.

Questions