Start your shortlist with Razorpay and Cashfree. Razorpay is the easier benchmark when you want one published rate—2% plus GST on successful payments, with no setup or annual maintenance fee. Cashfree is more granular: its published Payment Pages table shows zero charges for listed UPI transactions, 1.90% for RuPay, net banking and listed domestic cards, 2.5% for pay-later or cardless EMI, and 3.5% plus ₹7 for international cards. Cashfree also advertises 15-minute settlements, while its standard instant-settlement pricing starts at 0.30% before GST.
Those figures are not directly interchangeable. Your real cost depends on the payment mix, GST, refunds, international-card use, negotiated pricing, reserves and the settlement speed you purchase. PayU and PhonePe belong in a competitive quote process, but obtain current written method-level rates and settlement service-level agreements before selecting either.
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Short answer: which gateway should an Indian D2C brand choose?
| Provider | Published pricing evidence | Settlement information | Best fit | What to verify |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Razorpay | 2% plus GST per successful payment; zero setup fee and zero annual maintenance charge. | Pricing language says typically T+1 or instant. Separate settlement documentation describes T+2 business days for domestic transactions and T+7 for international transactions by default. | A general-purpose checkout where a simple, transparent list rate helps reconciliation. | The exact cycle in your merchant agreement, eligibility for instant settlement, limits, reserves and holiday treatment. |
| Cashfree Payments | UPI listed at zero transaction charges; RuPay, net banking and listed domestic cards at 1.90%; pay-later or cardless EMI at 2.5%; Diners and Amex at 2.95%; international cards at 3.5% plus ₹7. Cashfree says these charges include MDR, TDR and platform fee. | Standard example is T+2. Instant-settlement pricing starts at 0.30% before GST. An ecommerce page advertises 15-minute settlements, subject to eligibility. | Brands that need method-level pricing, UPI routing, EMI or faster access to cash. | Bank approval, business-category eligibility, transaction limits, risk holds, refund treatment and the price of accelerated settlement. |
| PayU | Not stated in the current comparable public materials; request a written quote. | Not stated in the current comparable public materials; request a written SLA. | Potentially suitable when a negotiated enterprise package or existing integration is valuable. | Fees by method, settlement cycle, reserve policy, chargebacks, international cards, refunds and support terms. |
| PhonePe | Not stated in the current comparable public materials; request a written quote. | Not stated in the current comparable public materials; request a written SLA. | A quote-required alternative to include in a structured procurement process. | The same commercial and operational points requested from PayU. |
The practical decision is therefore conditional: use Razorpay as the clean baseline, use Cashfree when payment-method granularity or rapid settlement has a measurable cash-flow benefit, and make PayU and PhonePe compete on written terms rather than assumptions.
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How gateway pricing actually affects D2C margins
The headline percentage is only one part of the bill
A gateway quote can combine merchant discount rate (MDR), technology or platform fees, and taxes. Razorpay describes a 2% transaction fee on successful payments and says its pricing has zero setup and annual maintenance fees. Cashfree states that its Payment Pages rates include MDR, TDR and platform fee. Ask every provider to identify each component and whether GST is charged on the fee, because a percentage shown before GST is not your final expense.
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Build the model by payment method
Do not multiply one advertised rate by total sales. Split a representative month into UPI, domestic credit and debit cards, RuPay, net banking, EMI or pay-later, and international cards. Apply the applicable rate to each bucket, then add GST and any fixed per-transaction amount. Cashfree’s international-card example illustrates why this matters: 3.5% plus ₹7 has both a percentage and a fixed component, so small orders bear a higher effective rate than large orders.
UPI can still have a gateway charge
Razorpay explains that standard bank-to-bank UPI has zero MDR, while a 2% platform or technology fee applies when the gateway service is used. Cashfree’s Payment Pages table lists UPI (including PhonePe, Google Pay and Amazon Pay) at zero transaction charges. Confirm whether a zero-MDR line is restricted to particular UPI flows, products or transaction values, and whether another platform fee is shown elsewhere in the contract.
Refunds, disputes and accelerated settlement change the economics
A low processing rate can be outweighed by refund fees, chargeback administration, a rolling reserve or the fee for receiving funds early. Request the rules for full and partial refunds, failed refunds, dispute evidence, chargeback reversals and reconciliation exports. Treat instant settlement as a separate cash-flow product: compare its fee with the cost of a stock-out, a short-term working-capital facility or delayed cash-on-delivery remittances.
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Published cost
Razorpay’s official pricing page, accessed 17 October 2026, states a pay-as-you-go fee of 2% plus GST on successful payments, with zero setup fees and zero annual maintenance charges. This is the clearest broadly applicable public benchmark in the comparison. It is useful for an early unit-economics model because you can start with one rate and then refine it for negotiated or special-category pricing.
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Settlement language needs reconciliation
The pricing page says remaining funds are settled to the registered bank account according to the settlement cycle, “typically T+1 or Instant.” Razorpay’s settlement documentation separately says: “By default, the complete process takes a time of T+2 business days for domestic transactions and T+7 days for international transactions, T being the date of capture of payment.” These statements may refer to different products, account configurations or plan language. Ask Razorpay to put your exact domestic and international cycle, capture cutoff, bank-holiday handling, instant-settlement eligibility and any reserve or hold in the merchant agreement.
When Razorpay is the logical first call
- You want a single published percentage for a first-pass margin model.
- Your finance team values simple reconciliation over method-by-method promotional pricing.
- You can operate on the contracted standard cycle or have verified that instant settlement is available at an acceptable cost.
- You need broad payment-mode coverage but will still test every method and webhook in your own checkout.
The 2% figure is a starting point, not a promise that every transaction type, enterprise volume or cross-border flow will be priced identically. Obtain a written schedule if your mix includes substantial international cards, EMI or negotiated volume.
Cashfree Payments: granular rates and faster-cash options
Payment Pages rate table
Cashfree’s official Payment Pages pricing, accessed 17 October 2026, lists the following charges:
| Payment method | Published charge | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|
| UPI, including PhonePe, Google Pay and Amazon Pay | 0% | Listed as zero transaction charges in the Payment Pages table. |
| RuPay, net banking and listed domestic cards | 1.90% | Cashfree says the listed charges include MDR, TDR and platform fee. |
| Pay-later or cardless EMI | 2.5% | Apply to the methods covered by Cashfree’s table. |
| Diners and Amex | 2.95% | Listed separately from other domestic-card categories. |
| International cards | 3.5% plus ₹7 | Includes a fixed ₹7 component as well as the percentage. |
These are published Payment Pages figures, not a guaranteed enterprise quote. Confirm whether the same schedule applies to your checkout product, order value, industry category, refunds and negotiated volume.
UPI routing and D2C positioning
Cashfree describes itself as an RBI-authorised UPI payment gateway with deep integration to more than eight banks and real-time dynamic routing. Its UPI page lists a default T+2-day settlement cycle. Dynamic routing can be operationally useful when a bank or app has an outage, but ask how routing changes appear in reports and whether transaction identifiers remain consistent for reconciliation.
Cashfree’s ecommerce page markets “15 minute settlements” and D2C-oriented checkout capabilities. Treat that as a product claim rather than an automatic entitlement: verify onboarding eligibility, maximum amount per settlement, supported banks, cutoffs, reserve rules and the fee for using it.
Instant-settlement pricing
Cashfree’s instant-settlement page says standard pricing starts at 0.30% excluding GST. The page gives T+2 as an example of the standard process and warns that timing can vary with bank approval, transaction type, business category or model, and risk parameters. Model the surcharge against the actual working-capital benefit; a faster payout is valuable only when it prevents a more expensive inventory or fulfilment constraint.
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PayU and PhonePe: include them, but require a quote
No current, comparable official gateway rate card or settlement SLA was captured for PayU or PhonePe. That is not evidence that either is expensive or unsuitable; it means a D2C buyer should not assign an unsupported percentage. Send both providers the same transaction profile and request a written schedule.
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- UPI, RuPay, domestic credit and debit cards, net banking, EMI or pay-later, and international cards.
- All platform, MDR, fixed-per-transaction and GST components.
- Default domestic and international settlement cycles, capture cutoffs, bank-holiday treatment and instant-settlement pricing.
- Daily limits, reserves, rolling holds, risk-review triggers and release conditions.
- Full, partial and failed refunds; chargeback fees; dispute response times; and reconciliation-file formats.
- API, hosted-checkout, payment-link, webhook, reporting and support commitments.
PhonePe’s 2025 draft prospectus supplies market context rather than a merchant gateway tariff: Indian digital merchant (P2M) payments reached ₹112 trillion in fiscal 2025 and are projected at ₹278–302 trillion by fiscal 2030, a 20–22% compound annual growth rate. The scale of the market does not substitute for a transaction-level commercial quote.
Settlement times: T+1, T+2, instant and 15-minute claims
What the labels mean
T is generally the date on which a payment is captured; T+1 and T+2 refer to business-day settlement after that date. Confirm whether the provider counts the capture date, excludes weekends and bank holidays, or uses a separate cutoff. International transactions can follow a different cycle, as Razorpay’s documentation illustrates with T+7 for international payments.
Why two official pages can show different cycles
A pricing page may describe a typical cycle for an eligible account, while operational documentation may state a default for another product or risk tier. Razorpay’s “typically T+1 or Instant” wording and its separate T+2 domestic documentation should be reconciled in writing. Cashfree’s standard T+2 example and its advertised 15-minute option likewise represent different settlement products. Your signed agreement should control the calculation.
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- Is accelerated settlement available immediately after onboarding, or only after a risk and processing-history review?
- Which payment methods and currencies qualify?
- What are per-transaction, daily and monthly limits?
- Is the fee a percentage, a fixed amount, or both, and is GST extra?
- Can the provider pause accelerated payouts while a reserve, refund or dispute is reviewed?
- How are weekends, bank holidays, failed bank credits and account changes handled?
Feature coverage to verify in a D2C checkout
| Capability | What is established | What your team should test or obtain in writing |
|---|---|---|
| UPI | Razorpay applies a 2% platform or technology fee despite zero standard bank-to-bank UPI MDR. Cashfree lists UPI at zero transaction charges and describes integration with more than eight banks plus dynamic routing. | Supported apps, intent and collect flows, failed-payment recovery, routing visibility and reconciliation identifiers. |
| Cards | Razorpay publishes a 2% plus GST general rate. Cashfree lists 1.90% for listed domestic cards, 2.95% for Diners and Amex, and 3.5% plus ₹7 for international cards. | Card-network and business-category exclusions, tokenisation requirements, 3-D Secure behaviour, FX conversion and cross-border settlement. |
| Net banking | Cashfree lists 1.90% for net banking; Razorpay’s broad payment-mode coverage is part of its general gateway offering. | Bank coverage, failure codes, retry behaviour and whether the rate changes by bank or transaction value. |
| EMI and pay-later | Cashfree lists pay-later or cardless EMI at 2.5%. | Issuer and tenure coverage, cancellation rules, partial refunds, settlement timing and who bears promotional discounts. |
| Payment pages and links | Cashfree publishes a Payment Pages rate table. | Branding, inventory or order-data capture, expiry, reuse controls, webhook events and accounting exports. Confirm equivalent tools with any other provider. |
| Refunds and disputes | Exact fee and SLA schedules are not established in the comparable public material. | Full and partial-refund fees, refund funding source, chargeback workflow, evidence deadlines and dispute reporting. |
Choose by operating profile
Cost-transparent generalist
Begin with Razorpay if your priority is a straightforward 2% plus GST model and broad checkout coverage. The benefit is budgeting simplicity, not proof that it will be cheapest for every payment mix. Confirm the settlement cycle and any category-specific pricing before signing.
Best Value
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Fast cash flow or high UPI share
Shortlist Cashfree when a 15-minute option, dynamic UPI routing, or method-level rates can materially improve operations. Compare the 0.30% or higher instant-settlement charge before GST with the financial value of receiving funds sooner.
International-card-heavy brand
Use Cashfree’s published 3.5% plus ₹7 international-card line as a benchmark, then request each competitor’s percentage, fixed fee, foreign-exchange spread, supported currencies, compliance checks and cross-border settlement schedule. A lower domestic rate does not compensate for an expensive international mix.
Large or negotiated volume
Ask all shortlisted providers for enterprise pricing. Published list rates are a reference point; your order value, category, monthly volume, refund rate and risk profile may produce a different offer. Require the same fee and SLA fields from each bidder so the comparison remains fair.
Build a monthly fee model before you decide
Create a spreadsheet with one row per payment method and these columns: monthly gross value, transaction count, provider percentage, fixed fee, GST treatment, refund value, chargeback cost, settlement surcharge and net gateway cost. Calculate the effective rate as total gateway cost divided by gross processed value.
Illustrative single-method checks
These examples use the published rates only to show the arithmetic; they are not forecasts. If ₹10,00,000 in a month were processed entirely through Cashfree’s listed domestic-card rate of 1.90%, the pre-GST processing charge would be ₹19,000. At Razorpay’s 2% published rate, the same volume would produce ₹20,000 before GST. If ₹10,00,000 were processed through Cashfree’s listed international-card rate, the percentage component would be ₹35,000 before GST, plus ₹7 for every transaction. The order count therefore matters as much as gross value for international cards.
Include cash-flow value
Run a second version of the model with standard T+2 settlement and another with the quoted instant or 15-minute option. Compare the added settlement charge with the measurable cost of delayed inventory purchases, advertising pauses, fulfilment payroll or borrowing. If the faster cycle does not remove a real bottleneck, retain the standard cycle and its lower fee.
Onboarding and procurement checklist
- Document your business profile. Record legal entity, website, product category, average order value, monthly volume, refund rate, domestic versus international share and expected peak-day traffic.
- Map the payment mix. Use the last three representative months where possible; separate UPI, cards by network, net banking, EMI or pay-later, and international cards.
- Request a complete commercial schedule. Obtain percentage fees, fixed fees, GST treatment, setup or maintenance charges, refund and chargeback terms, and negotiated-volume breaks.
- Lock down settlement terms. Ask for default and accelerated cycles, capture cutoffs, limits, reserves, risk holds, bank-holiday rules and international timing.
- Validate compliance and onboarding. Confirm acceptable products, KYC documents, prohibited categories, international-card requirements and the process for changing bank accounts.
- Test the integration in your environment. Exercise successful, failed, abandoned, duplicate, delayed and refunded payments; verify webhook retries, idempotency, signature checks and reconciliation exports.
- Run a controlled launch. Start with a limited traffic share, monitor authorization and failure rates by method, and reconcile gateway reports to orders and bank credits every day.
- Review after the first settlement cycles. Check that actual fees, taxes, payout timing, reserves and refunds match the signed schedule before routing all traffic through one provider.
Common failure modes and how to prevent them
- Comparing domestic rates with international rates: keep them in separate rows; international cards may include a fixed fee and foreign-exchange costs.
- Assuming zero UPI MDR means zero gateway cost: distinguish bank MDR from a platform or technology fee and verify the exact UPI product.
- Budgeting on a typical settlement phrase: have the contract state whether your account receives T+1, T+2, instant or another cycle.
- Ignoring risk holds: request reserve triggers and release conditions, especially for new, high-refund or high-ticket businesses.
- Testing only successful payments: simulate timeouts, duplicate callbacks, partial refunds and chargebacks before launch.
- Choosing a 15-minute payout without checking limits: verify eligibility, supported methods and maximum amounts; a headline promise may not cover every order.
- Relying on one gateway: maintain a tested fallback or a documented failover plan if the economics and engineering capacity justify it.
Final recommendation
For most Indian D2C brands, obtain a Razorpay quote first to establish a simple 2% plus GST benchmark, then obtain a Cashfree quote to test whether its method-specific pricing, UPI routing and faster-settlement options lower your real cost or improve working capital. Include PayU and PhonePe only through the same written-quote process. Select the provider whose contracted fee, settlement behavior, refund rules and operational reliability fit your actual payment mix—not the provider with the lowest isolated headline percentage.
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