Below is a concise, up-to-date (checked Sep 10, 2025) comparison of the most-used payment gateways in India — fees, settlement behavior, key strengths, and when to pick each. Prices and features change often; I cite each provider’s official pricing/docs I checked so you can verify or get custom quotes.

Quick summary (one-line picks)

• Best for general e‑commerce / developer features: Razorpay. (razorpay.com)
• Best for low-cost UPI + fast settlements: Cashfree. (cashfree.com)
• Best for very small sellers / instant smart pages: Instamojo. (instamojo.com, support.instamojo.com)
• Best for large/enterprise merchants with legacy needs: CCAvenue (custom pricing, multi‑currency). (ccavenue.com)
• Well-known simple flat-fee option for SMBs: PayU / PayUmoney. (ux.payumoney.com)
• Best if you need global / developer platform features and cross-border support: Stripe (India offering; invite/custom rates for some features). (stripe.com)

Detailed short comparisons (pricing examples, features)

• Razorpay — strong developer tools, subscriptions, marketplace support, and broad payment options. Retail/standard platform fee shown on their pricing page: “start accepting at 2% (plus GST)”; supports UPI, cards, wallets, international payments and instant-settlement options for eligible accounts. Good choice if you want deep APIs, webhooks, hosted checkout and add‑ons (banking, payouts). (razorpay.com)

• Cashfree — positioned on speed and low UPI/card fees; public pricing shows gateway fees starting ~1.95–2.0% for many flows, with low UPI rates and instant/same‑day settlement options (instant settlement usually carries an extra charge). Good for marketplaces and businesses that need fast payouts and bulk disbursements. (cashfree.com)

• Instamojo — no-setup, simple plans for creators/small merchants. Transaction fees are plan-dependent (example: Growth/Pro often ~2% + ₹3 per txn; basic free plan charged higher percentage). Quick to onboard (payment links, smart pages) and suited to micro‑sellers or solopreneurs. (instamojo.com, support.instamojo.com)

• Paytm for Business — competitive standard plan (their public pages list examples like ~1.99% platform fees for many instruments; UPI/RuPay often listed as zero or very low for typical ticket sizes) with large reach across wallets/consumer apps and instant bank settlements for many merchants. Strong for consumer-facing retail where customers already use Paytm/Paytm Wallet. (paytmpayments.com, business.paytm.com)

• PayU / PayUmoney — flat/simple SMB pricing often shown as ~2% + GST (with higher for some international/Amex/EMI instruments) and easy plugins for major platforms. Good if you want predictable per-transaction fee and stable enterprise presence. (ux.payumoney.com, publicmediasolution.com)

• CCAvenue — longstanding gateway; public pricing shows platform fee around 2% with higher listed rates for certain card types and international transactions (examples show multi‑currency and card fees up to ~4.99% for some instruments). Often chosen by businesses needing customized enterprise deals and many payment options. (ccavenue.com)

• Stripe (India) — developer-first global platform. India pricing page lists India card fees (example 2% for India‑issued cards, 3% for cards issued outside India) and additional per‑screening/dispute charges; Stripe emphasizes global payment methods and advanced fraud tooling but some features/pricing are region‑specific and may require sales contact. Good for SaaS/marketplaces selling cross‑border. (stripe.com)

Important notes & what to watch (short)

• UPI / MDR changes: UPI has historically been free for most merchants for low-value tickets, but banks/regulators and some bank policies (e.g., ICICI routing changes earlier in 2025) have made fee structures more dynamic — providers may pass on new bank fees or charge for instant routing / same‑day settlement. Always confirm current UPI terms with the gateway and your bank. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, economictimes.indiatimes.com)
• Custom pricing is common: public pages show standard retail rates but large/volume merchants get bespoke pricing — contact sales for tiered/volume discounts. (Most provider pages note “contact sales / custom pricing for enterprises”.) (razorpay.com, cashfree.com, ccavenue.com)
• Settlement speed vs cost tradeoff: “instant” or same‑day settlements typically cost more; standard T+1/T+2/T+3 settlement windows are common depending on the provider and instrument. Verify the settlement schedule you need. (cashfree.com, razorpay.com)
• Required features to compare for your business: expected monthly volume, average ticket size, payment mix (UPI vs cards vs international), need for subscriptions/recurring (UPI AutoPay / mandates), marketplace split‑payouts, PCI/ISO compliance, developer docs and plugins, refund & dispute handling, local support hours. Most gateways support all of these but with different maturity and pricing (see providers’ docs). (razorpay.com, stripe.com, cashfree.com)

Quick pick guidance by use-case

• Low-margin retail with mostly UPI payments: Cashfree or Paytm (low or zero UPI fee on many flows). (cashfree.com, business.paytm.com)
• High-conversion checkout + subscriptions + developer control: Razorpay or Stripe (if you need global capabilities). (razorpay.com, stripe.com)
• Micro-sellers / social sellers / creators: Instamojo (simple pricing, payment links). (instamojo.com)
• Enterprise / lots of international card processing or multi-currency: CCAvenue (enterprise focus) or Stripe (global tooling). (ccavenue.com, stripe.com)
• If you run a marketplace: look for automatic split payouts / escrow support — Razorpay, Cashfree and some enterprise offerings explicitly provide marketplace tooling. Verify settlement delays and fee per payout. (razorpay.com, cashfree.com)

If you want a short, personalized cost comparison Tell me (or paste) your:

• monthly payment volume (INR),
• average transaction value, and
• estimated payment mix (rough % UPI / cards / netbanking / international) — and I’ll model approximate monthly fees across 3–4 gateways (using the providers’ published rates and typical settlement add‑ons). Note: for final numbers you’ll still want gateway sales quotes since many offer negotiated rates.

Sources (checked Sep 10, 2025)

• Razorpay pricing & product pages. (razorpay.com)
• Cashfree pricing (payment gateway charges & settlement info). (cashfree.com)
• Instamojo pricing & help center (transaction fee details by plan). (instamojo.com, support.instamojo.com)
• Paytm for Business pricing pages. (paytmpayments.com, business.paytm.com)
• PayU / PayUmoney FAQs and pricing pages. (ux.payumoney.com, publicmediasolution.com)
• CCAvenue pricing page. (ccavenue.com)
• Stripe India pricing. (stripe.com)
• Industry/regulatory notes on UPI fee dynamics (news about bank/UPI fee changes in 2025). (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, economictimes.indiatimes.com)

Want me to run a sample cost calculation for your volumes (INR/month + payment split)? I can compute monthly fees and recommend the cheapest/best-fit gateway from the set above.