Here are the leading payment-gateway providers in India (2024–2025 context), with a short summary, key strengths, typical drawbacks, and when to pick each.

Top providers

• Razorpay — Full-stack, developer-friendly, widely used by startups and mid‑size businesses. Pros: excellent APIs, payment links, wallets/UPI/cards, payouts and banking products (RazorpayX). Cons: pricing varies by product and can be higher for some use cases; enterprise deals are custom. Ideal for: tech-first startups, SaaS, marketplaces. (razorpay.com)

• Cashfree — Strong for fast payouts, settlements and payouts-to-vendors, with competitive pricing and multiple products (gateway, payouts, virtual accounts). Pros: built-in payout/recurring/UPI tooling and transparent fee pages. Cons: enterprise/custom pricing for very high volumes. Ideal for: platforms, marketplaces and businesses that need easy vendor payouts. (cashfree.com)

• PayU — Large incumbent with merchant services, BNPL and lending integrations; good for e‑commerce and large merchants. Pros: broad payments coverage and enterprise features. Cons: onboarding and pricing can be negotiated; regulatory environment has been evolving. Ideal for: big e‑commerce sellers and businesses needing integrated credit/BNPL. (reuters.com)

• Paytm All‑in‑One — Very low/no setup fees for UPI/RuPay, large consumer reach (wallet + UPI) and good for offline + online merchants. Pros: low UPI charges and simple onboarding for small merchants. Cons: card fees and certain advanced features may be less flexible than newer fintechs. Ideal for: brick‑and‑mortar SMBs, high UPI-volume sellers. (business.paytm.com)

• CCAvenue — Long‑standing gateway with very wide payment-mode support (many cards, nets, EMI options), multilingual checkout and strong customization for enterprises. Pros: lots of payment options and high configurability. Cons: UI and developer experience can feel legacy compared with new APIs. Ideal for: large merchants needing many payment modes and customization. (ccavenue.com)

• Instamojo — Simple, low‑friction gateway and payment‑link provider for creators, freelancers and small online sellers. Pros: easy onboarding, transparent flat fees for small merchants, quick payment links. Cons: not optimized for very high-volume/enterprise needs. Ideal for: solo founders, creators, digital products and small e‑shops. (instamojo.com)

• Stripe (India) — Best‑in‑class APIs and global features (subscriptions, advanced fraud tools, multi‑currency). Pros: excellent dev experience and global payments stack. Cons: Stripe’s availability/merchant onboarding in India has been restricted/invite‑only at times due to regulatory changes — check current signup status before committing. Ideal for: Indian businesses with significant cross‑border/scale needs and engineering resources. (stripe.com)

• BillDesk — Enterprise‑grade backbone for recurring/utility/BBPS and large billers; trusted by banks/large enterprises. Pros: very strong reliability for recurring/utility payments and BBPS integration. Cons: onboarding and tooling geared to large clients; not as plug‑and‑play for startups. Ideal for: utilities, telecoms, insurers and very large recurring-billing businesses. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

Regulatory & practical notes

• RBI licensing and aggregator rules have been in flux (PA licences, cross‑border PA rules). Several major gateways (Razorpay, Cashfree, PayU, BillDesk, etc.) have obtained relevant approvals at different times; check each provider’s current licensing and merchant‑onboarding status before finalizing. (thehindubusinessline.com)
• Typical cost drivers: card vs UPI vs netbanking, payment success rates, settlement time (T+0/T+1), platform fees, annual maintenance or AMC, and add‑ons like fraud tools or payouts. UPI is often free or very low‑cost; card and international transactions are typically ~1.5–3% or more depending on provider and card type (check each provider’s pricing page for exact rates). (cashfree.com)

Quick picks (by business type)

• Solo creator / digital goods / low volumes: Instamojo or Razorpay Payment Links. (instamojo.com)
• Startup / SaaS / marketplace: Razorpay or Stripe (if available to you). (razorpay.com)
• Platforms with heavy payouts / marketplaces: Cashfree (payouts, virtual accounts). (cashfree.com)
• Large enterprise / utilities / recurring billing: BillDesk or CCAvenue. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
• Small/physical stores prioritizing UPI/low fees: Paytm All‑in‑One. (business.paytm.com)

If you want a short, actionable next step (I didn’t want to assume specifics):

• Pick 2 providers from the list that match your business size/features, and compare: (a) exact transaction fees you expect (card/UPI), (b) settlement timing, (c) onboarding docs & time, and (d) webhooks/API and SDK support. Use the providers’ pricing pages / sales teams to get final quotes.

I can prepare a one‑page comparison (fees, settlement, onboarding time, pros/cons) for any 3 providers you choose — tell me which three and I’ll pull the latest pricing & features into a side‑by‑side comparison.