{"id":25710,"date":"2026-02-03T18:05:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T12:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.razorpay.in\/blog\/?p=25710"},"modified":"2026-02-03T18:21:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T12:51:02","slug":"razorpay-payment-gateway-pricing-vs-other-payment-gateways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/razorpay-payment-gateway-pricing-vs-other-payment-gateways\/","title":{"rendered":"Razorpay Payment Gateway Pricing Vs. Other Payment Gateways: True Cost Comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most founders pick payment gateways by sorting a spreadsheet by &#8220;Lowest Platform Fee.&#8221; They compare 1.7% vs 1.9% vs 2.0%, pick the cheapest number, and call it a win.\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Three months later, they&#8217;re losing \u20b92.5 lakhs per month to failed payments, and they don&#8217;t know why.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Here is the problem:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The platform fee only tells you what you pay when a payment <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">succeeds<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It doesn&#8217;t show you what you lose when payments <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fail<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, what you bleed in hidden Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC), or how many engineering hours you burn fixing bad APIs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2026, the real cost of payments isn&#8217;t a percentage; it is <\/span><b>Net Realised Revenue<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (the money that actually lands in your bank account after all failures, fees, and friction).<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #0073aa; background: #f0f8ff; padding: 15px; margin: 20px 0; border-radius: 5px;\">\n<h2 style=\"color: #0073aa; font-size: 18px; margin: 0 0 8px 0; display: inline-block;\">Key Takeaways: The 30-Second Summary<\/h2>\n<ul style=\"display: inline-block; margin: 0 0 0 10px; padding-left: 18px; vertical-align: top;\">\n<li><strong>Stop Obsessing Over TDR:<\/strong> The difference between a 1.8% and 2.0% platform fee is negligible. The real cost that bleeds your business is Transaction Failure.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Beware the &#8220;Cheap&#8221; Trap:<\/strong> Budget gateways often lure you with low percentages but hit you with hidden Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC) and Setup Fees. For a startup, these fixed costs can make a &#8220;cheap&#8221; gateway 10% more expensive than a premium one.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Success Rate &gt; Pricing:<\/strong> A gateway with a 70% success rate loses you \u20b930,000 per \u20b91 Lakh in potential sales. It is mathematically more profitable to pay a slightly higher fee for a gateway that ensures the money actually lands in your bank.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Golden Metric:<\/strong> Don&#8217;t optimise for &#8220;Lowest Cost.&#8221; Optimise for Net Realised Revenue (Total Sales &#8211; Failures &#8211; Fees).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Razorpay\u2019s Edge:<\/strong> With Zero Setup and Zero AMC, Razorpay eliminates fixed liabilities, meaning you only pay when you succeed. Combined with industry-leading uptime, it delivers the highest ROI for growing businesses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2><b>Why Platform Fee-Only Comparisons Fail (The Hidden Cost Framework)<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you compare payment gateways, most pricing pages look the same: <\/span><b>&#8220;1.7% + GST&#8221;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in large font, maybe a &#8220;Zero Setup Fee&#8221; badge, and that&#8217;s it. The assumption is simple: pick the lowest percentage, save money, and be done.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>But that is not how payment economics work.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Platform Fee (or TDR) is the percentage charged on s<\/span><span style=\"font-family: ff-more-web-pro, 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 19px;\">uccessful<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 19px;\">s<\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">transactions. The problem? It ignores the payments that fail. It doesn&#8217;t capture the annual fixed charges you pay regardless of performance, the hours your finance team wastes reconciling messy data, or the interest you lose while waiting for settlements.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, <\/span><b>Platform Fee is a variable cost that ignores fixed costs, failure costs, and opportunity costs.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>The Math of Failure (\u20b91 Lakh Example):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Let\u2019s say you process <\/span><b>\u20b91 Lakh per month<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (\u20b912L\/year).<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Gateway A (The Discounter):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Has a <\/span><b>70% success rate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You don&#8217;t pay fees on \u20b91L; you collect <\/span><b>\u20b970,000<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and lose <\/span><b>\u20b930,000<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to failures.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Gateway B (The Performer):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Has an <\/span><b>80% success rate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You collect <\/span><b>\u20b980,000<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and lose only \u20b920,000.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>The Result:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> You paid slightly higher fees on Gateway B, but you banked <\/span><b>\u20b910,000 more revenue<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in a single month. That is a <\/span><b>10% increase in gross revenue<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> just by choosing a better gateway.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The 5 Buckets of True Payment Cost<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To compare payment gateways correctly, you need to model all five cost buckets, not just the first one.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>1. Variable Fees\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is what pricing pages advertise: the percentage per successful transaction (e.g., 2% + GST). Note that rates often vary by instrument, UPI, Credit Cards, Netbanking, and EMI often have different cost structures.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>2. Fixed Fees\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These include Setup fees, Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC), and minimum monthly commitments.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The Trap:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> A &#8220;cheap&#8221; 1.8% gateway often charges a <\/span><b>\u20b94,999 Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The Impact:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If you process \u20b91 Lakh\/month, that \u20b94,999 AMC adds roughly <\/span><b>0.4%<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to your effective transaction fee. So, your &#8220;cheap&#8221; 1.8% gateway actually costs you <\/span><b>2.2%<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (1.8% + 0.4%). Suddenly, the &#8220;premium&#8221; 2.0% gateway with Zero AMC is mathematically cheaper.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><b>3. Revenue Lost to Failures <\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your Payment Success Rate (SR) directly determines <\/span><b>Realised Revenue, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the money that actually hits your bank. If a gateway has weak routing or high downtime, 10\u201330% of legitimate payments fail.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The Impact:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> You don\u2019t just lose the sale; you waste the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_acquisition_cost\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><b>CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you spent to bring that user to the checkout page.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><b>4. Operational Overhead\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This covers reconciliation complexity, refund tracking, and dispute handling. If a gateway provides poor settlement reports or lacks UTR-level matching, your finance team burns hours manually reconciling payments.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The Impact:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Engineering and Finance salary hours spent fixing gateway issues are a direct cost to your business.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><b>5. Cash-Flow Impact\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Settlement speed determines your working capital. A <\/span><b>T+1 settlement<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> vs. T+3 can tie up cash flow. Some gateways also hold funds during &#8220;risk reviews,&#8221; freezing your capital for weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The Impact:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Slower access to cash means higher reliance on working capital loans or delayed inventory restocking.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #0073aa; background: #f0f8ff; padding: 15px; margin: 20px 0; border-radius: 5px;\">\n<h2 style=\"color: #0073aa; font-size: 18px; margin: 0;\">The Bottom Line<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin-top: 10px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A gateway that is 0.2% cheaper on paper can actually cost you 10% of your revenue in failed transactions and hidden fixed fees. Always calculate the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><b>Razorpay Payment Gateway Vs. Other Payment Gateways: The Math<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let&#8217;s stop talking in abstracts and run the actual numbers. This is the calculation most founders skip, and it&#8217;s why they end up with the &#8220;wrong&#8221; payment gateways.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before we compare, here&#8217;s exactly what <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/pricing\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Razorpay charges<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; no fine print, no surprises:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Razorpay Standard Pricing<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Platform Fee<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: 2% + GST on domestic transactions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Setup Fee<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u20b90<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u20b90<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>The Scenario: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You are running a growing startup processing \u20b92,00,000 (2 Lakhs) per month in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">attempted payment<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (total checkout value before failures). You are comparing two options:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Other Payment Gateways (&#8220;The Budget Option&#8221;)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Advertises 1.8% fees. Looks cheap.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Razorpay Payment Gateways<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Standard 2.0% fees. Looks &#8220;expensive.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is what happens when you model the True Cost over 12 months.<\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 669px;\" width=\"768\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<h3><b>Metric<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<h3><b>Other Gateways (Budget)<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<h3><b>Razorpay<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Platform Fee<\/b><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1.8% + GST<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2% + GST<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Annual AMC<\/b><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b910,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b90<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Setup Fee<\/b><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b95,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b90<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Assumed Success Rate<\/b><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">70%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">80%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Attempted GMV\/month<\/b><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b92,00,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b92,00,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Realised GMV (monthly)<\/b><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b91,40,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b91,60,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Transaction Fees (Annual)<\/b><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b930,240<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b938,400<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Fixed Costs (Annual)<\/b><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b915,000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b90<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Total Cost (Annual)<\/b><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b945,240<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b938,400<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Net Revenue Captured (Annual)<\/b><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b916,34,760<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20b918,81,600<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Revenue Advantage<\/b><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014<\/span><\/td>\n<td><b>+\u20b92,46,840\/year<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><b>Breaking Down the Numbers<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>1. Success Rate Impact\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gateway A&#8217;s 70% success rate means only \u20b91.4 Lakhs of your \u20b92L monthly traffic succeeds. You lose <\/span><b>\u20b960,000 every month<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to payment failures.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Razorpay&#8217;s Advantage:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> With an 80% success rate, you capture \u20b91.6 Lakhs per month. That is <\/span><b>\u20b92.4 Lakhs more<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in realised revenue over the year.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>2. Fixed Costs\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is where small businesses get hurt the most.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Gateway A:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> You pay <\/span><b>\u20b915,000<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (AMC + Setup) regardless of sales. On a realised revenue of \u20b916.8L, this fixed fee acts like an <\/span><b>additional 0.9% tax<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on every transaction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Razorpay:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Charges <\/span><b>\u20b90<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You don&#8217;t start your financial year in debt.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>3. Transaction Fees<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Gateway A Fees:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u20b930,240<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Razorpay Fees:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u20b938,400<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The Reality:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> You paid roughly <\/span><b>\u20b98,160<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> more in fees to Razorpay. But you gained <\/span><b>\u20b92.4 Lakhs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in revenue and saved \u20b915,000 in fixed costs.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>The Verdict: The ROI on &#8220;Premium&#8221; Pricing<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By paying \u20b98,160 extra in transaction fees, you capture <\/span><b>\u20b92,46,840<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> more in net income.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>That is a 30x Return on Investment.<\/b><\/p>\n<div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #0073aa; background: #f0f8ff; padding: 15px; margin: 20px 0; border-radius: 5px;\">\n<h2 style=\"color: #0073aa; font-size: 18px; margin: 0;\">Key Insight<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin-top: 10px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For early-stage startups (\u20b92L volume), the &#8220;cheaper&#8221; gateway is actually more expensive because fixed costs (AMC) eat into your margins. Razorpay&#8217;s Zero Fixed Fee model, combined with a higher success rate,s makes it the mathematically superior choice for growth.<\/span><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b><i>Disclaimer<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: This is an illustrative example. Actual ROI depends on your baseline success rates, industry, and payment mix. Replace the 70% vs 80% assumptions with your own data to see your specific gain.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><b>How to Compare Any Two Gateways?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stop guessing. If you are evaluating a payment partner, don&#8217;t just look at the website pricing page. Use this step-by-step audit framework to uncover the hidden costs before you sign the contract.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Step 1: Get the &#8220;Real&#8221; Pricing in Writing<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales teams often quote the lowest rate (e.g., &#8220;UPI is free!&#8221;) while hiding the premium costs. Demand a written term sheet that breaks down:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Instrument-Wise Rates:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Don&#8217;t accept a blended rate. Ask for specific TDRs for Credit Cards (Corporate vs. Consumer), Netbanking (Top 5 banks vs. others), Wallets, and EMI.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The &#8220;Fixed&#8221; Stack:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> explicitly ask: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Are there Setup Fees, Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC), Integration Audit Fees, or Software Upgrade Charges?&#8221;<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Hidden Penalties:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> What are the fees for Refunds and Chargebacks? (Some gateways charge you even if you refund the customer.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Step 2: Estimate Your Success Rate Baseline<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The TDR is irrelevant if the payment fails.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Ask the Hard Question:<\/b> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;What is your Net Success Rate for my industry?&#8221;<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Drill Down:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If you are a D2C brand, ask for the success rate specifically for <\/span><b>Credit Cards on mobile web<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Aggregate numbers often hide poor performance in high-value segments.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Step 3: Calculate Your Annual Effective Cost<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Plug the numbers into this formula to see the truth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Total Cost = (GMV \u00d7 Success Rate \u00d7 TDR) + Annual Fixed Fees + Operational Overhead<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Model this for three scenarios:<\/b><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Current Volume:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> What do I pay today?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>2x Growth:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> What happens when I scale? (Do fixed fees shrink as a %?)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Peak Volume:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> What happens during a flash sale? (Does their infrastructure hold up?)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><b>Step 4: The &#8220;Uncomfortable&#8221; Interview<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before signing, ask these four questions to gauge operational maturity:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>&#8220;How do you handle peak loads?&#8221;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Ask for specific TPS &#8211; Transactions Per Second limits).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>&#8220;Show me your reconciliation export.&#8221;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (If it\u2019s a messy PDF instead of a clean CSV\/API, your finance team will hate you).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>&#8220;What is your standard Settlement Speed?&#8221;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Is it T+2 working days or T+1 calendar days? The difference is your cash flow.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>&#8220;What triggers an account freeze?&#8221;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Understand their risk policy so you don&#8217;t get blocked during a sale).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The Bottom Line is that i<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">f a payment gateway hesitates to answer these, they are hiding a cost. Walk away.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>FAQs<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>1. Is Razorpay expensive compared to other payment gateways?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No, not when you calculate the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). While Razorpay&#8217;s headline fee of <\/span><b>2%<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is slightly higher than some budget competitors (offering 1.8%), Razorpay charges <\/span><b>Zero Setup Fees<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>Zero Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. For most businesses, the absence of fixed annual fees combined with a higher <\/span><b>Success Rate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (which recovers lost revenue) makes Razorpay mathematically cheaper than &#8220;low-fee&#8221; gateways that charge for maintenance and lose sales to downtime.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>2. Does Razorpay charge an Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC)?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No. Razorpay has a strict <\/span><b>Zero AMC<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> policy for its standard payment gateway plans. You only pay a transaction fee (TDR) when you successfully receive a payment. Unlike legacy competitors who may charge \u20b95,000\u2013\u20b920,000 annually, Razorpay does not charge you for simply keeping your account active.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>3. Why is Razorpay&#8217;s platform fee 2% when others offer 1.8%?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2% fee covers more than just payment processing; it includes <\/span><b>Smart Routing technology<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 24\/7 developer support, and access to the Flash Checkout network. Budget gateways offering 1.8% often rely on single-bank rails (lower reliability) and hide costs in setup fees or lower success rates. The extra 0.2% premium on Razorpay essentially acts as insurance to ensure your transactions don&#8217;t fail during peak traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>4. What is the cheapest payment gateway in India for startups?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For early-stage startups processing under \u20b95 Lakhs\/month, <\/span><b>Razorpay<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is often the most cost-effective option due to its <\/span><b>Zero Fixed Cost<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> structure. Many competitors advertised as &#8220;cheapest&#8221; (e.g., 1.7% TDR) levy annual fees (AMC) or setup charges. For a small business, a \u20b95,000 fixed fee effectively acts as a <\/span><b>1% to 5% tax<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on your volume, making the &#8220;cheap&#8221; gateway significantly more expensive than Razorpay&#8217;s standard 2% model.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>5: How do I calculate the true cost of a payment gateway?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To calculate the real cost, use this formula: <\/span><b>Total Cost = (Transaction Fees) + (Annual Fixed Costs) + (Revenue Lost to Failures).<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Most founders make the mistake of only looking at Transaction Fees. However, if a gateway has a 5% lower success rate, the <\/span><b>Revenue Lost to Failures<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will be 10x higher than any savings you make on the transaction fee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n{\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n  \"@type\": \"FAQPage\",\n  \"mainEntity\": [\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"Question\",\n      \"name\": \"Is Razorpay expensive compared to other payment gateways?\",\n      \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n        \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n        \"text\": \"No, not when you calculate the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). While Razorpay's headline fee of 2% is slightly higher than some budget competitors offering 1.8%, Razorpay charges Zero Setup Fees and Zero Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC). 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Here is the problem: The platform fee only tells<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":25723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[906],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-25710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-payment-gateway"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25710"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25725,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25710\/revisions\/25725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}