{"id":27855,"date":"2026-09-21T16:06:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T10:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.razorpay.in\/blog\/?p=27855"},"modified":"2026-09-21T16:06:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T10:36:34","slug":"cheapest-payment-gateway-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/cheapest-payment-gateway-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Payment Gateway Charges in India 2026: What &#8220;0% Offers&#8221; Actually Cost You"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Payment gateway charges in India range from 1.95% to 2% for domestic transactions in 2026, but the real cost depends on payment method exclusions, credit card thresholds, success rates, and whether the gateway charges AMC or setup fees.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple payment gateways in India are advertising &#8220;0% platform fees&#8221; right now. The headlines look identical. The terms behind them are not.<\/p>\n<p>Every business comparing payment gateways in India eventually asks the same question: if two offers both say 0%, why would I pay more with one than the other? The answer is in what each offer actually covers, which payment methods are included, which are excluded, what technology you get access to during the promotional period, and what your real cost looks like after the offer ends. This guide breaks down what <a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/payment-gateway\/\">payment gateway charges<\/a> actually include in 2026, what &#8220;0%&#8221; means in practice, and how to choose the offer that gives your business the most value from day one.<\/p>\n<div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #007BFF; background: #f0f8ff; padding: 25px; margin: 30px 0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: left;\">\n<h3 style=\"margin-top: 0; color: #007bff; font-size: 22px;\">Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul style=\"margin: 15px 0; padding-left: 20px; color: #333; line-height: 1.6;\">\n<li><strong>Razorpay <a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/pricing\/\">charges 2% per domestic transaction<\/a> with zero setup fee, zero annual maintenance, and no lock-in.<\/strong> New merchants get <a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/terms\/90-day-free-pg-offer\/\">0% platform fees for 90 days<\/a> or Rs. 5 lakh in cumulative GMV, whichever comes first.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Some providers revoke the 0% offer if credit cards exceed 60% of your GMV.<\/strong> Razorpay&#8217;s threshold is 90%, which means virtually no business loses the offer under normal operations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>At Rs. 10 lakh monthly GMV, one percentage point of payment success rate is worth Rs. 10,000 in captured revenue.<\/strong> A 0.05% MDR difference at the same volume is worth Rs. 590. Success rate is roughly 17 times more valuable than headline MDR for businesses under Rs. 25 lakh monthly GMV.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Razorpay&#8217;s 0% offer includes the full technology stack from day one.<\/strong> Smart routing, intelligent retries, 100+ payment methods, <a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/payment-links\/\">Payment Links<\/a>, Payment Pages, Invoices, card tokenization, and fraud screening are all active during the offer at no extra charge. There is no lite version during the promotional period.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Razorpay is the only Indian payment gateway that also offers business banking, payroll, lending, and POS under the same account.<\/strong> You start with payments during the 0% offer, and the rest of the stack is there when you need it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2 aria-level=\"5\">What Goes Into Payment Gateway Charges: The 7 Costs That Decide the Cheapest Option<\/h2>\n<p>There are seven cost components in a payment gateway. Most merchants only compare the first one.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>1. Platform Fee (MDR or TDR)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The percentage deducted on every successful transaction. Standard domestic rates in India are 1.95% to 2% across major providers in 2026.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>2. GST at 18%<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Applied on top of the platform fee. For example, a 2% platform fee becomes 2.36% after GST. GST is a government levy and applies to the payment gateway&#8217;s platform fee regardless of any promotional offer or discount. Always factor GST into your cost calculation when comparing payment gateways.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>3. Setup Fee<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Some payment gateways charge Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000 as a one-time onboarding cost. Razorpay charges zero.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>4. Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Fixed yearly fee regardless of transaction volume. Some providers charge Rs. 4,999 to Rs. 9,999 per year. At Rs. 2 lakh monthly GMV, a Rs. 4,999 AMC adds 0.21% to your effective rate, enough to cancel a lower headline MDR. Razorpay charges zero AMC on every plan.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>5. Instant Settlement Fee <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Standard settlement is T+2 working days. Razorpay offers <a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/capital\/instant-settlements\/\">instant settlements starting at 0.20% to 0.30%<\/a> per transaction. Some providers charge 0.30% or higher for the same service.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>6. Refund MDR Retention<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When you refund a customer, most payment gateways keep the fee from the original successful transaction. At a 10% refund rate on Rs. 10 lakh GMV at 2%, that is Rs. 2,000 per month in fees on revenue you returned.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>7. Subscription and Recurring Billing Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Mandate creation, debit attempt, and retry fees apply separately for SaaS and subscription businesses.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Cost Component<\/th>\n<th>Typical Range in India (2026)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Domestic Platform Fee<\/td>\n<td>1.95% to 2.00%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>GST on fees<\/td>\n<td>18% (adds roughly 0.35% to effective rate)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Setup fee<\/td>\n<td>Rs. 0 to Rs. 20,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>AMC<\/td>\n<td>Rs. 0 to Rs. 9,999\/year<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Instant settlement<\/td>\n<td>0.20% to 0.50% per transaction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Refund MDR<\/td>\n<td>Retained as standard industry practice<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>International \/ AMEX \/ EMI<\/td>\n<td>3% and above<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2 aria-level=\"5\">Comparing 0% Payment Gateway Offers in India: What the Fine Print Says<\/h2>\n<p>Every 0% offer in India excludes certain payment methods from the benefit. Common exclusions include Prepaid Cards, Corporate Credit Cards, AMEX, Diners Club, EMI, and international transactions. These categories are standard across most providers, including Razorpay. Transactions through excluded methods are charged at standard rates during the offer.<\/p>\n<p>The real differences between 0% offers are not in the exclusion list. They are in the credit card threshold that can revoke the offer, the technology included during the promotional period, and the post-offer pricing structure. That is where this guide focuses.<\/p>\n<h2>Side-by-Side: What Each Offer Includes and Excludes<\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>What to Check<\/th>\n<th>Razorpay<\/th>\n<th>The Other Leading Offer<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Credit card share before the offer is revoked<\/td>\n<td><strong>90%.<\/strong>\u00a0Almost no business hits this under normal operations<\/td>\n<td><strong>60%.<\/strong>\u00a0Premium D2C, travel, and education businesses regularly exceed this threshold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Post-offer instant settlement<\/td>\n<td>0.20% to 0.30%<\/td>\n<td>0.30%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Products included at no extra cost during the offer<\/td>\n<td>Payment Links, Payment Pages, Payment Buttons, and <a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/invoices\/\">Invoices<\/a><\/td>\n<td>Varies. Some charge separately or bundle into paid annual store plans<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Multi-gateway routing available as you scale<\/td>\n<td><strong>Yes<\/strong>. <a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/optimizer-intelligent-payments-routing\/\">Razorpay Optimizer routes<\/a> transactions across any payment gateway using AI<\/td>\n<td>Not available as a standalone product at most providers<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Business banking, payroll, and lending under same account<\/td>\n<td><strong>Yes<\/strong>. RazorpayX, Payroll, and Razorpay Capital<\/td>\n<td>Not available as a standalone product at most providers<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Post-offer AMC<\/td>\n<td>Rs. 0 always<\/td>\n<td>Rs. 0 on (standard tier)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>A note on GMV caps:<\/strong> Some 0% offers cover a larger absolute transaction volume. The question is what share of that volume actually benefits from zero fees. A larger cap with 9+ payment method exclusions means a smaller percentage of your real transactions are covered. A smaller cap with only 5 exclusions means a higher share of your actual revenue benefits from zero fees during the offer period. For most new businesses processing under Rs. 5 lakh in their first 90 days, the coverage quality matters more than the cap headline.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">The Credit Card Threshold on the 0% Offer<\/h3>\n<p>Some providers revoke the 0% offer if credit card transactions exceed a certain share of your total GMV. The thresholds vary across providers. Some T&amp;Cs set the limit at 60% of total processed volume, meaning a business where two out of three customers pay by credit card could lose the offer entirely.<\/p>\n<p>Razorpay&#8217;s credit card threshold is 90%, which is generous enough that virtually no business under normal operations would trigger it.<\/p>\n<p>This matters for premium D2C brands selling electronics or fashion (typically 50% to 70% credit card share), travel and hospitality companies (60% to 80%), education platforms with high-ticket courses (60% to 75%), and B2B service providers where corporate cards are standard.<\/p>\n<h2 aria-level=\"5\">What Razorpay&#8217;s 0% Offer Includes Beyond Just Zero Fees<\/h2>\n<p>Not all 0% offers include the same technology. Some limit you to basic payment processing during the promotional period. With Razorpay, the 0% welcome offer gives you access to the same technology stack that powers the standard plan. There is no lite version during the promotional period. No feature restrictions. No upgrades needed to unlock core infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>Here is what is included from day one, at zero platform fee during the offer period.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"5\">1. Payment Success Rate: Why It Delivers Better ROI Than a Lower MDR<\/h3>\n<p>Payment success rate is the percentage of checkout attempts that result in a completed payment. When a customer taps &#8220;Pay&#8221; and the transaction fails due to a bank timeout, a dropped authentication flow, or a routing issue, that order value disappears from your revenue.<\/p>\n<p>At Rs. 10 lakh in monthly attempted GMV:<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Metric<\/th>\n<th>93% Success Rate<\/th>\n<th>85% Success Rate<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Revenue captured<\/td>\n<td>Rs. 9,30,000<\/td>\n<td>Rs. 8,50,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Revenue lost<\/td>\n<td>Rs. 70,000<\/td>\n<td>Rs. 1,50,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gap<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Rs. 80,000 per month<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Compare that to the MDR difference:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>0.05% MDR gap at Rs. 10 lakh = Rs. 590 per month<\/li>\n<li>8% success rate gap at Rs. 10 lakh = Rs. 80,000 per month<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The success rate gap is worth <strong>135 times<\/strong> the MDR gap at the same volume.<\/p>\n<p>Even a 1 percentage point improvement captures Rs. 10,000 per month. A 0.05% MDR saving captures Rs. 590. Success rate is roughly <strong>17 times more valuable<\/strong> than headline MDR for businesses under Rs. 25 lakh monthly GMV.<\/p>\n<p>This is exactly why the technology included in the 0% offer matters. Smart routing and intelligent retries are not premium features you unlock later. They work on every transaction from the first day of the offer. A 0% offer with basic routing and no retries can have a lower success rate, which means less revenue captured, which means the &#8220;free&#8221; period costs you more in lost sales than the platform fee you saved.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pro Tip:<\/strong> Most merchants negotiate MDR and never ask about success rate. The math says they should do the opposite. Ask every payment gateway for their 90-day success rate by payment method before comparing platform fees.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">2. Smart Routing and Intelligent Retries from Transaction One<\/h3>\n<p>Every transaction you process during the 0% period runs through the same intelligent payment infrastructure that Razorpay uses for all its merchants. This includes smart routing across multiple acquiring banks and automatic retries on failed transactions. If a payment attempt fails through one bank, the system reroutes it to another in real time.<\/p>\n<p>You do not need to activate this separately. It works by default on every single transaction during the offer period. This is the same infrastructure that drives the success rate advantage covered later in this guide. And during the 0% offer, it costs you nothing in platform fees.<\/p>\n<p>While leading payment gateways all utilize some form of smart routing, the quality of that infrastructure determines your success rate. Razorpay gives you access to its highest-tier routing logic and automatic retries on failed transactions from your very first transaction. Ensure that any 0% offer you choose doesn&#8217;t place you on a &#8216;lite&#8217; infrastructure tier with basic routing during the promotional period.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">3. 100+ Payment Methods, All Active from Day One<\/h3>\n<p>During the offer, you can accept payments via UPI across 50+ apps (including Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, and BHIM), domestic Visa, Mastercard, and RuPay debit and credit cards, net banking across 70+ banks, and wallets.<\/p>\n<p>There is no staged activation. The full set of payment methods is available as soon as your account goes live.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">4. Five Products Included at Zero Extra Cost<\/h3>\n<p>These five products are explicitly included in the standard 2% fee and available during the 0% offer at no additional charge.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Payment Links:<\/strong> let you accept payments by sharing a link via WhatsApp, email, or SMS. No website required.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Payment Pages:<\/strong> let you build a custom-branded checkout page without writing any code.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Payment Buttons:<\/strong> embed a &#8220;Pay Now&#8221; button on any website.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Invoices:<\/strong> let you bill customers with GST-compliant invoicing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>QR Codes:<\/strong>\u00a0let customers scan and pay at your store or event.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Some payment gateways charge separately for payment links or invoicing features. Some bundle them into paid store plans that cost Rs. 6,999 to Rs. 14,999 per year. With Razorpay, all five are part of the platform fee. During the 0% period, you get all five at zero cost.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">5. Full Dashboard and Real-Time Analytics<\/h3>\n<p>From the first day of your offer, you get access to the all-in-one merchant dashboard to track payments, refunds, settlements, and analytics in real time. Settlement reconciliation, transaction-level fee breakdowns, and GST invoices are included at no extra charge. There is no premium dashboard tier and no reporting add-on you need to pay for.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">6. Developer-Ready APIs and Platform Plugins<\/h3>\n<p>Razorpay&#8217;s APIs support integration in PHP, Java, Python, Node.js, and Ruby. Mobile SDKs are available for Android and iOS. E-commerce plugins let you <a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/integrations\/\">go live on Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Wix, OpenCart, and PrestaShop<\/a> in minutes. Full API documentation is public and accessible without signing a contract first.<\/p>\n<p>All of this is available during the 0% offer period with no separate integration fee.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">7. Shopify, WooCommerce, and 10+ Ecommerce Plugins<\/h3>\n<p>Razorpay offers ready-to-use plugins for Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Wix, OpenCart, PrestaShop, BigCommerce, CS Cart, WordPress, WHMCS, Drupal Commerce, and Easy Digital Downloads. For Shopify stores specifically, Razorpay&#8217;s plugin works with zero setup fee, zero AMC, and the same 0% welcome offer. Since Shopify charges its own third-party transaction fee (2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced) regardless of which gateway you use, the differentiator is the gateway&#8217;s own pricing, success rate, and included features.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">8. RBI-Compliant Card Tokenization Built-In<\/h3>\n<p>Razorpay TokenHQ handles the RBI-mandated card-on-file tokenization, so returning customers can save their card details securely and pay faster on repeat purchases. This is part of the standard infrastructure. There is no separate activation fee and no per-token charge during or after the offer.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">9. Enterprise-Grade Security at Every Tier<\/h3>\n<p>Razorpay is PCI DSS Level 1 compliant with continuous monitoring and advanced encryption on every transaction. Fraud screening is built into the payment flow. You do not need to pay extra for security or compliance features. They work the same way on the 0% offer as they do on the standard plan.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pro Tip:<\/strong> When comparing two 0% offers, look beyond the fee cap. The offer that includes smart routing, intelligent retries, 100+ payment methods, Payment Links, Invoices, card tokenization, and fraud screening from day one delivers more value than one with a higher cap but fewer payment methods covered and basic routing. The technology behind the checkout determines how much revenue you actually capture during the offer period.<\/p>\n<h2 aria-level=\"5\">Post-Offer Pricing: What Payment Gateway Charges Look Like After 0% Expires<\/h2>\n<p>A 0% welcome offer gives you a cost-free window to evaluate the gateway&#8217;s technology, success rates, and product suite. Once the offer period ends, the post-offer pricing determines your long-term cost. That is where the real comparison happens.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">The Post-Offer MDR Gap Is Smaller Than You Think<\/h3>\n<p>The standard domestic rate across major Indian payment gateways sits between 1.95% and 2%. At Rs. 10 lakh monthly GMV, the difference between 2% and 1.95% after GST works out to Rs. 590 per month.<\/p>\n<p>Now add instant settlement to the equation. If you settle 30% of your GMV instantly:<\/p>\n<p>At 0.25% (Razorpay&#8217;s midpoint): Rs. 3 lakh x 0.25% = Rs. 750 per month<\/p>\n<p>At 0.30% (charged by some providers): Rs. 3 lakh x 0.30% = Rs. 900 per month<\/p>\n<p>The instant settlement gap is Rs. 150 per month. Subtract that from the Rs. 590 MDR difference, and the real monthly cost gap is roughly Rs. 440. That is about Rs. 15 per day.<\/p>\n<p>One additional successful payment of Rs. 5,000 in a month, captured because of better routing and retry infrastructure, covers that gap entirely.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">Why Zero AMC Makes Razorpay Cheaper for Startups and Small Businesses<\/h3>\n<p>Razorpay charges zero AMC on every plan. Some legacy payment gateways charge Rs. 4,999 to Rs. 9,999 per year in annual maintenance regardless of transaction volume. At Rs. 2 lakh monthly GMV, a Rs. 4,999 AMC adds 0.21% to your effective rate, enough to cancel out a lower headline MDR.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pro Tip<\/strong>: At Rs. 3 lakh monthly GMV, a gateway charging 1.8% with Rs. 7,500 AMC and Rs. 2,000 setup fee costs Rs. 74,300 per year. Razorpay at 2% with zero AMC and zero setup costs costs Rs. 72,000. The lower headline rate ends up costing more when fixed fees are added.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">Custom Pricing for Businesses Above Rs. 5 Lakh Monthly GMV<\/h3>\n<p>For businesses processing above Rs. 5 lakh per month, Razorpay offers custom enterprise pricing. The standard 2% rate is a starting point, not a ceiling. As your volume grows, you can negotiate volume-based pricing tiers that bring the effective rate down. There is no separate enterprise plan to sign up for and no minimum commitment to access the conversation. Businesses processing Rs. 25 lakh, Rs. 1 crore, or Rs. 10 crore per month can all request a custom commercial proposal from the Razorpay enterprise team.<\/p>\n<p>This is relevant because at higher volumes, even small MDR differences compound into large absolute numbers. At Rs. 1 crore monthly GMV, a 0.1% reduction in MDR saves Rs. 10,000 per month. Razorpay&#8217;s custom pricing is negotiated based on your transaction volume, payment method mix, average order value, and business category.<\/p>\n<h2 aria-level=\"5\">Beyond Payments: What Grows with You After the Offer<\/h2>\n<p>One thing that separates Razorpay from standalone payment gateways is the business stack that sits alongside the payment gateway. The same Razorpay account gives you access to <a href=\"http:\/\/razorpay.com\/x\/\">business banking through RazorpayX<\/a> (current accounts, vendor payments, tax payments), <a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/payroll\/\">payroll management with automated TDS, PF, PT, and ESIC compliance<\/a>, access to working capital through Razorpay&#8217;s Line of Credit, and an offline POS terminal for in-store payments.<\/p>\n<p>All of these are accessible under the same Razorpay merchant identity. For a startup or growing business, this means you do not need to sign up with five different providers to handle payments, banking, payroll, lending, and offline sales. You start with the payment gateway during the 0% offer, and the rest of the stack is there when you need it.<\/p>\n<p>No other payment gateway in India offers a business banking suite, payroll product, lending product, and POS terminal alongside the core payment gateway, all accessible from one account.<\/p>\n<h2 aria-level=\"5\">How Razorpay&#8217;s Pricing Works<\/h2>\n<p><strong>During the 0% welcome offer:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Zero platform fees for 90 days from account activation, or until Rs. 5 lakh in cumulative domestic transaction value is processed, whichever comes first<\/li>\n<li>Full access to smart routing, intelligent retries, and 100+ payment methods from day one<\/li>\n<li>Payment Links, Payment Pages, Payment Buttons, Invoices, and QR Codes included at no extra charge<\/li>\n<li>5 exclusions only: Prepaid Cards, Corporate Credit Cards, AMEX, Diners Club, and EMI<\/li>\n<li>Credit card threshold at 90%<\/li>\n<li>Full terms published in a 14-clause document at razorpay.com\/terms\/90-day-free-pg-offer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>After the offer ends:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Standard rate: 2% plus GST on domestic transactions<\/li>\n<li>Setup fee: Rs. 0<\/li>\n<li>Annual maintenance: Rs. 0. No exceptions.<\/li>\n<li>No lock-in period, no minimum commitment, no early exit fee<\/li>\n<li>Custom pricing available for businesses processing above Rs. 5 lakh per month<\/li>\n<li>Instant settlement at 0.20% to 0.30%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Everything listed above in the &#8220;What the 0% Offer Includes&#8221; section continues at the standard 2% rate.<\/strong> There is no feature downgrade after the offer ends. Smart routing, retries, Payment Links, Invoices, QR Codes, card tokenization, fraud screening, and the full dashboard remain part of the standard fee.<\/p>\n<p>Some providers offer longer promotional windows. Razorpay&#8217;s 90-day offer is designed around the typical ramp-up period for a new business, the first three months, when transaction infrastructure decisions have the highest impact on payment habits, integration choices, and vendor lock-in. The technology stack you get access to during those 90 days (smart routing, retries, 100+ methods, Payment Links, Invoices) shapes your payment operations long after the offer expires.<\/p>\n<h2 aria-level=\"5\">5 Things to Check Before Choosing Any Payment Gateway Offer<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>1. Which payment methods are excluded from the 0% benefit?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Read the full exclusion list in the legal T&amp;C before signing up. Common exclusions across providers include Prepaid Cards, Corporate Credit Cards, AMEX, Diners Club, EMI, and international transactions. Razorpay&#8217;s exclusions are published in a 14-clause document at razorpay.com\/terms\/90-day-free-pg-offer.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>2. What credit card share triggers offer revocation?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Some providers set the threshold at 60%. Razorpay&#8217;s is at 90%. If credit cards make up a large portion of your sales, this determines whether you keep the offer or lose it.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>3. What technology is included during the offer?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Check whether smart routing, retries, and the full set of payment methods are active during the promotional period, or whether they require a paid upgrade. Razorpay includes the full technology stack from day one of the offer.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>4. What products come at no extra charge?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Some payment gateways charge separately for payment links, invoicing, or online storefronts. Some bundle them into paid annual plans. Razorpay includes Payment Links, Payment Pages, Payment Buttons, Invoices, and QR Codes in the standard fee, and all five are available during the 0% period.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>5. What is the total post-offer cost including instant settlement and AMC?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Some legacy payment gateways charge Rs. 4,999 to Rs. 9,999 in annual maintenance. Both leading new-generation providers charge zero, so this factor matters when comparing against older providers, not between the two top offers.<\/p>\n<h2 aria-level=\"5\">How to Calculate the Cheapest Payment Gateway for Your Business<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Step 1: Start with Attempted GMV<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Start with your attempted GMV, including failed checkout attempts. This is the total value of all transactions your customers try to make, not just the ones that go through.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Step 2: Apply the Success Rate<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Apply the success rate. A 93% rate on Rs. 10 lakh captures Rs. 9.3 lakh. An 85% rate captures Rs. 8.5 lakh. That Rs. 80,000 gap is the largest cost variable in your payment gateway decision.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Step 3: Calculate Transaction Fees<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Calculate fees on captured GMV. Multiply by the platform fee, then by 1.18 for GST. For example, Rs. 9.3 lakh at 2% plus GST costs Rs. 21,948 per month.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Step 4: Add Fixed Fees<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Add fixed fees. Divide the AMC by 12 for the monthly cost. At Rs. 2 lakh monthly GMV, a Rs. 4,999 AMC adds 0.21% to your effective rate. A gateway with zero AMC eliminates this line item entirely.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Step 5: Add Settlement and Refund Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Add instant settlement and refund costs. If you settle 30% of Rs. 10 lakh instantly at 0.25%, that is Rs. 750 per month. Add retained MDR on refunds based on your refund rate. The gateway that leaves the highest amount in your account after this full calculation is the cheapest one for your business.<\/p>\n<h2 aria-level=\"5\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Which is the cheapest payment gateway in India in 2026?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The cheapest payment gateway is the one with the lowest total cost after factoring in platform fees, GST, AMC, instant settlement charges, and payment success rate. Razorpay charges 2% plus GST with zero setup, zero AMC, no lock-in, and a 0% welcome offer for 90 days with only 5 exclusions and a 90% credit card threshold. At Rs. 3 lakh monthly GMV, Razorpay costs Rs. 72,000 per year versus Rs. 74,300 for a gateway at 1.8% with AMC and setup fees. Smart routing, Payment Links, Invoices, and card tokenization are included from day one.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">What payment gateway charges should Indian businesses expect in 2026?<\/h3>\n<p>Standard domestic rates are 1.95% to 2% plus 18% GST. Most providers run 0% welcome offers with different GMV caps and exclusion lists. Razorpay charges 2% plus GST with zero setup, zero AMC, and a 0% welcome offer that excludes only 5 payment categories.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">Are &#8220;0% payment gateway&#8221; offers really free?<\/h3>\n<p>The platform fee is genuinely waived, but the value depends on which payment methods are covered. All 0% offers exclude some methods like AMEX and EMI. Where they differ is in how many additional categories they exclude. All offers exclude categories like AMEX, EMI, and international transactions. Read the full exclusion list in the legal T&amp;C before comparing. GST continues to apply as a government levy regardless of any promotional offer. Razorpay&#8217;s 0% offer has 5 exclusions and includes smart routing, intelligent retries, 100+ payment methods, Payment Links, Invoices, card tokenization, and fraud screening from day one.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Which payment gateway gives the best ROI in India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The best ROI comes from the gateway that captures the most revenue per rupee spent, not the one with the lowest fee. At Rs. 10 lakh monthly GMV, one percentage point of higher payment success rate captures Rs. 10,000 in additional revenue. A 0.05% lower MDR saves Rs. 590. Smart routing and intelligent retries, which Razorpay includes from day one at no extra cost, directly improve success rates and therefore ROI.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">What hidden charges do payment gateways in India have?<\/h3>\n<p>Some legacy payment gateways charge annual maintenance (Rs. 4,999 to Rs. 9,999 per year), setup fees (Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000), instant settlement surcharges, retained MDR on refunds, and separate fees for features like payment links or invoicing. Razorpay charges zero setup, zero AMC, includes Payment Links, Payment Pages, Invoices, and Payment Buttons at no extra cost, and has no lock-in or termination fees.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Which is the cheapest payment gateway for Shopify stores in India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>For Shopify stores in India, the total payment cost includes both the payment gateway fee and Shopify&#8217;s own third-party transaction fee (2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced). The gateway portion ranges from 1.95% to 2% across major providers. Razorpay offers a dedicated Shopify plugin with zero setup, zero AMC, and a 0% welcome offer for new merchants. Since Shopify&#8217;s surcharge applies regardless of gateway choice, the real differentiator is the gateway&#8217;s success rate and post-offer pricing.<\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"6\">Which payment gateway has the lowest total cost for businesses in India?<\/h3>\n<p>The lowest-cost gateway is the one that maximizes net revenue after all fees, not the one with the smallest headline rate. Total cost depends on payment method exclusions, credit card threshold, success rate, AMC, and instant settlement fees. Razorpay charges 2% plus GST with zero AMC, no lock-in, and smart routing included on every transaction.<br \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n{\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n  \"@type\": \"FAQPage\",\n  \"mainEntity\": [\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"Question\",\n      \"name\": \"Which is the cheapest payment gateway in India in 2026?\",\n      \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n        \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n        \"text\": \"The cheapest payment gateway is the one with the lowest total cost, not the lowest headline rate. Razorpay charges 2% plus GST with zero setup, zero AMC, no lock-in, and a 0% welcome offer for 90 days with only 5 exclusions and a 90% credit card threshold. At Rs. 3 lakh monthly GMV, Razorpay costs Rs. 72,000 per year versus Rs. 74,300 for a gateway at 1.8% with AMC and setup fees. 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