Razorpay, Cashfree, and PayU are the three names every Indian E-commerce seller ends up comparing. All three are RBI-authorised; all three cover UPI and cards, and most comparisons stop at fees and call it done. That’s not enough to actually decide, because how each gateway connects to your store changes the answer as much as the fee sheet does.
Here’s what actually matters: how each one connects to WordPress, what it really costs once GST and hidden fees are added, what real merchants say about using it, and a simple way to decide which one fits your store.
Quick Answer: If you’re on SureCart, Razorpay is the only payment gateway that’s natively integrated, so start there. If you’re on WooCommerce, all three work through official plugins, and the right pick comes down to your business model, covered below.
How We Compared These Three
We looked at three things, kept separate on purpose:
- Does it actually plug into WordPress?
A native integration you turn on in minutes is a different proposition from an API you or a developer has to wire up yourself. - What does it really cost, and when do you actually get paid?
Pulled from each gateway’s own published pricing and documentation, not marketing pages. - What do real merchants say about using it?
Named, dated complaints and reviews, with links attached, not paraphrased marketing copy.
Everything below is independent research. Pricing is negotiated for merchants with high volume in practice, so treat every rate as typical and publicly quoted rather than guaranteed for your account, and confirm directly with the gateway before signing anything.
The Complete Comparison Table
| Comparison Point | Razorpay | Cashfree | PayU |
| Native SureCart integration | Yes | No | No |
| Official WooCommerce plugin | Yes | Yes | Closed |
| Card / UPI fee | 2% + GST | 1.95% + GST | 2% + GST |
| International card fee | 3% + GST | 2.99% + GST | 3% + GST |
| International currencies supported | 130+ | 140+ | 135+ |
| Subscription fee | 0.99% | Undisclosed | 0.5%–1% |
| Cardless EMI fee | 3% + GST | 1.90% + GST | 3% + GST |
| Setup fee | ₹0 | ₹0 | Undisclosed |
| Annual Maintenance Charge | ₹0 | ₹4,999/year | Undisclosed |
| Refund fee | Free Standard Refund | Free Standard Refund | Free Standard Refund |
| Standard settlement | T+2 | T+1 | T+2 to T+3 |
| Instant settlement | Paid add-on | Paid add-on | 0.2%–0.5% |
| Onboarding time | 1 hr to 5 days | 1 day to 7 days | 1 day |
| BNPL / EMI | Cardless EMI, Pay Later | Cardless EMI, Pay Later | Own NBFC (LazyPay) |
| Payouts/disbursal | RazorpayX Payouts | Cashfree Payouts, built for bulk disbursal | PayU Payouts |
| USP | Ease of use and support for all online business needs | Payouts & settlement speed | BNPL & EMI |
| Best for | Subscriptions, SaaS, digital, and physical products | Marketplaces, D2C brands needing fast payouts | High-EMI or BNPL-heavy retail |
(1) PayU’s plugin status: “This plugin has been closed as of June 29, 2026 and is not available for download. This closure is temporary, pending a full review.” No official WooCommerce or SureCart integration currently works for PayU. Check the live status here before you build anything around it.
(2) On card vs UPI pricing: all three charge the same rate for cards and UPI; there’s no separate “UPI fee.” An RBI rule caps UPI at 0%, but that covers the network’s own interchange fee, not what these companies charge for running your checkout. Both facts are true at once; no gateway processes UPI for free.
The Detailed Pricing Breakdown
A few real costs live outside the headline percentage on any pricing page:
- GST applies to the fee, not your sale. A ₹40 fee on a ₹2,000 UPI sale becomes ₹47.20 after 18% GST, so you receive ₹1,952.80.
- Subscriptions often cost more than one-time sales. Razorpay adds 0.99% specifically for recurring billing, on top of whatever the base rate already is.
- Refund fees usually aren’t refunded. Most gateways keep their cut even after you refund the customer. High-return categories like apparel feel this the most.
- Faster settlement is a paid upgrade almost everywhere. Same-day or instant payout typically costs extra over the standard T+1/T+2/T+3 timeline.
- Chargebacks cost you even when you win the dispute. Expect a flat fee per case, regardless of outcome, industry-wide.
What you actually take home per ₹2,000 order (UPI or card), after every fee:
| Gateway | You receive |
| Razorpay (2% + GST) | ₹1,952.80 |
| Cashfree, standard rate (1.95% + GST) | ₹1,953.98, minus a share of the ₹4,999/year AMC |
| Cashfree, promo rate (1.6% + GST, if eligible) | ₹1,962.24, minus a share of the ₹4,999/year AMC |
| PayU (estimated ~2% + GST; PayU does not publish this on a static page) | ₹1,952.80, unconfirmed |
The Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC) is what tends to get missed in a quick fee comparison: at low volume, it can outweigh Cashfree’s lower percentage rate, so run the math on your own expected monthly transaction count before assuming the lowest headline percentage is actually the cheapest option for you.
Razorpay: Deep Dive
Razorpay is the largest of the three by market presence, and it’s the only one that plugs directly into SureCart and WooCommerce without any custom development, already one of the strongest reasons to default to it if you’re on either platform.
It’s also widely seen as having the best developer experience of the three. SureCart’s own step-by-step setup guide walks through the whole process, from creating a Razorpay account to going live.
Pros
- Only native, zero-code option for SureCart stores, added February 2026, connected via a simple OAuth authorization, no API keys or webhooks
- Widely cited as the most developer-friendly of the three, with the fastest integration time
- Dedicated Subscriptions product built specifically for recurring billing, no separate plugin needed
- Broadest brand recognition with Indian shoppers at checkout, which can help conversion
- No setup fee or AMC
Cons
- Subscriptions need Razorpay’s Recurring Payments feature enabled on your account first, at a 0,99% fee on subscription with the standard platform fees. (This 0.99% subscription fee doesn’t apply to the SureCart Subscription users)
- Requires a verified Business Website URL before live payments will process, or transactions get blocked with “Payment blocked as website does not match registered website(s).”
- Multiple documented reports of extended fund holds after a chargeback or compliance flag, detailed below. But all issues are fixed by Razorpay support, and as a platform best reliability overall.
Limited-time offer: zero SureCart fees on Razorpay
Pay only Razorpay’s standard 2% + GST.
SureCart’s built-in engine saves you Razorpay’s extra 0.99% subscription fee.
Earn more on every one-time or subscription sale.
Enjoy this limited-time zero-fee perk on the Free plan! Want zero platform fees forever? That’s a Pro benefit. Check our pricing page to see what fits you best.
Pricing & Fees
| Payment method | Razorpay fee | Effective cost after 18% GST |
| UPI, standard debit/credit cards, net banking, and wallets | 2.00% | 2.36% |
| Cardless EMI | 3.00% | 3.54% |
| Corporate cards, Amex, Diners Club, Pay Later | 3.00% | 3.54% |
| International cards | 3.00% | 3.54% |
| International bank transfers | 1.00% | 1.18% |
| Subscription billing | +0.99% on top of the method fee | Applied to both fees |
| Setup fee | ₹0 | ₹0 |
| Annual maintenance fee | ₹0 | ₹0 |
| Standard settlement | T+2 | Instant settlement available at extra cost |
Example straight from Razorpay’s own published numbers: a ₹2,000 online course sold via UPI carries a ₹40 gateway fee plus ₹7.20 GST, ₹47.20 total, so you receive ₹1,952.80.
What Real Users Say
“Earlier used paytm pg, situation was a nightmare for us. we had to migrate everything in like two weeks, was so stressful.
we landed on razorpay and honestly the onboarding was super fast. our dev said their api was much easier to work with than paytms.
success rates on upi seem a little better too, tho its only been a month for us. so yah the whole thing was forced on us but it's actually been an upgrade :v blessing in disguise i guess.”
Razorpay User on Reddit highlights the ease of use and the easy setup experience, and overall the thread talks about how it’s great to get started and for most indian stores the best choice to get started.
"Razorpay is doing fraud with KYC charges. They took ₹199 from me in the name of account/KYC activation but never completed the process and never activated my account... no reply for many days."
Megicgive, Trustpilot review, published 21 August 2025. Razorpay replied the same day, asking the merchant to raise a support ticket. This is a single, named, dated complaint, not confirmed here as a systemic pattern, but there is a data point on onboarding friction.
In our research, Razorpay is proactive in helping its users and thus becomes a safe option for all E-commerce businesses in India.
Cashfree: Deep Dive
Cashfree has no native path into SureCart, and none is on a public roadmap. Where Cashfree has an official plugin for WooCommerce. Depending on your needs, custom integrations can be developed with Cashfree and WordPress.
If you’re weighing that platform trade-off, SureCart’s own comparison of the two platforms is a useful starting point before you decide.
Where Cashfree does stand out is payouts: it’s widely regarded as the strongest of the three for speed, bulk vendor, and creator disbursal, which is why marketplaces tend to pick it.
Pros
- Lowest headline card rate of the three at 1.95% + GST, and the cheapest cardless EMI rate at 1.90% + GST
- Fastest standard settlement of the three, at T+1
- Strongest payouts and bulk disbursal tooling, a real differentiator for marketplaces
- 100+ payment modes and 140+ currencies supported on Payment Links
- UPI Autopay across Intent, Collect, and QR flows for recurring billing
Cons
- Charges a ₹4,999/year AMC on top of the transaction fee, an extra cost Razorpay and PayU don’t publish
- Fined ₹3.10 lakh by the RBI on 9 March 2026 for non-compliance with Payment Aggregator/Payment Gateway guidelines, a recent regulatory mark worth knowing about, even though it didn’t affect Cashfree’s license
- Multiple complaints about onboarding friction and legitimacy questioning despite full KYC submission
Pricing & Fees
| Payment method | Cashfree fee | Effective cost after 18% GST |
| Cards, UPI, net banking, wallets | 1.95% | ~2.30% |
| Cards, UPI, net banking, wallets (new-signup promo, 18 Sep 2025–31 Jul 2026) | 1.60% | ~1.89% |
| Cardless EMI | 1.90% | ~2.24% |
| International cards / Payment Links | 2.99% (2.69% with promo) | ~3.53% (~3.17% with promo) |
| Setup Fee | $0 | N/A |
| Annual maintenance fee | $4,999/year | N/A |
| Standard settlement | T+1 | Instant settlement available as a paid add-on |
Source for the pricing figures above: Cashfree’s own pricing page.
What Real Users Say
"Despite submitting all of my business documents (UID, PAN, GST, IEC, Udyam), the team was reluctant to process them and even questioned the legitimacy of my business... I lost all confidence... after learning that the RBI had imposed restrictions on this company in the past."
Vikash, Trustpilot review, published 10 November 2024. The RBI-restriction reference is the reviewer’s own claim, not independently verified in this research, so it’s presented here as quoted rather than as a confirmed fact.
"I've been running my web hosting business for about a year now and have been using Cashfree as my payment gateway. So far, the experience has been really smooth. They charge around 1.95% per transaction... support team has been responsive... I haven't faced any major downtime."
vectormastrs, TechnoFino forum post, 20 July 2025. Included deliberately as a positive, named counterpoint. This research is trying to be fair to all three platforms, not just collect complaints.
PayU: Deep Dive
PayU has no native SureCart integration, and as of this writing its official WooCommerce path is broken too: PayU’s WordPress.org plugin closed on 29 June 2026, pending review, so there’s currently no supported, official plugin for either platform.
Your options are a no-code automation tool that doesn’t touch checkout, or custom developer work against PayU’s API. Its clear differentiator is BNPL.
PayU Finance and LazyPay are PayU’s own regulated NBFC, doing real-time underwriting on Buy Now Pay Later credit at checkout, a product neither Razorpay nor Cashfree owns end-to-end in the same way.
Pros
- Strongest BNPL/EMI product of the three, owned end-to-end via its own NBFC
- 150+ payment options and 135+ currencies supported
- Long, established track record in Indian e-commerce
Cons
- No native SureCart path, and as of 29 June 2026 no active official WooCommerce plugin either, currently the weakest WordPress story of the three
- Independent reviews describe developer documentation and sandbox/webhook testing as weaker than Razorpay’s or Cashfree’s
- Pricing is not published on a static page the way Razorpay’s and Cashfree’s are, so you’re negotiating with less information upfront
- Multiple recent complaints about unclear onboarding rejections and slow dispute resolution
Pricing & Fees
| Payment method | PayU fee | Effective cost after 18% GST |
| Cards, UPI, wallets, BNPL | 2.00% | ~2.36% |
| EMI, Amex, Diners Club, international | 3.00% | ~3.54% |
| Setup fee | Not publicly itemised | N/A |
| Annual maintenance fee | Not publicly itemised | N/A |
| Standard settlement | T+2 to T+3 | Instant settlement available at a +0.2%–0.5% premium |
What Real Users Say
"They sneak in an extra 2.5% charge when…
If I could give ZERO stars, I would.
They sneak in an extra 2.5% charge when you make a transaction through Amazon Pay—with zero warning. You only realize it after the payment goes through, when it's too late.
A 2.5% fee is not pocket change; it’s a significant, unnecessary, and completely unjustified surcharge. It feels deliberately misleading, as if they’re counting on customers not noticing until the transaction is done.
Transparency clearly isn't a priority here. If a company needs to quietly tack on hidden fees to make money, that says everything you need to know.
Avoid if you value honest and upfront pricing.
gothmlady, Trustpilot review, and it shows the issues people are facing with PayU. There are multiple such negative reviews on PayU, and with their official plugin under review, be careful before considering this gateway for your payments.
Which One Should You Choose: The Checklist
Step 1: On SureCart?
- Yes → Pick Razorpay. It’s the only native option. Skip to Step 3.
- No → Go to Step 2.
Step 2: Match your business to a gateway
- Marketplace or paying out many vendors → Cashfree
- Heavy EMI or Buy Now Pay Later sales → PayU, but check the plugin warning in Step 3 first
- Subscriptions or digital products in INR → Razorpay
- Still not sure → Razorpay, the safest default
Step 3: Before you sign up, get these in writing
- Your exact fee % at your expected volume
- Any annual fee (Cashfree charges ₹4,999/year, ask the others too)
- Real settlement time, not the marketing claim
- Refund and chargeback fee
- If it’s PayU: confirm its plugin is back on WordPress.org before you build anything
Conclusion
For a SureCart store, this isn’t really a three-way race today: Razorpay is the only one you can actually reach from your checkout. For WooCommerce stores it’s a closer call between Razorpay and Cashfree, both of which have active, well-maintained official plugins; PayU currently carries extra platform risk on top of its usual trade-offs, since its own WooCommerce plugin is closed pending review.
Whichever you pick, confirm the real numbers, including any AMC, for your account in writing before you sign up
Ready to launch your eCommerce store in India?
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Here’s what you get when you build on SureCart’s Free plan:
Keep your startup budget exactly where it belongs—in your pocket.
Easily accept UPI, cards, and wallets through Razorpay and more.
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This is a limited-time promotion, not SureCart’s standard pricing.
