Comparison · 8 September 2026

Razorpay vs PhonePe vs Cashfree for a small online store.

The three gateways most small Indian stores choose between are closer than their marketing suggests. All three take UPI, cards, net banking and wallets; all three settle to your own bank account; all three charge about the same. The differences are in onboarding friction, settlement timing, how they treat a new store on a subdomain, and what they do when a payment fails. Here is a fair comparison and the practical answer, which for many stores is 'connect more than one'.

Side by side

	Razorpay	PhonePe Payment Gateway	Cashfree
Methods	UPI, cards, net banking, wallets, EMI, pay-later	UPI (strongest), cards, net banking, wallets	UPI, cards, net banking, wallets, pay-later
Standard pricing (approx.)	~2% + GST on most methods; UPI often lower or 0% under promotions	Competitive UPI pricing; cards ~2%	~1.9–2% + GST; UPI often cheaper
Setup fee / monthly	None on standard plans	None	None
Onboarding	Online KYC; website review can take a few days; subdomains sometimes questioned	Online; PhonePe Business account; website review	Online; generally quick for small merchants
Settlement	T+2 standard; instant settlement available for a fee	Typically T+1	T+1 standard on most plans
Hosted 1-click checkout	Magic Checkout (Ecommerce plan on SitesPlaced)	—	—
Subscriptions / recurring	Yes	Limited	Yes
Failure handling	Good retry UX, webhooks reliable	Solid; UPI-centric	Good; strong webhooks
Best known for	Everything, largest ecosystem	UPI reach — the PhonePe app has hundreds of millions of users	Payouts, settlements, fair pricing

Pricing and settlement figures are indicative for September 2026 — each gateway publishes a rate card, and negotiated rates differ. Check before you connect.

Razorpay

The default for good reason: the widest method coverage, the best documentation, EMI and pay-later, subscriptions, and Magic Checkout — a hosted 1-click checkout with saved addresses and COD intelligence that noticeably lifts conversion on mobile. Its weakness for a brand-new store is onboarding: Razorpay reviews the website, and a store on a platform subdomain with three products sometimes gets extra questions or a hold. Have your policies pages up, a real About page and a contact number before you apply.

PhonePe Payment Gateway

PhonePe's edge is the app on the buyer's phone. When a checkout offers PhonePe, a huge share of Indian buyers already have it open and pay in two taps; UPI success rates are excellent. The gateway is younger than Razorpay's as a product — fewer bells (no EMI, limited recurring), but for a store whose buyers are UPI-first it is a strong primary, and PhonePe has been competitive on UPI pricing to win merchants. Onboarding is through a PhonePe Business account.

Cashfree

Cashfree is the quiet, fair one: pricing at or below the others, T+1 settlements, good webhooks, and a payouts product that some sellers use to pay suppliers. Onboarding for small merchants is generally quick. It has fewer consumer-facing extras than Razorpay, which for a small store is not a loss.

The case for connecting more than one

On SitesPlaced you can connect Razorpay, PhonePe and Cashfree on your own accounts, and switch each on or off at checkout. Two reasons to run two: approval timing — apply to all three, go live with whichever approves first — and resilience: if one gateway has an outage or a hold on your account, the other keeps taking money. There is no cost to having two connected; you pay each only on the transactions it processes.

Keep the checkout simple, though. Show one "Pay online" option that routes to your primary gateway, plus cash on delivery and WhatsApp. Buyers don't want to choose a gateway.

What about Stripe and PayPal?

For buyers outside India. Stripe handles international cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay; PayPal is what many overseas buyers trust. Both connect on your own account on SitesPlaced, free, and both need you to be able to receive foreign currency (a current account with FIRC/remittance support). If most of your buyers are in India, you don't need either yet.

Which one?

Buyers are UPI-first, you want the highest success rate on ₹300–₹1,500 orders: PhonePe primary, Razorpay or Cashfree as backup.
You want EMI, subscriptions or Magic Checkout later: Razorpay primary.
You want the lowest friction to go live and fair pricing: Cashfree primary.
Any of them + cash on delivery + WhatsApp checkout — that combination covers every Indian buyer, and all of it is free to switch on.

The honest summary: pick whichever approves you fastest, connect a second when you have time, and spend the energy you saved on the product photos.

FAQs

Which payment gateway is cheapest for a small store in India?

They are within a fraction of a percent of each other on cards; UPI is where they compete, with PhonePe and Cashfree often cheaper and Razorpay running promotions. Negotiated rates differ. Compare the current rate cards for the methods your buyers actually use — for most small stores that is UPI.

Does the store platform charge on top of the gateway?

Some do. SitesPlaced doesn't: 0% commission on every plan; you pay only the gateway's own fee, settled to your own account.

Can I use two gateways at once?

Yes. On SitesPlaced, Razorpay, PhonePe and Cashfree can all be connected and switched on independently. Apply to more than one so you go live with the first approval.

Why did Razorpay put my account on hold?

New stores on a subdomain with a thin catalogue and missing policy pages get flagged. Add real About, Shipping and Returns pages, a contact number and at least a few products before applying, and reply to their review email promptly.