Top 9 Payment Gateways in India (2025 – Expert Picks)
Introduction: Why Choosing the Right Payment Gateway Is a Business Growth Decision
Choosing a payment gateway is not just a technical decision—it’s a growth strategy. Whether you’re scaling a SaaS platform or launching a D2C brand, the right gateway can reduce drop-offs, increase trust, and streamline your cash flow.
With India’s digital payment ecosystem expanding beyond Tier-1 cities into semi-urban and rural commerce, your gateway must offer not just coverage, but conversion-driven performance.
In this refined list of Top 9 Payment Gateways in India, we eliminate the noise and focus only on players who’ve consistently delivered on:
- Transaction success rate
- Risk and fraud management
- High-risk merchant support
- Smart features like UPI Autopay, payouts, BNPL, and split payments
- Razorpay
Still the gold standard for Indian startups, Razorpay continues to dominate with its RazorpayX suite, advanced analytics, and broad developer support. Its smart routing and UPI Autopay feature make it ideal for recurring payments and marketplaces.
Best For: SaaS, subscriptions, mid-risk merchants
Feature Highlight: Smart Collect for automatic reconciliations
- Cashfree Payments
Cashfree is now the go-to solution for marketplaces and platforms that need split settlements, bulk payouts, and international currency acceptance. The new Cashfree Elevate dashboard improves visibility over payouts and refunds.
Best For: Aggregators, BNPL models, loan apps
Feature Highlight: Instant refunds & payouts (24/7, including holidays)
- PayU India
Known for enterprise support and fraud defense, PayU’s advanced features are built for scale. With its FIS-backed risk engine, it’s favored by high-volume eCommerce giants and high-risk industries.
Best For: Travel, NBFCs, and regulated entities
Feature Highlight: Dynamic 3DS and tokenization support
- CCAvenue
While others focus on speed and automation, CCAvenue shines in global coverage, multi-currency acceptance, and compliance readiness. It’s often the gateway of choice for companies venturing into Gulf or SE Asia markets.
Best For: International businesses, exporters, hotels
Feature Highlight: Multilingual, multi-currency checkout page
- Instamojo
Instamojo owns the micro-merchant space in India. Freelancers, coaches, and DTC brands rely on its no-code store builder, link-based payments, and simplified dashboards.
Best For: Creators, freelancers, small retailers
Feature Highlight: InstaStore + payment links combo
- Paytm Payment Gateway
As India’s digital wallet pioneer, Paytm PG blends UPI dominance with wallet payments and QR code options. With its vast merchant base and growing rural reach, it’s a must-consider for mobile-heavy brands.
Best For: Retail, local commerce, recharge platforms
Feature Highlight: Deep Paytm Wallet + UPI integration
- Atom Paynetz
While not as flashy, Atom scores on uptime reliability and dispute handling—making it ideal for government payments, tax platforms, and high-risk yet regulated verticals like edtech or utilities.
Best For: Civic platforms, colleges, high-risk entities
Feature Highlight: Fraud mitigation tools and token vault
- BillDesk
BillDesk remains a stronghold for large-scale recurring payments—particularly in sectors like telecom, insurance, and electricity boards. With Bharat BillPay integration and RBI-recognized compliance, it’s built for trust and continuity.
Best For: Insurance, telecom, utilities
Feature Highlight: High-volume recurring debits with failover logic
- JusPay
JusPay is not a traditional gateway but rather a checkout optimization engine that sits atop other PGs to boost success rates, enable smart retries, and ensure tokenization for stored credentials.
Best For: Apps with high repeat transactions (e.g., Swiggy, Cred)
Feature Highlight: Hyper-personalized checkout experience
How This List Differs from the Top 10
You might be wondering—why isn’t Stripe on this list?
While Stripe is technically powerful, its limited access for Indian merchants and focus on international-first models makes it less relevant for the majority of Indian businesses in 2025.
Instead, this Top 9 list emphasizes:
- Ground-level performance
- Success in Indian regulatory landscape
- Merchant-centric dashboards and support
- Localized UPI & Bharat QR integrations
At a Glance: Comparison Table
Gateway | Best Use-Case | Risk Support | UPI AutoPay | Multi-Currency | Instant Payout |
Razorpay | SaaS/Subscriptions | Mid | |||
Cashfree | BNPL/Marketplaces | High | |||
PayU | Enterprise | High | |||
CCAvenue | Global Expansion | Mid | |||
Instamojo | Small Sellers | Low | |||
Paytm PG | Mobile-First Retail | Mid | |||
Atom Paynetz | High-Risk/Govt | High | |||
BillDesk | Utilities/Insurance | High | |||
JusPay | Checkout Engine | High |
Expert Tips for Indian Merchants in 2025
- Startups: Razorpay or Cashfree for faster integration + RazorpayX for payouts.
- D2C Brands: Consider Instamojo if you’re small, Razorpay or PayU if scaling.
- NBFCs and Risk-Based Platforms: Cashfree or Atom with enhanced KYC flow.
- Global Expansion: CCAvenue is still your safest bet in Indian compliance context.
- Mobile-Only Apps: Paytm PG + JusPay hybrid is a killer combo.