Which payment gateway should I actually use, Razorpay, Cashfree, PayU, or just Shopify's checkout?
The short answer
For most Indian D2C brands, Razorpay is the safe default: cleanest checkout UX, native UPI and COD support, zero AMC, and an ecosystem that plugs into Shopify, subscriptions and payouts. Cashfree earns a serious look past roughly ₹10L/month GMV, its headline rates run a shade lower and its payouts/vendor infrastructure is genuinely best-in-class; PayU pulls ahead if no-cost EMI on big-ticket items (AOV ₹5,000+) matters to your funnel. Note Shopify Payments itself isn't available for India-based merchant accounts, so on Shopify you're integrating Razorpay, Cashfree or PayU as your gateway either way, the platform choice doesn't remove this decision.
A quick summary to orient you. The real value is below: the resources worth your time, from people who've actually done it, not us.
Here are the resources
Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time. India-specific ones carry a badge.
Why we picked it
A quick visual walkthrough of both dashboards and onboarding flows side by side, useful if you want to see the actual merchant experience before you commit, not just a features table.
Why we picked it
A D2C-specific (not generic SaaS) comparison of the big three Indian gateways, weighing fees, settlement speed and AMC rather than just headline rates. Good first stop before you sign up anywhere.
Why we picked it
Cashfree's own live pricing page, broken out by payment method (cards, UPI, net banking, EMI, international cards), the fastest way to see that UPI carries 0% MDR while international cards run 3.5%+₹7. Use it to sanity-check whatever a sales rep quotes you.
