Which payment gateway should I actually use, Razorpay, Cashfree, PayU, or just Shopify's checkout?
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.
Go deeper
3 resources, 3 India-specific, 3 link-checked.
📄 Article
✓ Link checkedIndiaFreeBeginner
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.
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.
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.
