For Indian founders who want Stripe's international reach without losing domestic UPI and card coverage, the practical answer is running two processors in parallel: Razorpay for Indian customers and Stripe via a US or Singapore entity for foreign customers.
Razorpay
Razorpay is the closest functional equivalent to Stripe for Indian businesses, offering a developer-friendly API, instant account activation, and support for cards, UPI, net banking, and wallets in a single integration. Transaction fees run 2% on domestic cards and UPI, with international cards costing around 3% plus a cross-border markup. Settlements hit your Indian bank account in T+2 days, and the dashboard rivals Stripe's in clarity.
PayU India
PayU has been operating in India since 2011 and processes for thousands of mid-market and enterprise merchants, making it one of the more stable options for businesses that need proven uptime and dedicated account management. Fees are negotiable at volume, starting around 1.99% for domestic cards. It covers UPI, EMI on cards, and BNPL options that Razorpay sometimes lags on.
Cashfree Payments
Cashfree is the standout choice if your primary pain point is payouts rather than collections. It offers a dedicated payout API that lets you bulk-transfer to vendor bank accounts, UPI handles, and wallets at scale, which Razorpay's payout product charges more for. Collection fees are competitive at roughly 1.75% for UPI and 1.95% for domestic cards. Indian SaaS platforms with marketplace models frequently use Cashfree for exactly this split-settlement use case.
Instamojo
Instamojo is built for solo founders, creators, and small businesses selling digital products or services with minimal technical setup. You can start collecting payments through a payment link in under 10 minutes, with no website or integration required. The 2% plus INR 3 per transaction fee is not the cheapest, but the zero-code setup and built-in store features make it the right call if development time costs more than the fee difference.
Stripe via a Foreign Entity
If your product sells internationally and you want Stripe's global card acceptance, the cleanest path is incorporating a US LLC or a Singapore private limited company and opening a Stripe account under that entity. A US LLC costs roughly $500 to $800 to set up including a registered agent, and Stripe approvals for US entities take 24 to 72 hours. The full breakdown of when a foreign entity actually beats a local processor covers the tradeoffs in detail. This route works best when your customer base is outside India and you need multi-currency settlement.
CCAvenue
CCAvenue is one of India's oldest payment gateways, active since 2001, and it still wins on breadth of payment method coverage with over 200 options including obscure net banking channels that newer processors skip. Setup takes 3 to 7 business days with KYC documentation, and fees start at 2% for cards but drop significantly on negotiated enterprise contracts. It is not the sleekest API, but if your customers include rural India or Tier 2 and 3 city buyers, the coverage gap over Razorpay is real.
Things people ask first.
Does Stripe work in India at all?
Stripe allows Indian businesses to accept international payments if they have a foreign incorporated entity, but it does not support domestic Indian payment methods like UPI or Indian net banking. For India-to-India transactions, you need a local payment gateway.
Which Indian payment gateway has the lowest fees?
Cashfree offers some of the lowest published rates at roughly 1.75% for UPI. PayU and CCAvenue will negotiate lower rates for merchants doing above INR 50 lakh per month in volume, sometimes dropping to 1.5% or below on select instrument categories.
Can I use Razorpay to accept payments from US or European customers?
Razorpay can process international cards, but the settlement arrives in INR and conversion rates are not competitive. For meaningful international revenue, a foreign entity with Stripe or Paddle is a more efficient structure.
How long does it take to get approved for a Razorpay account?
Razorpay activates most accounts within 1 to 3 business days after KYC documents are submitted. High-risk business categories like travel, gaming, or crypto-adjacent products may require additional review and can take up to 2 weeks.
What is the best option for a freelancer in India getting paid by international clients?
Payoneer and Wise are the most practical rails for freelancers receiving foreign client payments, since they give you a foreign account number to receive USD or EUR without needing a foreign entity. For clients who insist on card or Stripe checkout, a US LLC with a Stripe account is the cleanest long-term structure.
Is there a payment gateway in India with no setup fee?
Razorpay, Cashfree, and Instamojo all have zero setup fees for standard accounts. CCAvenue charges a one-time setup fee that varies by plan, starting around INR 1,200 for its basic tier.
Ready to route your Indian business revenue through the most tax-efficient structure?
The Offshore Playbook covers exactly how to pair a local Indian payment processor with a foreign entity and offshore bank account to legally minimize tax drag on international revenue. If you want a custom structure mapped to your specific setup, gramps.chat is the next step.
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