PayU India vs Razorpay

Updated November 2026 · AppBreakup editorial

PayU India

Online payment gateway for Indian businesses, covering cards, UPI, netbanking, EMI, pay-later and wallets.

Paid

Visit PayU India PayU India profile

Razorpay

Indian payment gateway for accepting UPI, cards, netbanking and wallets online, with business banking add-ons.

Paid

Visit Razorpay Razorpay profile

The short answer

Razorpay suits Indian businesses that want one account for collecting payments and paying money out, with payouts, current accounts and corporate cards through RazorpayX. PayU India suits merchants who want a long-established gateway with a wide range of EMI and buy-now-pay-later options. The biggest difference is breadth: Razorpay adds business banking tools, while PayU concentrates on checkout and affordability options.

PayU India or Razorpay: our take

Both are online payment gateways for businesses registered in India, and their standard plans look similar: a percentage fee on each transaction, with no setup fee and no annual maintenance charge. Both accept cards, UPI, netbanking, wallets and EMI, and both offer payment links, invoices, subscriptions, developer APIs and plugins for common store platforms. Larger merchants can negotiate custom pricing with either.

On fees, PayU India's Standard plan charges 2% per domestic transaction on cards, netbanking, wallets and BNPL, and 3% for EMI, Amex, Diners and international cards. Razorpay's standard pricing is 2% + GST per successful transaction, and it offers a 0% gateway fee for the first 90 days; enterprise pricing applies above ₹5,00,000 monthly revenue. One criticism of Razorpay is that its standard fee also applies to UPI payments, which carry no bank MDR. Razorpay is an RBI-authorised payment aggregator, and activation requires KYC documents and a review before going live.

The products differ more around the gateway. PayU, owned by Prosus, lists more than 150 payment methods and is known for card EMIs and pay-later options, which matter for higher-priced purchases in travel, education and ecommerce. Razorpay extends into business banking with RazorpayX for payouts, current accounts and corporate cards, and has mobile apps as well as a web dashboard; PayU is managed from a web dashboard.

For a startup, D2C brand, SaaS company or freelancer that wants collections and payouts in one place, Razorpay is the more complete package. For a merchant selling higher-ticket items where EMI and buy-now-pay-later choices drive conversions, PayU India is a strong fit. Neither is a general global processor.

Choose PayU India if…

Indian merchants who want a long-established gateway with strong EMI and pay-later options
Simple flat rate across most domestic payment methods
Wide range of EMI and buy-now-pay-later options

Choose Razorpay if…

Indian businesses that want a single gateway for UPI, cards and netbanking plus payouts
You need iOS and Android, which PayU India doesn't list
Covers UPI, cards, netbanking, EMI and wallets in one integration
No setup fee or annual maintenance charge on the standard plan

What is PayU India?

PayU India is the Indian arm of PayU, a payments group owned by Prosus, and one of the older online payment gateways in the country. Merchants use it to accept cards, UPI, netbanking, wallets, EMI and buy-now-pay-later options on websites and apps, with payment links, invoices, subscriptions and plugins for common ecommerce platforms. Its standard plan is pay-as-you-use with a flat percentage on most domestic methods, a higher rate for Amex, Diners, EMI and international cards, and no setup or annual maintenance fee; larger merchants can ask for enterprise pricing with a dedicated account manager. PayU is used by a mix of small sellers and big brands, especially in travel, education and ecommerce, and offers affordability options like card EMIs that matter for higher-priced purchases. It is meant for businesses registered in India and is managed from a web dashboard with developer APIs.

What is Razorpay?

Razorpay is one of the most widely used payment gateways in India. Businesses add its checkout to a website or app and can then take payments by UPI, credit and debit cards, netbanking, EMI and popular wallets, with settlement to an Indian bank account. Beyond the core gateway it offers payment links, payment pages, subscriptions, invoices and QR codes, plus RazorpayX for payouts, current accounts and corporate cards. Pricing is pay-as-you-go: a percentage fee on each successful transaction, with no setup or annual maintenance charge on the standard plan, and custom rates for larger volumes. It suits Indian startups, D2C brands, SaaS companies and freelancers who want one account for collecting money and paying it out. It is built mainly for businesses registered in India; companies abroad can use it to collect INR from Indian customers, but it is not a global processor in the way Stripe is. Everything is managed from a web dashboard and mobile apps, with APIs and plugins for common store platforms.

Side by side

Attribute	PayU India	Razorpay
Pricing	Paid	Paid
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
Platforms	Web	Web, iOS, Android
Best for	Indian merchants who want a long-established gateway with strong EMI and pay-later options	Indian businesses that want a single gateway for UPI, cards and netbanking plus payouts
Status	Active	Active

Verified facts, compared

Facts both apps publish, checked on each vendor's own site.

Fact	PayU India	Razorpay
Payment methods	150+	Cards, netbanking, UPI and wallets
Setup fee	None, and no annual maintenance fee	None, and no annual maintenance charge