Why UPI decides Indian checkout design
UPI is the majority of Indian online payment volume. A checkout that treats UPI as an afterthought leaks revenue on the highest-traffic payment method in the country. This page covers the decisions, gateways and integration costs from the calculator's payments assumptions.
Gateway options and their honest math
| Gateway | Setup | Per-transaction (UPI) | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Razorpay | Fast, clean APIs | ~2% or ₹2–5 caps on plans | Most businesses, best developer experience |
| Cashfree | Fast | Competitive UPI rates | High-volume, settlement flexibility |
| PayU / Paytm | Standard | Comparable | Existing accounts, brand comfort |
| Direct bank UPI (deeper integration) | Slower, KYC-heavy | Lowest per-transaction | Very high volume, engineering capacity |
The fee differences look tiny per order and are enormous per year: 2% on ₹50,00,000 of annual UPI volume is ₹1,00,000. Price the gateway against your real volume, not the signup page.
Integration costs (senior, INR)
| Scope | Honest band (INR) |
|---|---|
| Gateway checkout on an existing store (WooCommerce/Shopify) | ₹17,000 – ₹68,000 |
| Custom checkout flow with UPI intent + fallbacks | ₹45,000 – ₹1,70,000 |
| Subscriptions/mandates (auto-debit) | ₹68,000 – ₹2,26,000 |
The checkout decisions that actually matter
- UPI intent apps first: on mobile, opening GPay/PhonePe/Bit apps directly converts better than QR screens. Requires an intent-capable integration, not a static QR paste.
- QR as fallback: desktop users scan. Both paths, always.
- Failure handling: pending UPI statuses are normal. What the checkout does in the 30 seconds after payment decides whether you lose the order.
- Reconciliation: orders must auto-confirm from gateway webhooks, never manual matching.
- GST invoicing: decide invoice generation before launch, not after the first hundred orders.
Platform notes
- WooCommerce: Razorpay/Cashfree official plugins are solid; custom intent flows are development work, see the platform comparison.
- Shopify: UPI works through gateways; Razorpay's Shopify integration is the common Indian path. App fees apply.
- Custom sites: full control of the flow, which is exactly why the failure-handling line items matter.
Get it scoped in writing
Any payment integration quote should name: the gateway, the flows (intent, QR, cards, netbanking), webhook handling, failure states, refund flow, and testing plan. If it says only "payment gateway integration", it is not scoped. Price the context first in the calculator, then compare integration quotes against this page.