Best payment gateway with no setup fee India 2026

If you want a payment gateway in India with **₹0 setup fee and no annual maintenance charges** in 2026, the strongest options are: | Feature | Razorpay | Cashfree Payments | PhonePe Payment Gateway | PayU | |---|---|---|---|---| | Setup fee | Free | Free | Free | Usually free / sometimes negotiated | | Annual fee | No AMC | Some users report AMC on certain plans/contracts | No AMC | Can have AMC for enterprise | | Typical MDR | ~2% | ~1.75–1.9% | ~2% | ~2% | | Settlement | T+1 / T+2 | T+1 | T+1 | T+2 | | Best for | Startups, SaaS, Shopify, subscriptions | High-volume businesses, payouts | UPI

In India, most leading payment gateways have eliminated upfront setup fees and Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC) for their standard plans, moving entirely to a **pay-as-you-go (Transaction Discount Rate / TDR)** model. When choosing the "best" option, the focus should shift from setup fees to **transaction success rates, ease of onboarding, and hidden platform costs.[razorpay.com](https://razorpay.com/pricing/#:~:text=The%202%25%20fee%20includes%3A,maintenance%

The overall best payment gateway in India with **zero setup fees and zero annual maintenance charges (AMC)** is ****. It offers the most stable API, developer-friendly documentation, and an industry-leading transaction success rate of over 90%. (https://www.reddit.com/r/indiansta