cashfree
Payment gateways
Embedded payments software
Identity verification software
Payment software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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₹4,999 per year
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Free version
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Medium
Large
- Information technology and software
- Accommodation and food services
- Retail and wholesale
What is cashfree
Cashfree is a payment gateway and payouts platform that helps businesses in India accept online payments and automate disbursements to customers, vendors, and employees. It supports multiple payment methods (including cards, UPI, net banking, and wallets) and provides APIs and no/low-code options for integration. The product is commonly used by internet businesses, marketplaces, and platforms that need both collections and payouts with reconciliation and reporting. Cashfree also offers identity and bank account verification capabilities used in onboarding and risk workflows.
India-focused payment coverage
Cashfree is designed around Indian payment rails and commonly used methods such as UPI, cards, net banking, and wallets. This focus can reduce integration work for India-first businesses compared with more globally oriented gateways. It also supports use cases that combine collections with downstream payouts, which is common for marketplaces and platforms. The offering aligns with local settlement and reconciliation needs for Indian operations.
Collections plus payouts APIs
In addition to payment acceptance, Cashfree provides payout/disbursement capabilities through APIs, supporting workflows like vendor payments, refunds, and partner settlements. This can simplify architecture by reducing the need to stitch together separate providers for pay-ins and pay-outs. The platform includes operational features such as reconciliation and reporting to support finance teams. These capabilities are relevant for businesses with high transaction volumes and frequent settlements.
Verification for onboarding workflows
Cashfree includes identity and bank account verification features that can be used during customer or merchant onboarding. This helps teams implement basic verification steps without sourcing a separate verification vendor. Verification can be embedded into payment or payout flows to reduce manual checks. It is particularly useful for platforms that need to validate beneficiary details before disbursing funds.
Primarily India-centric footprint
Cashfree’s strongest coverage is for India-based payment methods and settlement flows. Organizations needing broad multi-country acquiring, local payment methods across many regions, or complex cross-border setups may find the product less suitable. Global expansion may require adding additional providers and integrations. This can increase operational overhead for internationally distributed businesses.
Feature depth varies by module
Capabilities span gateway, payouts, and verification, but depth can vary depending on the specific module and use case. Some advanced enterprise needs (for example, highly customized routing, complex multi-entity treasury structures, or specialized vertical requirements) may require additional tooling. Buyers should validate the exact reporting, dispute handling, and risk controls needed for their industry. Implementation effort can increase when combining multiple modules.
Compliance and risk responsibilities remain
While Cashfree provides payment and verification tools, merchants still carry responsibilities for compliance, fraud management, and chargeback/dispute processes. Verification does not eliminate the need for policy design, monitoring, and exception handling. Businesses in regulated or high-risk categories may face additional underwriting and operational requirements. These factors can affect onboarding timelines and ongoing support needs.
Plan & Pricing
Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go (transaction fees) + optional fixed Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) and negotiable platform fees. Official site lists product-level usage fees and per-transaction rates for gateway, payment pages, recurring (subscriptions), payouts and virtual accounts.
Free tier/trial:
- Permanent free usage: Payment Links, Payment Pages and softPOS can be created/used at no additional cost (unlimited Payment Pages creation). Sandbox/test mode available for integration testing. (No evidence of a time-limited free trial.)
Example costs (official site figures):
- Payment Gateway (standard / auto-activated merchants): 1.95% transaction discount rate (TDR) across domestic modes (cards/UPI/netbanking).
- Promotional (limited period): 1.6% on domestic transactions for new merchants who sign up during the promotional window (promotion terms and monthly GTV/UPI share conditions apply; promotion valid for merchants signing up during the limited offer and, where applicable, remains valid for 12 months from signup).
- International cards / foreign-currency: starting at 2.95% – typical platform rate shown 2.99% for Visa/Mastercard (international card pricing shown separately).
- Payment Pages (hosted pages / payment links): Create unlimited pages for free; standard TDRs apply to payments processed via pages. Published examples on the Payment Pages product page:
- Domestic (cards/UPI/netbanking): 1.90% (page lists 1.90% alongside domestic payment icons).
- Paylater & Cardless EMI: 2.5%
- Other cards (Diners/Amex): 2.95%
- International Cards on Payment Pages: 3.5% + ₹7
- PayPal / Paytm: Cashfree does not charge additional Cashfree fees for PayPal/Paytm (their standard fees apply).
- Subscriptions / Recurring (e-mandates, UPI AutoPay, cards) – Simple and transparent pricing shown on Subscriptions page:
- e-Mandate: ₹7.5 (mandate creation) + ₹7.5 (per presentation)
- UPI AutoPay: ₹7.5 (mandate creation) + ₹5 (per presentation); for auto-debits < ₹1,000 the presentation fee is ₹15 (so ₹7.5 + ₹15).
- Cards (recurring via card mandate): ₹7.5 (mandate creation) + ₹7.5 (per presentation).
- Note: platform fees per-transaction may apply separately for card/recurring flows.
- Payouts (paying out to bank/UPI/cards) – published slab pricing on Payouts page (amounts in INR; exclusive of bank charges and GST):
- NEFT: ₹3 (≤₹1,000) | ₹5 (₹1,000–₹25,000) | ₹8 (>₹25,000)
- RTGS: ₹4 (≤₹1,000) | ₹6 (₹1,000–₹25,000) | ₹10 (>₹25,000)
- IMPS / UPI / Amazon Pay: ₹6 (≤₹1,000) | ₹8 (₹1,000–₹25,000) | ₹15 (>₹25,000)
- Card payouts: ₹15 (≤₹1,000) | ₹20 (>₹1,000)
- Virtual Bank Accounts: Platform fee starting at ₹20 (virtual account IMPS/NEFT/RTGS payments – "Starting at ₹20" shown on pricing page).
Fixed/one-time / contractual items:
- Setup / integration fee: Official site states ZERO setup fees.
- Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC): Official pricing page states merchants are charged an AMC of ₹4,999 per year (this appears as an annual maintenance charge for premium/add-on services such as dedicated account manager / priority support; platform fee levels are otherwise mutually agreed).
- Enterprise/custom pricing & volume discounts: Available via Sales (contact required).
Discounts & offers:
- Limited-period promotional pricing (10-year anniversary offer) for new merchants: 1.6% domestic TDR (subject to eligibility conditions such as monthly GTV cap and minimum UPI share); promotional international-card price shown in some pages (e.g., 2.69% vs standard 2.99%) for eligible signups during the promotion window.
- Enterprise/volume-based custom pricing available on contacting Sales.
Notes & caveats (from official pages):
- Platform fee is distinct from per-transaction TDR and may be negotiated/charged separately.
- Taxes (GST) and bank charges are extra where applicable.
- Many product pages show per-method rates; merchants are advised to consult the official pricing page or contact Cashfree Sales for custom/enterprise agreements and exact applicability of promotional offers.
(Information compiled only from Cashfree official website pages: main site / pricing & payment-gateway-charges, Payment Pages, Subscriptions (recurring), Payouts, and official docs.)
Seller details
Cashfree Payments India Private Limited
Bengaluru, India
2015
Private
https://www.cashfree.com/
https://x.com/cashfree
https://www.linkedin.com/company/cashfree/
