PayPal vs Razorpay: Which Payment Gateway is Best for Your Business in 2025?

Introduction

Choosing the right payment gateway between PayPal and Razorpay is an important decision for your business in 2025. Whether you are a small business owner or a global enterprise, the payment solution you use for customer checkout directly impacts your sales, cash flow, and user trust.

Each payment gateway differs in its transaction fees, supported payment methods, and customer experience. Therefore, using the wrong payment software as a business owner in a competitive digital economy can slow down your growth, even with an excellent product or service.

In this article, we will compare PayPal vs Razorpay to help you decide which payment gateway is best for your business in 2025.

Is PayPal the Best Payment Gateway in 2025?

With over 400 million users worldwide, PayPal is the best payment solution with fraud protection features, easy cross-border transactions, and support for over 100 currencies. Originally established in 1998 as Fieldlink, the name changed to PayPal when eBay acquired the company in 2002.

Pros of using PayPal for your business

• Multiple payment methods, such as PayPal balance, cards, bank transfers, and Buy Now Pay Later.
• Easy integration with platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce.
• Buyer and seller protection

Cons of using PayPal for your business

• Higher transaction fees for both domestic and international payments
• Limited support for UPI and Indian payment methods
• Customer support is not fast in some countries

Is Razorpay the Best Payment Gateway in 2025?

Razorpay is the leading payment gateway in India, which was the primary target market when it launched in 2014. It supports subscription billing, UPI, credit/debit cards, and mobile wallets, and is now gradually expanding to more countries.

Pros of using Razorpay for your business

Transparent pricing and quick settlements

• Smart routing and GST-compliant invoicing
• Optimized for UPI, EMI options, and mobile-first checkout

Cons of using Razorpay for your business

• Limited international currency options
• Not widely recognized outside India
• Setting up is not as easy as PayPal for small businesses

PayPal vs Razorpay: Ease of Integration

We compare PayPal and Razorpay support for developer tools and flexible customization options based on your business needs and locations.

PayPal Ease of Integration
Prebuilt plugins for e-commerce solutions like Shopify, Wix, WooCommerce, BigCommerce
REST APIs for custom integrations
Smart payment buttons for fast and responsive checkouts
Webhooks for real-time transaction updates

Razorpay Ease of Integration

• Well-documented APIs for payments and subscriptions
• SDKs for platforms such as Android, iOS, PHP, JavaScript, and Python
• Pre-built plugins for e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix
• Webhooks for real-time payment status

Which payment gateway is easier to integrate with your e-commerce website?

• Choose PayPal over Razorpay if you need a more globally recognized software with wide plugin support for international transactions
• Choose Razorpay if your target is Indian users and you want extensive local support and documentation

PayPal vs Razorpay: Supported Payment Methods

Before you choose between Razorpay or PayPal for your business checkout experience, you must answer the following questions:
1. Where are your customers located? Are they locally based or international?
2. What is their preferred mode of payment, either based on the common demographic group or similar customer data?

Here is a comparison of payment support for PayPal vs Razorpay:
Paypal Payment Support

• Credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover)
• PayPal wallet balance
• Bank transfers (from only linked accounts)
• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) option
• PayPal Credit (only selected countries)
• Apple Pay and Google Pay
• Subscriptions billing
• Invoicing and donations

Razorpay Payment Support

• UPI, such as Google Pay, PhonePe, and BHIM
• Credit and debit cards (including Rupay)
• Net banking (50+ Indian banks support)
• Mobile wallets, such as Paytm, Freecharge, and MobiKwik
• PayLater with Simpl and Lazypay
• Subscriptions billing
• Invoicing and smart routing

Which platform supports more payment options?
1. Choose PayPal over Razorpay if you have more international buyers
2. Choose Razorpay if your target is Indian customers

PayPal vs Razorpay: Fees and Pricing

Here is a comparison of the pricing models for Razorpay and PayPal:

PayPal Pricing Structure

• Domestic transactions: About 2.9% charges + a fixed fee based on the country
• International transactions: About 5% + a fixed fee based on the receiver’s location
• Currency conversion fee: Between 3 – 4 % above the base exchange rate
• Chargeback fee: $20 per dispute (varies based on currency received)
• Settlement time: Instant to PayPal balance, or within 1 business day. 1 to 5 days to pay to the bank based on location

Razorpay Pricing Structure

• Domestic transactions: 2% + GST for cards, Net Banking, UPI, and wallets
• International transactions: 3% + GST
• Currency conversion fee: About 1 – 2 % foreign exchange (FX) markup
• Chargeback fee: Varies based on pre-arbitration or arbitration charges
• Settlement time: 2 working days for your bank account to reflect the new balance

Which payment gateway has better fees and pricing models?
1. Choose Razorpay over PayPal if you want lower transaction fees and primarily have Indian customers.
2. Choose PayPal for global reach, even with the higher charges

PayPal vs Razorpay: Customer Experience

Here is how PayPal compares to Razorpay when it comes to the shopping experience for your customers to improve cart conversions and repeat buyers:

Which payment gateway offers a better customer experience?
1. Choose PayPal over Razorpay if you don’t want to struggle with trust issues from first-time customers who are outside India.
2. Choose Razorpay if most of your customers will use the native wallet and UPI payments

PayPal vs Razorpay: Security & Compliance

Razorpay is the first Indian fintech to achieve SOC 3 certification for data security and privacy controls. With the rise in cybersecurity threats, both PayPal and Razorpay also meet the following industry standards:

• ISO 27001 and PCI DSS Level 1 compliance
• End-to-end encryption for PayPal, and TLS 1.2 encryption for Razorpay
• Two-factor authentication (2FA) for accounts
• Real-time fraud detection systems
• Dispute resolution tools
• GDPR compliance for European customers’ data

Additional security features for PayPal

• Buyer and Seller protection
• Extended global compliance, including CCPA and PSD2
• PayPal Credit and Pay Later protections

Additional security features for Razorpay

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) compliance
• Upfront KYC verification
• GST-compliant invoicing and tax tools

Which payment software offers better security compliance: Razorpay or PayPal?
1. Choose Razorpay over PayPal if your business must meet GST and RBI regulations in India
2. Choose PayPal if you deal more with international merchants requiring buyer protection from global cyber scams

Conclusion: PayPal or Razorpay?

The PayPal vs Razorpay comparison depends on your business goals and target market. PayPal is the best payment gateway for international clients, especially as a freelancer, SaaS or on-premises vendor, or global e-commerce brand.
On the other hand, Razorpay provides stronger localized support for Indian businesses for UPI integration and full RBI compliance. While it expands to other countries in 2025, PayPal maintains its global innovation lead with tools powered by AI and blockchain technology. Both platforms are excellent, and you could combine them if your business operates both locally and globally.