Razorpay, Cashfree, or PhonePe for NGO Donations? The 2025 Comparison

Indian NGOs have three serious payment gateway choices for online donations: Razorpay, Cashfree, and PhonePe Business. All three work. All three support UPI, cards, net banking, and wallets. But they differ significantly in fees, settlement periods, documentation requirements, and NGO-specific features. This guide gives you the honest comparison so you can choose the right one for your organisation — or use all three.

What NGOs need from a payment gateway

Before comparing gateways, it is worth defining what an NGO actually needs from payment infrastructure. A restaurant wants fast checkout. An NGO wants something more specific: the ability to accept recurring donations, detailed donor data for 80G receipts, campaign-level tracking, transparent settlement with no confusing deductions, and low transaction fees that do not eat into funds meant for beneficiaries.

Razorpay for NGO donations

Razorpay is India's most widely used payment gateway. It is developer-friendly, has excellent documentation, and supports virtually every payment method Indians use. For NGOs, Razorpay offers a specific 'nonprofit' rate of approximately 1.5% for registered NGOs (compared to the standard 2%). This discount requires submitting your 80G/12A registration certificate.

• Standard fee: 2% per transaction
• NGO discounted rate: 1.5% (requires 80G/12A documentation)
• Settlement: T+2 days (money reaches your account 2 days after payment)
• UPI, Cards, Net Banking, Wallets, EMI all supported
• International cards supported (important for NRI donors)
• Strong recurring donation support
• Excellent analytics dashboard
• FCRA-compliant reporting available

Cashfree for NGO donations

Cashfree is Razorpay's primary competitor and in some respects has more NGO-friendly pricing. Cashfree's standard fee is 1.75%, which is already lower than Razorpay's standard rate. For registered NGOs with 80G status, Cashfree offers custom rates through their enterprise sales team.

• Standard fee: 1.75% per transaction
• NGO rate: negotiable through enterprise sales
• Settlement: T+1 days (faster than Razorpay)
• Same-day settlement available on certain plans
• Strong UPI collection, particularly good for rural donors
• Auto-refund and dispute management is highly rated
• Less popular than Razorpay but very reliable

PhonePe Business for NGO donations

PhonePe Business (formerly PhonePe Payment Gateway) is relatively newer as a standalone gateway but has massive brand recognition in India. For smaller NGOs in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, PhonePe has a significant advantage: trust. Many rural donors use PhonePe for personal transactions and are comfortable donating through it.

• Standard fee: 0.4% for UPI, 1.5–2% for cards
• Excellent for UPI-heavy donor bases
• High brand trust in non-metro India
• Settlement: T+2 days standard
• Verification requirements can be stricter
• Less comprehensive API than Razorpay or Cashfree

Which gateway should your NGO use?

For most Indian NGOs, Razorpay is the right primary gateway. The ecosystem, documentation, and feature set are simply the most mature. If you receive donations from NRI donors abroad, Razorpay's international card support is important. If you are cost-sensitive and donor trust in UPI is your primary concern, Cashfree's lower standard fee and T+1 settlement are meaningful advantages.

The best answer for most NGOs is to offer two options: Razorpay for primary online donations (cards, international, recurring) and PhonePe or Cashfree as an alternative for UPI-focused donors. Big NGO integrates all three simultaneously — donors see all payment options at checkout, and your admin sees consolidated reporting across all gateways.

Documentation required to activate payment gateways for NGOs

Every payment gateway requires KYC before you can accept live payments. Prepare the following before you start the application process:

• NGO registration certificate (trust/society/Section 8 company)
• PAN card of the organisation
• 80G and 12A certificates (if available — helps get discounted rates)
• Bank account details (in the NGO's name, not personal)
• Cancelled cheque or bank statement
• Address proof of registered office
• Authorised signatory details with ID proof
• Website URL that is live and shows clear NGO purpose

How Big NGO handles payment gateway integration

When we onboard your NGO onto Big NGO, our team handles the complete payment gateway setup. We configure your Razorpay, Cashfree, or PhonePe credentials in the platform, test all payment flows, and ensure your 80G receipts are triggered correctly for every payment. You do not need any technical knowledge. You submit your gateway credentials, we do the rest.