Skip to content
QKAP

Language and region

Pick the language for this website and the country your prices are shown for.

Language

QKAP Premium prices are shown in Indian rupees in India and in US dollars everywhere else. Checkout charges in your local currency.

Get started

UPI QR vs Payment Gateway vs Cash on Delivery for Small Sellers

Direct UPI, a payment gateway like Razorpay or Cashfree, or cash on delivery? Compare fees, confirmation effort, refunds and risk for Instagram sellers in India.

QKAP Team8 min read
On this page
  1. Key takeaways
  2. How we compared
  3. Direct UPI (QR and UPI app link)
  4. Payment gateways (Razorpay, Cashfree) and payment links
  5. Cash on delivery
  6. Side-by-side comparison
  7. Mixing methods: what QKAP supports
  8. Frequently asked questions
  9. Sources

For a small Instagram seller in India, direct UPI to your own UPI ID is usually the cheapest and fastest way to get paid, but you have to check and confirm each payment yourself. A payment gateway such as Razorpay or Cashfree confirms payments automatically and adds cards, net banking and wallets, for a fee of around 2% plus GST on that fee for standard domestic payments (as of October 2026). Cash on delivery can win over buyers who don't trust a new seller yet, but it adds a courier COD charge, slower access to your money and the risk of refused parcels.

Key takeaways

  • Direct UPI has had no merchant fee so far, but NPCI has announced a 0.4% fee on some merchant UPI payments above ₹2,000, deferred to "immediately post Diwali" 2026; ask your bank how your UPI ID is classified.
  • Razorpay's standard plan lists a 2% platform fee on domestic payments, UPI included, plus 18% GST on that fee; Cashfree lists 1.95% plus taxes as its standard fee and says UPI charges are "as per the applicable law".
  • Gateways confirm payments automatically; with direct UPI you match each payment to an order yourself, usually by amount and UTR.
  • With courier aggregators like Shiprocket, the COD fee is the higher of a fixed charge or a percentage of the order value, and it varies by courier.
  • QKAP (our product) supports direct UPI and your own payment links with no QKAP fee, but it does not offer cash on delivery.

How we compared

We compared the three methods on cost, the effort of confirming payments, refunds, chargebacks and returns, buyer trust, and setup. Fees and rules come from Razorpay's, Cashfree's, NPCI's, Shiprocket's, Shopify's and Instamojo's own pages, checked on 17 October 2026 and listed under Sources.

QKAP is our product and it supports two of these three methods, so we have a bias. We've tried to be clear about where a gateway or COD is the better choice.

With direct UPI, the buyer scans your QR code or taps a link that opens their UPI app with your UPI ID and the amount filled in. The money goes straight to your bank account, with no platform in between.

Cost. UPI has been free for merchants. In September 2026, NPCI published an FAQ for a merchant discount rate (MDR) of 0.4% on person-to-merchant UPI payments above ₹2,000, capped at ₹300 for payments of ₹75,000 and above. The same FAQ says payments up to ₹2,000, person-to-person transfers, and small merchants receiving up to ₹1 lakh a month through UPI QR into their own accounts stay at zero. On 13 October 2026, NPCI said the fee will start "immediately post Diwali at a date to be notified separately", so it was not in force when we checked. Whether your UPI ID counts as a person, a small merchant or a merchant depends on your bank, so check with them.

Confirmation. This is the real cost of UPI. The payment shows in your bank or UPI app, not your store, so you match it to an order by amount and UTR (transaction reference). Always check your own account rather than trusting a screenshot from the buyer. On a busy launch day this adds up; our guide to bulk-confirming UPI payments shows how to keep it quick.

Refunds. You send the money back yourself, from your UPI app.

Best for: low and mid-priced items, buyers in India, and sellers handling a manageable number of orders a day.

A payment gateway processes the payment, confirms it automatically and settles the money to your bank within a few working days. Payment links and hosted pages mean you don't need a website.

Razorpay (as of October 2026). The standard plan lists a 2% platform fee per successful domestic transaction across cards, UPI, net banking and wallets, with 2.15% for corporate cards and up to 3% for international cards. Its pricing page describes UPI as "Zero MDR — 2% platform fee applies", and 18% GST is charged on the platform fee, not on the order amount. There is no setup fee or annual maintenance charge. Payment Pages are "typically 2% + GST" for domestic payments and send automatic receipts. Settlement timing differs between Razorpay's own pages, so check your dashboard.

Cashfree (as of October 2026). Zero setup fee, a standard platform fee of 1.95% plus applicable taxes, and international Visa and Mastercard at 2.99% (Amex 2.95%). For UPI, Cashfree says charges are "as per the applicable law". GST is charged on its fees and deducted from settlements.

A worked example. On a ₹1,000 order through Razorpay's standard plan, the 2% fee is ₹20 and 18% GST on that fee is ₹3.60, so ₹976.40 reaches you before any other deductions.

Confirmation. Automatic. This is what you pay for.

Refunds and disputes. Handled through the gateway; read its terms on card disputes.

Best for: higher volumes, card and international buyers, and sellers who would rather pay a fee than check every payment.

Cash on delivery

With cash on delivery (COD), the courier collects the money when it hands over the parcel and sends it on to you later.

Cost. On Shiprocket, the COD fee is the higher of a fixed charge or a percentage of the order value, and it depends on the courier partner; its rate calculator shows the exact amount, as of October 2026. Shiprocket also offers "Early COD" for daily COD remittance. On Shopify, COD is a manual payment method you mark as paid once the money arrives, with no third-party transaction fee, per Shopify's help centre. Instamojo also lists COD on its store plans.

Risk. The buyer has paid nothing upfront, so an impulse order is easy to refuse at the door. A refused parcel comes back to you, and depending on your courier's terms you may pay shipping in both directions.

Trust. COD helps when buyers don't know you yet. Clear photos, honest descriptions, reviews and a WhatsApp number for questions can build some of that trust without it.

Best for: sellers shipping across India to first-time buyers through a courier or store builder that supports COD.

Side-by-side comparison

Direct UPI (QR or app link)Payment gateway or payment linkCash on delivery
Cost to youNo merchant fee so far; NPCI's announced 0.4% fee on some payments above ₹2,000 is deferredAround 2% plus GST on the fee for domestic payments (Razorpay, Cashfree standard rates)Courier COD fee: fixed amount or percentage, whichever is higher
Payment confirmationManual: match amount and UTRAutomaticWhen the courier remits the cash
When you get the moneyStraight away, in your bank accountSettled to your bank within a few working daysAfter delivery and courier remittance
RefundsYou send money back by UPIThrough the gatewayReturn the cash yourself after a return
Chargebacks and returnsNo card chargebacks; buyers raise disputes with their bank or UPI appCard chargebacks possibleRefused parcels come back; return shipping may apply
Buyer trustNeeds some trust before payingFamiliar checkout pagesReassures wary first-time buyers
SetupMinutes: a UPI ID or QR codeSign-up and verification with the gatewayCourier or store builder with COD

Mixing methods: what QKAP supports

QKAP lets you offer both prepaid methods side by side, per shop or per product:

  • Direct UPI. Add your UPI ID and buyers get a UPI QR and a UPI app link for the exact amount. UPI works in rupee shops.
  • Your own payment link. Add a Razorpay, Stripe, PayPal or Gumroad link, or any https payment link, for cards and international buyers. Shops can price in INR, USD, EUR, GBP, AED, SGD, CAD or AUD.
  • Confirmation in one place. Buyers tap "I've paid" and can add the UTR. You confirm in Orders, one at a time or in bulk, and their access or order unlocks. Unpaid orders are flagged after 48 hours and cancelled automatically after 7 days.
  • No QKAP fee. QKAP takes no commission on any plan (pricing) and never holds the money; your payment link provider's fees still apply.

QKAP does not support cash on delivery. If some buyers insist on COD, a WhatsApp order button opens a chat pre-filled with the item and lines for the buyer's quantity, name and delivery PIN code, and you can arrange COD through your courier outside QKAP. See UPI and payment links and customers and orders for the details, and QKAP store orders and payments for a step-by-step guide.

A practical setup: UPI as the default for Indian buyers, a payment link for cards and international buyers, and COD only through a courier. For renewals, see UPI payments for creator memberships; to compare other tools, see creator tools with UPI payments.

Frequently asked questions

Is UPI free for merchants?

UPI has been free for merchants so far. NPCI has announced a 0.4% fee on some merchant UPI payments above ₹2,000, deferred on 13 October 2026 to after Diwali at a date to be announced. Payments up to ₹2,000 and small QR merchants stay free under the announced rules; ask your bank how your account is classified.

Does QKAP support cash on delivery?

No. QKAP's checkout takes direct UPI or your own payment link. You can take COD orders over WhatsApp with an order button and arrange COD with your courier separately.

How do I match UPI payments to orders?

Ask buyers to add the UTR (the transaction reference in their UPI app) when they tap "I've paid", then compare it and the amount with your bank or UPI app. On QKAP, the UTR appears with the order, and you can mark several orders as paid at once after a busy day.

Should a new seller offer cash on delivery?

Offer cash on delivery only if you can absorb the courier's COD fee and the cost of refused parcels. Otherwise, start with prepaid UPI, build trust with reviews and quick replies, and add COD later if buyers keep asking.

Can I use Razorpay and UPI together on QKAP?

Yes. You can add both a UPI ID and a Razorpay payment link to a shop or a product. Razorpay's fees apply to payments made through its link, while UPI payments to your own UPI ID carry no QKAP fee.

Sources

All pages checked on 17 October 2026. QKAP details come from our own product and the feature pages linked above.

Keep reading