Razorpay vs CCAvenue (2026): Checkout Security, Payment Methods and Fees for Established Businesses

Many Indian businesses that went online between the early 2000s and the mid 2010s still run on CCAvenue. The integration works, finance knows the reports, and nobody wants to touch checkout. But integrations age, security expectations move on, and pricing for premium cards and international payments now differs noticeably between providers.

This guide compares Razorpay and CCAvenue as they stand in October 2026, using each provider’s own pricing pages, documentation and security statements. It is written for established merchants weighing a switch, so it also covers what moves cleanly, what does not (saved cards and mandates in particular), and how to migrate without breaking refunds or reconciliation.

Quick answer: For most established Indian merchants, Razorpay is the stronger fit in 2026. It publishes current security certifications (PCI DSS Level 1, ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2 Type 2), signs every webhook with HMAC-SHA256, offers more mobile SDKs, and lists lower fees for Amex, Diners, corporate cards and cardless EMI. CCAvenue remains a credible choice for merchants who rely on its 18-language checkout, its legacy cart plugins or negotiated commercials. Switching needs planning: saved-card tokens and recurring mandates do not transfer automatically, so customers must re-save cards and re-register mandates.

How do Razorpay and CCAvenue compare at a glance?

Both are RBI-authorised payment aggregators with hosted and embedded checkouts, mobile SDKs and e-commerce plugins. CCAvenue lists its authorisation (Certificate No. 251/2025) on its website, and has operated since 2001. Razorpay received final payment aggregator approval from RBI in December 2023.

Razorpay’s developer coverage is broader, particularly for apps built in Flutter or React Native. CCAvenue’s checkout has long supported local-language display and a wide list of debit card and netbanking options, which matters outside metro markets.

Which gateway has the stronger security posture?

The table summarises what each provider documents publicly, followed by notes on the gaps.

What does the PCI DSS gap mean in practice?

The PCI Security Standards Council retired PCI DSS v3.2.1 on 31 March 2024, and v4.0.1 is the current version. CCAvenue’s public pages still refer to 3.2.1, which most likely means the pages are out of date rather than the certification. Even so, an established merchant should ask CCAvenue for its current Attestation of Compliance before renewing, and ask Razorpay for the same before switching. Your own scope depends on how you integrate, which our guide toSAQ A vs SAQ A-EPexplains.

How do the tokenisation offerings differ?

Both comply with RBI’s card-on-file tokenisation framework, under which only issuers and card networks may store card numbers. The difference is cost and portability. CCAvenue charges Rs 1.25 per token for provisioning, migration or deletion, and Rs 0.20 per cryptogram request, plus GST. Razorpay’s standard pricing page lists no per-token charge for saved cards on its checkout. TokenHQ is a separate product, so confirm its pricing with Razorpay. Our explainer onsaved-card tokenisation in Indiacovers the consent and data-flow rules.

Why does webhook signing matter?

A webhook that is not verified lets an attacker fake a “payment successful” event and receive goods for free. Razorpay’swebhook validation guideasks merchants to compute an HMAC-SHA256 of the raw request body with the webhook secret, compare it with the signature header, and use the x-razorpay-event-id header to discard duplicates. CCAvenue’s model relies on decrypting the response with the shared working key, so protecting and rotating that key is critical. Either way, confirm payment status server-side before fulfilling an order, as covered in our guide topayment API webhook security.

What do Razorpay and CCAvenue charge in 2026?

The rates below are the standard plans as listed on each provider’s pricing page in October 2026. Both add 18% GST on the fee, not on the transaction amount.

Razorpay states that UPI and RuPay debit carry zero MDR, but its 2% platform fee still applies. CCAvenue groups UPI with cards, wallets and netbanking at 2%. CCAvenue also lists messaging charges (Rs 0.30 per WhatsApp message and Rs 0.25 per SMS) and recurring card charges of Rs 15 per mandate creation or modification. Check the currentRazorpay pricing pageand CCAvenue’s scheme page before you model costs, since both change offers often.

On Rs 2 lakh a month of Amex volume, Razorpay’s listed fee is Rs 4,000 and CCAvenue’s is Rs 6,000, before GST. On plain domestic card or UPI volume the listed rates are identical. Most established businesses process well above Rs 5 lakh a month, so both providers will quote custom rates. Ask each for a method-wise rate card based on your last six months of volume.

Where is CCAvenue still strong?

A fair comparison has to credit CCAvenue in four areas:

• Track record. Founded in 2001 and serving nearly 3 million merchants, by its own count, CCAvenue has processed Indian e-commerce payments longer than most competitors have existed.
• Local-language checkout. An 18-language checkout and 27-currency display are long-standing features that suit regional and diaspora audiences.
• Legacy platform coverage. Plugins for OpenCart, Zen Cart, Joomla and similar carts help businesses that never moved to a modern platform.
• Routing and retries. CCAvenue documents dynamic routing between bank gateways and a smart retry feature for interrupted payments.

Where it falls behind is documentation. Its public integration guide is version 3.1 from September 2019, and several security pages cite outdated standard versions.

What happens to saved cards and mandates when you switch?

This is the part most migration plans underestimate. RBI’s card-on-file tokenisation circular of 7 September 2021 says a token is unique for the combination of card, token requestor and merchant. If CCAvenue acted as the token requestor for your saved cards, those tokens are bound to CCAvenue. Razorpay cannot read or reuse them as its own.

You have three options:

• Ask customers to save cards again. On their first Razorpay checkout, customers give fresh consent and complete authentication with their issuer, and a new token is created. This is the simplest path and needs only clear messaging.
• Keep CCAvenue as the token vault. CCAvenue says its TokenPay tokens can be used with other payment systems if the merchant is PCI DSS compliant, completes its security audits and adds runtime calls to fetch cryptograms. Razorpay’s TokenHQ documentation supports payments with tokens created on another aggregator through its S2S API. This keeps cards saved but adds cost and PCI scope, so confirm both providers will enable it for your account.
• Become your own token requestor. Razorpay’s TokenHQ supports a merchant-as-token-requestor model. It requires PCI DSS compliance, but tokens tied to you as requestor are easier to use across gateways in future.

Recurring payments need the same thinking. Card mandates, UPI AutoPay and e-NACH registrations made through CCAvenue do not move to Razorpay. Under RBI’s e-mandate rules, registration and the first debit need authentication, so customers must re-register. Schedule this before renewal dates and see our guide to theRBI authentication directionsfor current limits.

How do you migrate from CCAvenue to Razorpay safely?

This checklist covers the steps that cause the most trouble when skipped:

• Map every CCAvenue touchpoint: checkout calls, redirect and cancel URLs, the Dynamic Event Notification URL, order status checks, refund handling and reconciliation scripts.
• Run both gateways in parallel. Route one segment first, such as one payment method, app users or a percentage of traffic, and store the gateway name against every order.
• Build a new webhook endpoint for Razorpay. Verify signatures on the raw body, de-duplicate by event ID, handle events arriving out of order, and allowlist Razorpay’s published webhook IPs.
• Keep the CCAvenue account active after cutover. Refunds for CCAvenue payments must go through CCAvenue, and chargebacks on old orders will still arrive there. CCAvenue’s FAQ describes a 90-day refund window from its panel, so confirm the current terms in your agreement.
• Plan for split settlements. Finance will reconcile two settlement streams during the overlap, so agree report formats and order ID mapping in advance.
• Test in Razorpay test mode: successful, failed and pending UPI payments, partial refunds, 3DS challenges, international cards, webhook retries and a deliberately bad signature. Our guide to3D Secure 2 and checkout frictionlists the data fields that reduce challenges.
• Communicate with repeat customers. Tell them once, clearly, that saved cards and mandates need to be set up again.
• Secure both dashboards. Turn on team-wide 2-step verification in Razorpay, follow itsbusiness security checklist, and remove staff access and rotate the working key on CCAvenue once it is no longer needed. Our guide topayment gateway dashboard securitycovers roles and offboarding.
• Re-check PCI scope. Moving from a CCAvenue iFrame to a Razorpay modal or S2S integration can change which self-assessment questionnaire applies.

Which gateway should you choose?

We recommend Razorpay for most established Indian merchants evaluating a switch in 2026, based on five documented criteria:

Stay on CCAvenue, at least for now, if your revenue depends on its multilingual checkout, you run a legacy cart without a maintained Razorpay plugin, or your negotiated rates beat Razorpay’s quote. In every other case, run a parallel trial and compare approval rates, fees and support on your own traffic before committing.

Frequently asked questions

1. Is Razorpay cheaper than CCAvenue?

On domestic cards, UPI, netbanking and wallets, both list 2% plus GST. Razorpay lists lower rates for Amex and Diners (2% vs 3%), corporate cards (2.15% vs 3%) and cardless EMI (2% vs 3.5%), and charges no annual fee.

2. Can I move my CCAvenue saved cards to Razorpay?

Not directly. Under RBI’s tokenisation rules a token is unique to the card, token requestor and merchant, so customers usually need to save cards again. If you are PCI DSS compliant, CCAvenue tokens can be used with other gateways through cryptogram calls.

3. Do I need to close my CCAvenue account after switching?

No, and you should not close it immediately. Refunds and chargebacks for payments made through CCAvenue are still handled there, so keep it active until those windows have passed.

4. Which gateway supports more international currencies?

Razorpay says it supports nearly 100 currencies, while CCAvenue lists 27. CCAvenue charges 3.5% for multi-currency processing; Razorpay lists up to 3% for international cards.

5. Is CCAvenue PCI DSS compliant?

CCAvenue describes itself as PCI DSS compliant, but its public pages cite version 3.2.1, which the PCI SSC retired in March 2024. Ask for its current Attestation of Compliance.

6. How do I verify Razorpay webhooks?

Compute an HMAC-SHA256 of the raw request body using your webhook secret and compare it with the X-Razorpay-Signature header. Use the event ID header to ignore duplicates.

7. Will customers need to re-register recurring payments?

Yes. Card mandates, UPI AutoPay and e-NACH registrations made through CCAvenue do not transfer, and RBI rules require authentication for a new registration.

8. Can I run Razorpay and CCAvenue at the same time?

Yes. Running both in parallel is the safest way to migrate. Store the gateway name with each order so refunds, disputes and reconciliation go to the right provider.