Stripe vs Razorpay 2026 — Payment Gateway for Resellers
Resellers of digital goods — game keys, eSIMs, gift cards, mobile top-ups — need a payment gateway with low MDR, fast payout and a tolerant stance on "high-risk" categories. In 2026 the de-facto pick for a global store is Stripe; for an Indian store, Razorpay. Here is the breakdown.
MDR and acceptance instruments
In 2026 Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 on US cards, 1.5% + €0.25 on EEA cards, 3.9% + $0.30 on international. Instruments: Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna, Affirm, ACH, SEPA, Bacs.
Razorpay offers tiered MDR: 2% on cards and UPI, 0.4% on NetBanking, 1.99% on wallets (PayTM, MobiKwik). UPI is the critical Indian channel handling ~45% of online payments nationally.
| Metric | Stripe | Razorpay |
|---|---|---|
| MDR (cards) | 2.9% + $0.30 (US) | 2% (INR) |
| MDR (bank transfer) | 0.8% ACH | 0.4% NetBanking |
| MDR (UPI) | Not available | 2% (was 0% pre-2024) |
| MDR (intl cards) | 3.9% + $0.30 | 3% |
| Wallets | Apple/Google Pay | All Indian wallets |
| Payout | T+2 (US), T+7 (EU) | T+1, T+0 on Pro |
| Minimum payout | $0 | ₹100 |
| Digital goods support | Yes (high-risk review) | Yes |
| Chargeback fee | $15 | ₹500 |
| 3DS mandate | Yes (RBI mandate in India) | Yes |
| API quality | OpenAPI, idempotency, sandbox | REST, webhook signing |
| Availability | 46 countries | India only |
Disputes and held funds
Stripe holds a 5–15% reserve on new digital-goods accounts for the first 90 days. After that the rolling reserve is reviewed and may drop to 0% with a stable dispute rate <0.5%. Crossing 0.75% triggers Network Inquiry and account-action risk.
Razorpay follows RBI standard with a 1% reserve held for 180 days across all categories. Disputes resolve in 7–14 days through a single Razorpay Disputes UI — faster than Stripe (21–30 days average).
What fits which store
Game keys for Russia/CIS. Neither Stripe nor Razorpay accepts rubles directly. Use Stripe Atlas (US LLC) + Wise/Mercury → sell in USD, convert to USDT, pay FoxReload.
eSIM / mobile top-ups for Indian travellers. Razorpay + UPI yields instant approval and +30% conversion. Stripe loses on this segment.
Global B2B store with merchant dashboard. Stripe Connect and payment links are industry standard. Razorpay Routes is similar but India-only.
Verdict
Global merchant focused on US/EU/UK → Stripe. Store with >60% Indian traffic → Razorpay. Often the optimal stack uses both: Stripe for global, Razorpay for Indian — Stripe Connect API can route the buyer to the right gateway.
Acceptance solved, now solve sourcing. Connect FoxReload API and pull wholesale prices on 900+ SKUs with automated code delivery.