Setting up a Shopify store in India: payments, billing and costs

The short version

Shopify Payments, Shopify’s own checkout provider, is not offered to businesses based in India. Your store can still take cards, UPI, wallets and net banking through a third-party provider that connects to Shopify, plus manual methods such as cash on delivery. Shopify itself can bill you in Indian rupees.

1. Taking payments from your customers

Shopify keeps a list of the countries where Shopify Payments is available. India is not on it, so you choose a third-party provider instead. Razorpay documents its own Shopify integration for Indian merchants: you add Razorpay’s payment app to your store and connect it by logging in to your Razorpay account as the store owner. No API keys are needed. Razorpay’s integration supports UPI, cards, wallets and net banking on your storefront.

Approval is the provider’s decision. You apply in your own business name, complete the provider’s identity checks, and connect the provider once it is active. We never open an account in someone else’s name.

2. Manual methods are worth adding

Shopify supports manual payment methods such as cash on delivery and bank transfer. Orders paid this way stay marked as unpaid until you confirm the money arrived, and Shopify does not charge third-party transaction fees on manual payments. Cash on delivery lets you take orders while a provider reviews your application.

3. Third-party transaction fees

When you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify charges a third-party transaction fee on those orders. Shopify’s help page explains that the fee applies to third-party and alternative gateways, and that manual payments are excluded. The exact percentage depends on your Shopify plan, so check the pricing page for your plan before you launch.

4. How Shopify bills you

Shopify’s help pages list India among the countries where local currency billing is available, so your Shopify subscription can be billed in rupees. Shopify’s list of accepted payment methods for bills includes UPI for India. The same page notes that PayPal cannot be used to pay Shopify bills in India, and that your card must allow recurring international transactions if you are billed in US dollars.

5. Costs to plan for

• Shopify plan: on Shopify’s India pricing page, the Basic plan is shown at ₹1,499 per month when paid yearly, with a short free trial followed by a low-price introductory period. Prices change, so check the page on the day you sign up.

• Payment provider fees: charged by the provider per transaction, plus Shopify’s third-party transaction fee where it applies.

• Domain: paid to Shopify or to another registrar, renewed yearly.

• Theme and apps: free themes and free apps are enough for most first stores; paid ones are billed to you.

6. What we set up for Indian stores

In every package we connect the provider you are approved for, add the manual methods you want, set your store currency, place a test order and show you where everything lives. Shopify’s plan, your domain and provider fees are always paid by you to those companies.