Razorpay payment links for creators: how they work

A Razorpay Payment Link is a web address, made from your Razorpay Dashboard, that opens a hosted payment screen for one fixed amount. Razorpay’s documentation says it works without a website or an app, so a creator can send it by SMS, email or in a chat and be paid by UPI, card, netbanking or wallet. It suits one buyer and one price: a call, a custom job, a single template. If many people will pay through the same address, or if you want them to pick the amount, a Payment Page is the right tool. If you run a website or an app, the full payment gateway with checkout is what Razorpay points you to.

The prices and rules below were checked on Razorpay’s own pages on 6 October 2026. Your account’s rate and your settlement schedule can differ, so read your Dashboard before you price anything.

Razorpay’s FAQ is direct about the limits of a link. You can create links with fixed amounts only, so a customer cannot type in an amount of their choice. A link can accept payment from a single customer, and it takes one-time payments, not recurring ones. A link can carry an expiry date, send reminders, and allow partial payments, and customers can pay by card, UPI, netbanking, wallet, EMI, Pay Later or bank transfer.

A Payment Page covers what a link cannot. Razorpay describes it as a hosted, custom-branded page you build in an editor with no code, with a memorable address, images and video, your own input fields, and sharing buttons for social platforms. Its FAQ says to use a Payment Page when you want to let customers enter an amount of their choice, or when one address should take payments from many customers. That makes a page the better fit for a ₹499 template pack you mention in every Reel, while a link fits “here is the invoice for your ₹3,500 logo edit”.

The payment gateway is the third option. Razorpay says to consider it if you have a website or a mobile app, and that without either you can still take payments with Payment Links and Payment Pages. There is also a Payment Button that you can embed on a website with a couple of lines of code. Most small creators start with a link or a page, because nothing needs building.

Tip: If you expect to send the same link to 50 people, stop and use a Payment Page instead. A link is built for one customer, and once it is paid it is marked paid, so the next buyer meets a closed link.

As of 6 October 2026, Razorpay’s pricing page lists a platform fee of 2% per successful domestic transaction across UPI, cards, netbanking and wallets, with 18% GST charged on that fee. It lists a setup fee of ₹0, an annual maintenance charge of ₹0 and a refund processing fee of ₹0. International cards are listed at up to 3% per successful transaction, plus taxes. The page also notes that UPI carries zero merchant discount rate while the platform fee still applies, so check the rate shown in your own account.

The 18% is charged on Razorpay’s fee, not on your price. So a 2% fee costs you about 2.36% in all. The table uses example prices, not suggested ones, and rounds to the nearest paisa.

Refunds deserve a thought before the first one arrives. A Razorpay blog post of 29 May 2026 says the merchant discount fee on a captured payment is non-refundable across the industry, and that no payment gateway in India returns it. So a ₹499 refund costs you ₹499 plus the roughly ₹12 you already paid in fees. The same post says that voiding an authorisation before capture avoids the fee, which only helps if you cancel before the payment is captured. If you want to try other prices, the Razorpay fee calculator in the Tools section of this site does the sums.

Razorpay’s settlement documentation says your account must be KYC approved and fully activated before payments settle, and the payment must be captured. It states that the standard settlement cycle for domestic payments is T+2 working days, where T is the day the payment is captured, and that working days do not include bank holidays. The documentation adds that the cycle depends on bank approval, your business type and risk factors, so it can vary.

The pricing page words it differently, mentioning a T+1 or instant settlement cycle. I could not reconcile the two, so plan around the slower figure and read the schedule shown in your Dashboard. Instant Settlements, which cut the wait to minutes, are an on-demand feature that Razorpay says you must ask its support team to activate, and the pricing page says a small fee applies per request. Settlements are always in rupees, after fees are taken out.

One detail catches new sellers. Razorpay says that if a refund leaves your live balance lower than the amount scheduled, it makes a partial settlement of the balance and pays the remaining payments in the next slot. A refund can therefore delay a different buyer’s money by a day.

1. Create a Razorpay account and complete KYC. Settlements will not reach your bank until the account is activated, so do this before you promote anything.
2. In the Dashboard, open Payment Links and create a link. Enter the amount, a clear description such as “Instagram Reels template pack”, and the customer’s name and contact.
3. Set an expiry date. A link that stays open for ever can be paid for a slot, a launch price or a stock count that no longer exists.
4. Choose how it is sent. Razorpay can deliver the link by SMS and email, and you can copy it to share yourself.
5. Add your support details under Account and Settings, then Business settings, so a buyer can reach you from the payment screen.
6. Track it from the Payment Links list, where each link shows its status. Webhook events such as payment_link.paid can tell another system when a payment arrives, if you use one.

Four oddities from Razorpay’s FAQ are worth knowing before you send a link to a customer. Even if you enter the customer’s email and phone number, they are not filled in on the hosted payment screen, so the buyer types them again. Every link shows a “Report Payment Link” option by default, which is part of Razorpay’s risk policy and not a sign that something is wrong. A link cannot be cancelled once it is paid or partly paid. And UPI Payment Links do not work when the customer is set to bear the fee.

A payment link only collects money. Nothing in Razorpay’s description of Payment Links mentions sending a file, a calendar slot or a thank-you, so you need a plan for what the buyer gets next. Razorpay’s FAQ also says its Invoices product is built to start payments, not to send an invoice after payment, so you handle any invoice yourself once the payment is confirmed. Our guide to GST for content creators in India covers when a tax invoice matters.

On Instagram, remember the messaging rule. The first message you send to someone who commented on your post can carry no link or button, so a link in it will not go through. Ask for a reply first, then send the link once they answer. If you have set up comment-to-DM with DMFast (our product, working with Instagram professional accounts and Facebook Pages), that is how its flow runs: plain text first, link after the person replies. DMFast’s own store, India only and paid through Razorpay, also sells digital products, lead magnets and 1-on-1 bookings without a fee from DMFast, although Razorpay’s fee still comes out of each payment.

For one-to-one work, send a link only after you have agreed the price in writing, and put your refund and reschedule rule in the same message. Our guide to selling 1-on-1 coaching calls online covers the booking side.

Razorpay is one of several choices, and the right one depends on how often you sell. These are described from each provider’s own pages as of 6 October 2026.

• A UPI ID or QR code from your own bank app. It costs nothing and the money goes straight to your account, but it gives the buyer no receipt and you no order record, so you track every sale by hand.
• Cashfree Payments. Its Payment Links page describes links with no code and no website needed, shared by SMS, email or WhatsApp. Fees are on its own pricing page, which I did not compare.
• Instamojo. Its site lists Payment Links next to an online store builder, so it suits sellers who want a small shop as well as a link.
• A store built for creators. DMFast, which publishes this guide, has an India-only store paid through Razorpay, so the fees above still apply to those sales.

• Account is KYC approved and activated, and a small test payment has reached your bank.
• You worked out what you keep after the 2% fee and the 18% GST on it.
• The link has an amount, a clear description and an expiry date.
• You use a Payment Page, not a link, when several people will pay.
• Your refund rule is written, and you know the fee is not returned.
• You know how the buyer gets the product or service after they pay.
• You keep each payment’s date, amount and purpose for your tax records.