The UPI ecosystem in India has evolved into the largest real-time payment network, processing over 10 billion transactions every month. There are numerous apps available, but only a select few dominate the space. In 2025, the popular UPI apps like Google Pay, Paytm, and PhonePe continue to lead the market due to their unique features, trust, and scale.
In this article, we will explore the top 5 UPI payment apps in India, what they did to lead the race, and why other apps fell behind.
What is the most used UPI app in India?
Here are the best UPI payment apps in India that are most used for fast, secure, and convenient digital transactions.
PhonePe
Rating: 4.4
PhonePe was created by Sameer Nigam, Burzin Engineer, and Rahul Chari as a fintech app in 2015 and launched in 2016. It is among the most widely accepted and popular UPI apps.
What are the features that set it apart?
- Inclusive UPI integration: You can link and use multiple bank accounts with PhonePe, which means you can send or receive cash from any of your accounts.
- Investment and financial services: PhonePe is not only a payment app but also a mutual fund and digital gold investment app. You can even trade stocks on PhonePe.
- Multilingual support: Indian users from small towns and villages can use this app in their preferred language, supporting over 11 Indian languages.
- Widely accepted by merchants: You can use this app at more than 18 million shops all over India, even in kiranas.
- Digital Wallet: PhonePe also has a digital wallet in which you can keep some money for fast and small purchases without entering your UPI pin.
- Security: All your payments are protected by UPI encryption and PIN. With a strong track record, they use AI to fight fraud along with an extra security check.
Why is it leading among the UPI apps?
- Biggest Market Share: PhonePe is India’s no. 1 UPI app that handled over 8.5 billion transactions in June 2025, which is nearly 47% of the entire UPI payment. This is the most highest used UPI app in India.
- Smooth user experience: The fast processing, clean design, and lowest failure rate of this app satisfy the users. The estimated satisfaction is higher than 35%.
- Built for India: Unlike the other apps that focus on metro users, PhonePe is built for tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Which is why most of the users come from small towns.
- Early Mover Advantage: PhonePe entered after demonetization in India, which led to gaining trust quickly.
- Rewards & Support: PhonePe is the best UPI cashback app, providing scratch cards and AI-based customer support, which makes it rewarding and engaging for the user.
Google Pay
Rating: 4.1
Google Pay, previously known as Tez, was developed by Google and launched in September 2017. This is one of the trusted apps among the top 5 UPI apps.
What are the features that set it apart?
- Seamless User Experience: Compared to other UPI apps, Google Pay provides a clean, simple, and ad-free interface that makes payments smooth. This is the best UPI payment app in India.
- Well-integrated with the Google ecosystem: it works collaboratively with Google services like Chrome, Gmail, and Google Play, which offer features like reminders, easy account linking, and voice-activated payment for users.
- Multiple Payment Methods: Google Pay isn’t just a UPI app, as it allows credit and debit card payments, NFC tap-to-pay” in-app purchases, and QR-based payments.
- Group Payments & Bill Splitting: You can easily split expenses and bills among your friend group, making it popular among young users.
- Advanced Financial Services: It allows you to access financial products like recurring deposits, management of loan EMI, insurance, and spending alert services.
Why is it leading among the UPI apps?
- Large Market Share and High Usage: Google Pay has the second spot in the UPI market with a market share of 36-37% and over 6.7 billion transactions in a single month.
- Urban Dominance: Google Pay has been highly installed and used in 75% of Indian urban cities.
- Trust & Security: Google has a reputation for advanced security and privacy for daily and high-value transactions.
- Merchant Acceptance: It is accepted by all major e-commerce platforms and 88% of retailers online.
Paytm
Rating: 4.5
Paytm was created by Vijay Shekhar Sharma and is operated by One97 Communications. It is among the top 5 UPI app in India.
What are the features that set it apart?
- Extensive Merchant Network: Paytm is widely accepted by merchants, particularly at offline locations such as small shops, roadside businesses, and local vendors.
- Bill Payments & Recharge Hub: Paytm is a utility payment platform that serves as a one-stop solution for bills, metro cards, mobile recharge, insurance, and tickets.
- UPI Lite Pioneer: Paytm is a leading UPI Lite transactions app that has over 63% of payments done through QR codes.
- Paytm Wallet Integration: The digital wallet of Paytm is popular for gift vouchers, seamless refunds, and payments. It has a hybrid experience compared to other UPI apps.
- Bill Payments & Recharge Hub: Paytm offers banking services, insurance, gold savings, and FASTag management within the app.
Why is it leading among the UPI apps?
- Strong in Transactions: In the UPI market share, Paytm ranks 3rd position with a user base that does everyday transactions such as street vendors, local shops, and canteens. This is why the volume of transactions is high but the value is lower.
- Merchant-first focus: Paytm focuses on merchant tools such as soundbox, instant settlement, and QR codes. Due to which it is the chosen one for many businesses.
BHIM
Rating: 4.0
Bharat Interface for Money, also known as BHIM, was created by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). BHIM was launched in 2016.
What are the features that set it apart?
- Trusted by the Nation: The Government of India supports BHIM and carries credibility and trust. This app is simple and user-friendly with a clean interface.
- Merchant/Consumer Incentives: The government offers cashback on small merchant payments and maintains a merchant discount rate. Which makes it affordable for merchants.
- Latest Features: BHIM has added new features that are family mode, spend insight, billing splitting, in-app merchant payment, light and dark mode, and UPI Lite.
- Massive linguistic accessibility: It has over 15 Indian languages and enhances work even in poor internet areas, making it usable in rural areas.
Why is it leading among the UPI apps?
BHIM is not leading among UPI apps, but it still managed to stay relevant and significant.
- Built for Trust and Digital Inclusion: BHIM was built with the aim of making sure that everyone can use this app regardless of literacy level, banking access, and smartphone ownership and could use this digital platform.
- Not a Market Leader by Volume: As of today, BHIM has only 0.2% to 0.4% transactional volume and value. And the market is controlled by Google Pay, Paytm, and PhonePe.
- Best for New Users & Rural India: It is trusted by the government, has a variety of languages, and has a simple interface.
Amazon Pay
Rating: 4.3
Amazon Pay was launched by Amazon.com, Inc., in 2017 as a digital wallet in India. Its original focus was on enhancing the Amazon Shopping Express, but now it has expanded into full UPI services.
What sets it apart from other UPI apps?
- UPI + Wallet Combo: It holds an RBI Payment Aggregator license (since Feb 2024) and a wallet license from 2017, offering both digital wallet and UPI services under one platform.
- Seamless Amazon Integration: It is deeply integrated with Amazon’s e-commerce platform and allows easy payment for ticket booking, insurance premiums, bill payments, shopping, and even buy now, pay later.
- Credit on UPI: It is in partnership with NPCI. Amazon started offering credit via UPI in 2024, which provides flexible payment.
- Expanding Merchant Network: It is accepted by over 8.5 million offline sellers and 10,000+ online merchants.
Why is it leading among the UPI apps?
Amazon Pay isn’t leading amongst the top UPI apps in the market.
- Tiny UPI Market Share: As of today, Amazon Pay holds only 0.5% to 0.6% of the market, which is much lower than PhonePe, Paytm, and Google Pay.
- Limited Presence Outside Amazon: Its merchant network is growing, and it is still lagging behind the top UPI apps. Ranking Drop Despite these efforts, Amazon Pay slipped from 6th to 8th place in UPI transaction rankings in early 2025, falling behind even newer fintech apps.
- Recent Investments to Catch Up: By mid-2025, Amazon had invested over Rs 950 crore in its fintech arm, which included Rs 350 crore in April, so it could improve features and focus on tying up with merchants.
What do these best UPI cashback apps do right?
Apps | What do the top 5 UPI apps do right |
PhonePe |
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Google Pay |
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Paytm |
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BHIM |
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Amazon Pay |
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Why is the Other most-used UPI app in India falling behind
Reason for Lagging Behind | Explanation |
Lack of Scale & Investment | Smaller apps struggle to invest in the infrastructure, marketing, and merchant onboarding needed to match market leaders. |
Server & Scalability Issues | Limited backend capacity leads to frequent outages or slow service during transaction spikes. |
Technical Glitches & Bugs | Frequent crashes or failed transactions due to poor maintenance and outdated code. |
Monetization Challenges | With zero MDR (Merchant Discount Rate), many apps lack sustainable revenue to offer rewards or expand services. |
Urban Saturation & Rural Gaps | Dominant apps already rule urban markets; lagging apps find it hard to penetrate Tier 2/3 and rural regions. |
Reliability & Trust Gap | Users stick to proven apps with fewer failures; newer or smaller apps struggle to build long-term trust. |
Feature Gaps | Top apps launch new, localised features regularly—others fall behind with limited innovation. |
Market Concentration | Over 80% of UPI volume is controlled by two apps (PhonePe & Google Pay), leaving little room for others. |
Bank/Partner Downtime | Apps depending on less-efficient banking partners face higher failure rates and longer processing times. |
User Experience Shortcomings | Clunky design, longer steps, and poor customer support push users toward smoother alternatives. |
Conclusion
As India is shifting towards a digital economy, the success of UPI depends not only on core features but also on user experience, regional reach, and added financial services. Along with the best UPI app for cashback, special rewards and scratch cards can also help. While a few top 5 UPI apps dominate with massive user bases, others are steadily rising by bridging the rural gap and building user trust. These popular UPI apps are shaping the future of digital payments in India.
FAQs on UPI Apps in India
As of 2025, PhonePe is the highest used UPI app in India, handling over 8.5 billion transactions in a single month. It leads the list of the top 5 UPI app in India and has the largest market share among all UPI platforms.
The BHIM UPI app is the government-backed UPI app in India. Created by NPCI, it focuses on digital inclusion and offers a clean interface for new users. Though not in the top 5 UPI payment apps in India by volume, it remains significant for rural and first-time users.
Among the popular UPI apps, PhonePe and Google Pay are known for high security. PhonePe uses AI-powered fraud detection and UPI encryption, while Google Pay relies on Google’s trusted security system. Both are considered part of the top 5 UPI payment apps in India.
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a government-regulated system developed by NPCI, but many UPI apps like PhonePe, Paytm, and Google Pay are private. Apps like BHIM are government-run, while others in the top 5 UPI app in India list are private fintech platforms offering more features and scale.
If you’re looking for the best UPI cashback app, PhonePe stands out for its scratch cards. referral bonuses and offers. It is widely used and often considered the best UPI app for cashback among Indians
