by Pine Labs
Setu — The fastest way to offer the latest in fintech
Setu is a fintech API infrastructure platform founded in 2018 by Sahil Kini and Nikhil Kumar in Bengaluru. Acquired by Pine Labs for ~$70 million in 2022, Setu provides the plumbing that lets businesses embed financial services — UPI payments, bill payments (BBPS), Account Aggregator data access, KYC verification, and lending APIs — into their own apps and workflows. It powers transactions for some of India's biggest digital platforms including Flipkart, PhonePe, and Google Pay. Setu's flagship product UPISetu (launched with Axis Bank in 2024) is India's first UPI-focused payments platform, offering QR code payments, UPI Autopay, EMI, third-party validation, dispute resolution, instant cashbacks, and refunds — all via developer-friendly REST APIs. Beyond UPI, the platform covers BBPS for utility/loan/insurance collections, Account Aggregator APIs for consent-based financial data sharing, and Aadhaar-based e-KYC. The infrastructure handles 10 million+ monthly BBPS transactions and 5 million daily Account Aggregator requests on AWS. Setu is a B2B API platform — there's no consumer-facing app. Pricing is transaction-based (per API call), with custom plans for enterprises. The developer experience is a major differentiator: comprehensive documentation covering regulatory nuances, pre-built UI components for consent management, high-quality mock data for testing, and Python/Node.js SDKs. Razorpay's own engineering blog cited Setu among India's best-documented fintech APIs. Best suited for fintech developers building payment flows, lending platforms needing Account Aggregator integration, and enterprises requiring BBPS bill collection or UPI acceptance in their own apps. Not designed for small merchants wanting a simple payment terminal — that's Pine Labs' hardware business. Setu is the API layer underneath.
Information updated 7 months ago
Pine Labs
Hand-picked videos to help you get started — tutorials, demos, and reviews.
How to do a UPI transaction using Pine Labs ePOS app
SETU BBPS — Bill Payment System Integration Demo
Pine Labs Buys Setu For $70-75mn | Start Up Central
Launching A Smarter Way to Handle Bills | India's First Agentic Bill Payments
Setu Pine Labs is a powerful Indian alternative to these international apps:
Yes, Setu Pine Labs by Pine Labs is an Indian alternative to Stripe Connect. It offers similar functionality while being developed and maintained in India.Explore other Indian alternatives to Stripe Connect →
Yes, Setu Pine Labs by Pine Labs is an Indian alternative to Open Banking APIs. It offers similar functionality while being developed and maintained in India.Explore other Indian alternatives to Open Banking APIs →
National Payments Corporation of India
BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) is India's official UPI payment app by NPCI with 100M+ downloads and 128M active users. Instant peer-to-peer transfers, bill payments, merchant QR scanning, and balance checks linked directly to bank accounts. UPI Lite+ enables PIN-free payments up to Rs 500 per transaction. Supports 12+ Indian languages. Completely free with zero transaction fees, no ads. Government-backed PhonePe and Google Pay alternative.
ChargeBee Inc
Chargebee is a Chennai-founded subscription billing platform powering Calendly, Toyota, Linktree, and Freshworks across 130+ countries. Manages full lifecycle — plans, checkout, invoicing, proration, dunning, and cancellation. Supports flat, tiered, usage-based, and hybrid billing. RevenueStory analytics, ASC 606 revenue recognition, AI Copilot, and 30+ gateway integrations. Free up to $250K billing; 0.75% revenue share after. Stripe Billing and Zuora alternative.
Dreamplug Technologies Private Limited
CRED is a Bangalore-built rewards-based fintech app founded by Kunal Shah in 2018 with 13M+ monthly active users. Credit card bill payments, UPI, rent payments, short-term credit lines (CRED Cash, CRED Flash), wealth management via Kuvera, free credit score tracking, and CRED Store marketplace. Invite-only for users with credit scores above 750. Completely free for users; revenue from lending and brand partnerships. Credit Karma alternative.
Billionbrains Garage Ventures Limited
Groww is an Indian investment app from Bengaluru with 4 crore+ users for stocks, mutual funds, IPO, F&O, US stocks, gold and fixed deposits. Zero commission on direct mutual funds, flat Rs 20 (or 0.05%) per equity order, paperless eKYC demat account in a day, SIPs from Rs 100, fractional stock investing from Rs 10. SEBI-registered broker (parent Billionbrains Garage Ventures, listed on NSE/BSE in November 2025 under ticker GROWW). Robinhood and E*Trade alternative.
Finzoom Investment Advisors Private Limited
INDmoney is a Gurugram-built all-in-one personal finance and investing app with 10M+ users — Indian and US stocks (fractional shares from Rs 100), mutual funds, SIPs, IPOs, fixed deposits, NPS, insurance, and digital gold in one app. Net worth tracker auto-pulls from banks, demat, credit cards, and loans. AI-driven advisory for direct mutual fund switches. SEBI-registered. Free with zero account opening charges. Wealthfront and Personal Capital alternative.
Instamojo Technologies
Instamojo is a Bengaluru-based payment and e-commerce platform powering 20 lakh+ Indian businesses since 2012 — payment links, embedded checkout, no-code online store builder, inventory, and integrated shipping. Supports UPI, cards, net banking, wallets, and EMI. mojoXpress for shipping and mojoCapital for business loans. No setup or monthly fees; 2% + Rs 3 per transaction. Stripe and PayPal alternative for Indian SMEs.
