Simpler way to Integrate Razorpay with web application: Technical Guide

In today’s world, it is very common to build a web application integrated with payment gateway. However, it is equally important that payment functionalities are secured, verifiable and trustable.

In India, Razorpay is providing simpler and quicker solution to integrate the payment gateway. It has wide range of options for that including secured set of APIs and SDK. Though improper or incomplete integration leads to various issues like auto refunds, incorrect payment states or security vulnerabilities.

This guide is going to provide complete, end-to-end information on integrating Razorpay using the Razorpay Web standard Checkout with correct sequence, server responsibilities, webhook setup, and common challenges

Understanding the Correct Razorpay Integration Flow

A successful Razorpay integration follows a specific sequence of steps. The goal is to ensure that every transaction is tied to a unique order, securely captured, and verified through server-side events.

The typical payment flow should be:

1. The user starts the payment from frontend after filling up required details
2. A Razorpay Order API call from server to create an order  
3. A Razorpay Order API will return order id to frontend. It is always good idea to store order id along with other important details of order on server before user tries for payment.
4. The frontend initializes the Razorpay Checkout using that order id.
5. Razorpay processes the payment, and your server receives the final, verified transaction details through a webhook event. And, payment status might be updated in previously stored details based on order id.

This ensures that Razorpay can correctly capture the transaction and associate it with an order on your backend.

Why should we not create orders on the client side?

One of the most critical steps in Razorpay integration is creating the order server-side, not on the client.

When you create an order, you must authenticate using Razorpay’s key id and key secret. These can be generated from Razorpay Dashboard. Please note, key id and key secret will be different for test and Live mode.

Please note, that key id and key secret are never added in client-side code or in browser memory. It will pose serious security risk.

In addition, Razorpay requires a valid order for payment capture. If a transaction is attempted without an associated order, Razorpay may temporarily authorize it but automatically refund it later because it cannot be properly captured.

Each order can have only one successful transaction, but failed attempts can be retried until the order expires. This order-based approach ensures traceability and prevents duplicate charges.

Capturing Payments — Auto vs Manual Capture

Razorpay offers two modes of payment capture:

• Auto Capture (default): Razorpay automatically captures the payment once it’s authorized. This is ideal for standard e-commerce transactions where goods or services are instantly fulfilled.
• Manual Capture: Your system explicitly triggers a capture after authorization, allowing you to control the exact moment of confirmation (useful in scenarios like inventory checks or deferred fulfillment). If payment is not manually capture in specific timeline, it will be auto refunded.

Auto capture is generally recommended for most integrations unless your business model requires otherwise.

Do Not Rely on Client-Side Payment Responses

Client-side callbacks from the Razorpay Checkout (such as success or failure messages) should never be relied upon or considered as final word.

Browser callbacks can be blocked, interrupted or (for example, if a user loses internet connection after payment) or even compromised by malicious users.

Instead, Razorpay provides webhooks — server-to-server notifications that confirm payment status directly from Razorpay’s infrastructure to yours. These events are reliable, tamper-proof, and include cryptographic verification.

Setting Up Razorpay Webhooks

What Webhooks Are

A webhook is an HTTP call triggered from Razorpay in case of occurring specific event. For an example, when payment is successfully captured or failed, an HTTP call will be triggered. This is reliable source of information as it is originated directly from Razorpay server.

How to Configure

You can configure webhooks through the Razorpay Dashboard. During setup, you must specify:

• Webhook URL — your server URL where Razorpay calls HTTP request with payment payload.
• Webhook Secret — a string used to sign and verify each webhook (explained in detail below).
• Active Events — the list of events you want Razorpay to notify you about (for example: payment.captured, payment.failed, payment.authorized).
• Alert Email — email address on which you would like to receive webhook-related error notifications.

Signature Verification

Each webhook sent by Razorpay includes a signature header (X-Razorpay-Signature). This signature is generated using your webhook secret via HMAC SHA256 hashing.

It is very much important that signature is verified before server start processing the payment details. This makes sure that evet is genuinely coming from Razorpay.

If signature is not verified then server must not process the request and reject it immediately.

Handling Webhook Events Correctly

Each event you subscribe to — such as payment.captured or payment.failed — should be handled separately on your backend.

For example:

• payment.captured means the payment is received successfully by Razorpay and funds have been captured.
• payment.failed means that payment is not received due to any reason. Razorpay will provide details about the failure reason in this case.

It’s critical to understand each event type before you start implementation.

Managing Webhook Retries and Ordering

Two important characteristics of Razorpay webhooks must be understood clearly:

1. Retries:
   It might be possible that your server is down or API is not responding when Razorpay webhook is triggered. In this case, Razorpay will retry the webhook several times. Your code must be idempotent – processing the same event multiple times should not result in duplicate actions.
2. Event Ordering:
   Razorpay does not guarantee the order in which webhooks arrive.
   It might be possible that payment captured in called before payment failed. In this case, if server code is processing all requests in same order then it might mark successful payment as failed one and create problem.

To handle this, your backend should store and compare the current status of the transaction before updating it. This prevents situations where a successful payment is mistakenly overwritten by a later “failed” event for a previous attempt.

Webhook Reliability and Response Strategy

Your webhook endpoint should respond quickly (ideally within a few seconds).

Once you have validated and stored the event, respond with a success status to prevent Razorpay from retrying.

If you have complex logic to perform on successful payment, it should be done async manner by responding success message to Razorpay. This will ensure that Razorpay will not attempt retry.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

1. Creating orders on the client:
   It should never be done. it will expose sensitive credentials and will compromise payment flow.
2. Using client-side responses for transaction status:
   Client callbacks are not reliable or secure. Always trust on Razorpay webhooks for final status about the payment.
3. Ignoring signature verification:
   Verifying signature is equally important. Skipping signature checks opens your system to fraudulent or spoofed webhook calls.
   
4. Not handling retries properly:
   Webhook can be retried multiple times by Razorpay. It is better practice to always check if an event has already been processed.
5. Assuming event order:
   Events may arrive out of sequence; implement logic to handle delayed or reordered events without corrupting transaction states.

Testing and Going Live

Before moving to production, follow this checklist:

• Use Razorpay Test Mode to simulate payments and webhook delivery.
• Set up separate webhook URLs for Test and Live environments.
• Verify that signature validation works correctly.
• Simulate duplicate or delayed webhooks to confirm idempotency.
• Ensure the Payment Capture Setting in your dashboard is configured as needed (auto or manual).
• Monitor your webhook alert email for any delivery failures.

A well-tested webhook setup is the foundation of reliable payment reconciliation.

Designing a Reliable Payment System Around Razorpay

A robust Razorpay integration involves three layers of control:

1. Frontend (Checkout Layer)
   Handles UI, initiates payment with a server-created order.
2. Backend (API Layer)
   Creates orders, validates client requests, and serves as the communication bridge with Razorpay’s API.
3. Webhook Handler (Verification Layer)
   Receives and verifies webhook events, updates your database, and triggers business processes such as confirming orders or sending receipts.

Together, these layers form a secure and traceable payment pipeline where every transaction is validated, captured, and reconciled.

Final Takeaway

Integrating Razorpay correctly isn’t just about making payments work — it’s about building a secure, compliant, and resilient transaction system.

In short, success in payment integration lies in treating the server as the source of truth and webhooks as the voice of Razorpay.

By adhering to these best practices, you ensure every transaction your users make is not only successful — but also trustworthy.