Top 10 UPI Apps by Market Share in India, 3rd Will Surprise You
Over 23 billion UPI transactions were processed in India in May 2026. Check out the top 10 UPI apps by Market Share in India as per May 2026 data by NPCI.
India is the home to the largest real time payment system in the world UPI with over 23 billion transactions every month. Few third party apps like PhonePe and Google Pay dominate the UPI payment space by market share in India accounting for around 80% of all the transactions.
The data released by NPCI in May 2026, highlights a changing trend, and that is for the first time since 2024, the combined share of PhonePe and Google Pay fell below 80% due to the rise of newer challengers like Navi and super.money. Let us explore the
UPI: Key Facts at a Glance
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The full form of UPI is United Payments Interface
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UPI was developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), launched April 2016.
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Over 23 billion transactions were carried out in the month of May 2026 (Source: NPCI via Outlook Business)
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The combined market share of PhonePe and Google Pay fell below 80% for the first time in May 2026.
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PhonePe is the most used UPI app.
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The NPCI deadline for market cap restriction to 30% per app is on 31st December, 2026.
What is UPI?
UPI or Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a real-time inter-bank payment system developed by the NPCI, it was launched in April 2016 to boost the digital payment landscape of India. The best thing about UPI is that users can send money, scan and pay merchants using just a UPI ID, mobile number, or QR code.
UPI now accounts for around 86% of all the digital transactions taking place in India. As of December 2025, more than 685 banks were live on the UPI network according to NPCI data.
Top 10 UPI Apps in India by Market Share (May 2026)
The top 10 UPI apps by market share in India are presented in the table below. The rankings below are based on NPCI transaction volume data for May 2026. PhonePe leads the market share with 46.2%, followed by Google Pay and Paytm.
| Rank | UPI Application | Market Share (MAY 2026) |
| 1 | PhonePe | 46.20% |
| 2 | Google Pay | 32.70% |
| 3 | Paytm | 7.90% |
| 4 | Navi | 3.60% |
| 5 | super.money | 1.80% |
| 6 | BHIM | 0.98% |
| 7 | Fampay | 0.85% |
| 8 | CRED | 0.68% |
| 9 | WhatsApp Pay | 0.65% |
| 10 | Amazon Pay | 0.38% |
| Total Market Share | 95.74% |
Source: NPCI
1. PhonePe
PhonePe is the largest UPI app by sheer translation volume numbers. It holds a whooping 46.2% of the market share in May 2026, as per the data shared by NPCI. It is also the largest UPI app in terms of value.
2. Google Pay (GPay)
Google Pay is the second most used UPI app in India. It commands 32.7% share in the market. The dominance of Google Pay comes from P2P and merchant payment transactions.
3. Paytm
Paytm which is operated by One97 Communications is in third place with 7.9% of the transaction volume. Paytm was one of the most popular UPI apps but faced a downfall after regulatory action on its banking arm.
Why the UPI Market Is Becoming More Competitive?
The UPI market has become competitive of late because of many third party providers getting approval after 2024. This can be gauged from the fact that the top three UPI apps combined had a market share of 95.2% in January 2024, whereas it became 87% in May 2026.
Mriganka Chakraborty is a seasoned digital journalist and communications professional who is currently working as Deputy Manager at Jagran Josh, where he leads the General Knowledge Section. As a subject matter expert with 8+ years of editorial experience, he has created authoritative content that is trusted by millions of readers around the world in Science, History, Geography, Polity, Economy, Sports, and Technology. His extensive expertise in these subjects enables him to present complex topics in an engaging, accurate, and reader-friendly manner to a global audience, making learning addictive and fun.
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