- Government fees are small: a sole-establishment CR is SAR 500 and an LLC about SAR 1,955. Store authentication on the Business Platform, which replaced Maroof, is free.
- Salla and Zid both have free plans. Card payments start at SAR 990 a year. Shopify Grow costs Saudi stores $54 a month on annual billing.
- Our three year-one budgets come to about SAR 7,490 (lean), SAR 22,995 (standard) and SAR 81,585 (premium), before stock.
- Per sale, budget about 1% for mada, plus Shopify's 1–2% if you use it, and SAR 14–22 per parcel.
- Year two is cheaper: theme, setup help and photos are one-off costs.
Opening an online store in Saudi Arabia costs less than most founders expect.
A lean year on Salla or Zid costs about SAR 7,500, licence and first ads included. A Shopify store with setup help runs about SAR 23,000.
And the market is ready. Saudi ecommerce registrations grew by almost a quarter in a single year.
Below you'll find every cost line, three budgets you can copy, and a worked first-year total for a store selling SAR 15,000 a month.
What you'll pay for
Every Saudi store pays for the same five things, and only the size of each bill changes.
- A licence. A CR (commercial registration) is your Saudi business licence, plus a Chamber of Commerce subscription.
- A platform. Salla, Zid or Shopify, billed monthly or yearly.
- A look. A theme, a few apps and product photos.
- Payments and delivery. A small cut of each card payment, plus a courier fee per parcel.
- Your first customers. An ad budget to test what sells.
The first three are mostly fixed. The last two grow with your sales, which is good news, because you only pay them when orders come in.
Three budgets for year one
Here's what each tier costs before stock. The lean store runs on Salla, the standard store on Shopify Grow with setup help, and the premium brand on Shopify Advanced as an LLC.
| Year one (SAR) | Lean | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence | Sole establishment: 500 | Sole establishment: 500 | LLC + Arabic trade name: 2,155 |
| Chamber of Commerce | 300 | 300 | 3,000 |
| Business Platform authentication | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Platform plan | Salla Plus: 990 | Shopify Grow: 2,430 | Shopify Advanced: 13,455 |
| Theme | Free: 0 | RTL theme: 1,125 | RTL theme: 1,575 |
| Apps | 2 apps: 1,200 | COD and review apps: 1,800 | 6 apps: 7,200 |
| ZATCA e-invoicing app | – | – | 3,600 |
| Setup help | DIY: 0 | Localisation help: 5,000 | Agency: 15,000 |
| Product photos | DIY + editing: 1,000 | 20-product package: 1,840 | 80-product package: 5,600 |
| First ads | 30-day Snapchat test: 3,500 | First month, 4 channels: 10,000 | First 3 months: 30,000 |
| Total | 7,490 | 22,995 | 81,585 |
Look at where the money goes: in every tier, ads are the biggest line and the licence is one of the smallest.
Government fees: smaller than you think
A Saudi citizen gets a sole-establishment CR online for SAR 500, issued the same day. Confirming it costs another SAR 500 each year.
Bringing in a partner? An LLC's CR and publication come to about SAR 1,955 with VAT. An Arabic trade name adds SAR 200.
The Chamber of Commerce charges SAR 300–3,000 a year, depending on your city and membership class. Small online stores usually sit near the bottom.
Then authenticate your store on the Business Platform. It replaced Maroof in 2023, it's free, and it gives shoppers a trust badge. The Business Platform authentication guide walks through the form.
For the full step-by-step, see our Saudi business registration guide.
Platform plans: Salla, Zid or Shopify?
All three let you start small, so the real difference is what they add on top of the plan.
| Plan (ex-VAT) | Entry plan | Card payments from | Extra fee on sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salla | Basic: free | Plus: SAR 990 a year | None |
| Zid | Starter: free | Rise: SAR 990 a year | None |
| Shopify (KSA prices) | Basic: $19 a month, yearly | Basic, with a local gateway | 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow |
Salla and Zid take no commission. Shopify adds its own fee on gateway orders, because Shopify Payments isn't available in Saudi Arabia.
That fee is why Shopify Grow often beats Basic. It costs about SAR 131 more a month, but it halves the fee, so it pays off around SAR 13,000 a month in card sales.
Shopify stores also need a ZATCA e-invoicing app once VAT-registered. Budget about SAR 100–300 a month for it. Salla and Zid build invoicing into their higher plans.
Want the detail? See Salla pricing, our Zid review and Shopify in Saudi Arabia.
Costs that come with every sale
These costs only appear when you sell, which makes them easy to plan as a share of each order.
- mada payments. Saudi gateways that publish rates charge about 1% for mada, the national debit network. Zid Pay charges 1% + SAR 1.
- Credit cards. Amazon Payment Services charges 2.8% + SAR 1. Its published plan also has a SAR 200 monthly fee.
- Shopify's fee. Shopify adds 2% on Basic and 1% on Grow, on top of the gateway. Advanced cuts it further.
- Delivery. A Riyadh to Jeddah parcel costs about SAR 14–22 through an aggregator.
- Cash on delivery. Couriers add SAR 3–14 per COD parcel.
Push shoppers towards mada, which costs far less than a credit card. Check how your gateway bills Apple Pay: APS charges its card rate even with a mada card inside. Our mada fees guide shows how, and the Saudi couriers guide compares every carrier's price.
Compare gateway fees on your own order mix here:
Payment gateway fee comparator
Estimated monthly cost of gateways that publish their rates
Where is your business registered?
These gateways onboard Saudi entities (CR or, for some, a freelance licence) and settle in SAR.
Average ticket: SAR 200.00
Apple Pay is priced as the card inside it. Exception: Amazon Payment Services charges Apple Pay at its card rate, even for mada.
Store platform
Shopify plan
Shopify adds a 2.0% transaction fee to every order paid through a third-party gateway.
Cheapest published option: PayTabs Paymes
effective rate: 4.07%
Shopify's fee here is SAR 1,000. On Grow it would be SAR 500 (before the plan price difference).
Estimated monthly cost
- Processing (% + fixed)
- Monthly fee
- Shopify transaction fee
- VAT on gateway fees (15%)
#1PayTabs PaymesCheapest
SAR 2,034 · 4.07%
Paymes SuperApp pricing ("testing phase"). International cards assumed at the credit rate.
#2Telr KSA
SAR 2,172 – SAR 2,448 · 4.34%–4.90%
Published as a range: cards 2.6-3% + SAR 1, SAR 99-259/month. Bar shows low to high.
#3Amazon Payment Services
SAR 2,651 · 5.30%
Standard Plan. Apple Pay billed at card rate. International card rates may differ.
Quote-based gateways
These do not publish rates, so we can't rank them. Ask each for a written rate card split by method.
- Tap Payments — Native Shopify checkout app; mada, Apple Pay, Jaywan (UAE), KNET.
- HyperPay — Riyadh-based, Shopify app. Only third-party estimates exist.
- Moyasar — Saudi entities only (CR or freelance licence); STC Pay supported.
- Checkout.com — Enterprise acquirer, flat-rate or interchange++. mada for KSA entities only.
- Geidea — Rates negotiated per merchant. Shopify app with Tabby and Tamara.
Shopify adds a 2.0% transaction fee to every order paid through a third-party gateway.
Estimates based on published fees as of October 2026; confirm with the provider. Excludes refunds, chargebacks, FX, payout and setup fees. Shopify plan subscriptions not included.
Worked example: year one for a SAR 15,000-a-month store
Meet Reem, a Jeddah founder selling home fragrance on Shopify Grow on the standard budget.
Her average order is SAR 200, so she ships 900 orders a year. Three in four customers pay by mada and the rest by credit card, through Amazon Payment Services.
| Year one (SAR, ex-VAT) | Cost |
|---|---|
| Standard budget from the table | 22,995 |
| mada fees: 675 orders × SAR 2 | 1,350 |
| Credit card fees: 225 orders × SAR 6.60 | 1,485 |
| Gateway plan: SAR 200 × 12 | 2,400 |
| Shopify Grow fee: 1% of SAR 180,000 | 1,800 |
| Delivery: 900 parcels × SAR 18 | 16,200 |
| Total, year one | 46,230 |
Delivery is her biggest running cost. Most stores recover part of it with a shipping fee or a free-shipping threshold.
Leave delivery out and Reem's year one costs SAR 30,030, about 17% of her sales.
Her Shopify plan and payment fees come to SAR 9,465. On Zid Rise with Zid Pay, the same sales would cost about SAR 4,750 in plan, card and payout fees.
Her SAR 180,000 in sales is below the SAR 375,000 VAT threshold. Until she registers, the 15% VAT on her plan, apps and fees is a real cost on top, not something she reclaims.
Notes for foreign owners
Foreigners can't hold a sole establishment. The legal route is MISA investment registration, then a CR.
- A fully foreign-owned trading company needs SAR 30 million in capital, so most small brands start on marketplaces or ship from abroad.
- Setup advisers charge about SAR 5,000–80,000, depending on scope. Compare them in our Saudi company formation directory.
- Never use a borrowed CR. That's concealment (tasattur), with fines up to SAR 5 million.
Notes for Freelance Document holders
The Freelance Document is free for Saudi citizens and renews for free, but it suits services and home-made goods, not resold products.
Your store still needs Business Platform authentication, which is free too. Once you start reselling, move to a sole-establishment CR.
Notes for UAE-based sellers
You don't need a Saudi store to reach Saudi shoppers. Many brands sell from Dubai first, and the UAE has its own cost picture, including Shopify Payments.
See what a Dubai Shopify store costs to compare, or browse more growth guides.
Frequently asked questions
You can build one for free. Salla's Basic plan and Zid's Starter plan cost nothing and let you list products today. To resell goods legally you still need a CR, which costs SAR 500 for a sole establishment, and you'll want a paid plan to take card payments.
Sources & further reading
- CR registration e-service, sole establishment — Ministry of Commerce
- E-commerce authentication service — Saudi Business Center
- Salla plans — Salla
- Zid pricing — Zid
- Shopify pricing (Saudi Arabia) — Shopify
- Amazon Payment Services pricing (KSA) — Amazon Payment Services
- Shipping companies in Saudi Arabia: prices (Oct 2026) — AidleTech
This guide is for general information only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and fees change — always confirm with the official source or a licensed advisor.
Maya is MiddleEastEcom's lead guide and editor. She researches GCC marketplaces, payments and regulations and turns them into practical playbooks for sellers.
Meet Maya
