Salla vs Zid: Which Saudi Store Platform Should You Pick?

Opening an online store in Saudi Arabia usually starts with one question: Salla or Zid?

They're the two big Saudi store builders. Salla is the market leader, an Arabic-first platform with the biggest ecosystem of apps, carriers and agencies. Zid is the challenger, built for "total commerce": your website, shop counter and marketplaces in one dashboard.

My verdict: Salla is the easier, safer start for most new Saudi stores. Zid is the better pick if you have physical branches, sell wholesale or want your products on Amazon and Trendyol too.

Here's how they compare on eight things that matter, plus a full year of costs.

Salla vs Zid at a glance

Who is Salla best for?

Salla suits most sellers opening their first Saudi store:

• First-time sellers who want to go live this week, with the most Arabic tutorials to lean on.
• Social-first brands, thanks to the official TikTok integration and Salla Ads.
• Stores that ship a lot, because Salla links to more couriers than anyone else.
• Anyone who wants choice in apps, themes, agencies and freelancers.

Who is Zid best for?

Zid suits businesses that sell in more than one place:

• Shops with physical branches, thanks to Zid Cashier and shared stock.
• B2B and wholesale sellers, who need customer-specific prices, quotes and credit terms.
• Brands that also sell on marketplaces, through Zid's links to Amazon, Trendyol and Jahez.
• Owners who watch cash flow, because Zid Payments pays out every two to three days.

1. Price: tie

The plans mirror each other almost exactly. Both have a free plan, a SAR 99 plan, a SAR 299 plan and a custom tier for large retailers.

Neither takes a commission. You pay the payment fee on each order and nothing more to the platform.

There are two small differences. Salla costs about 30% more if you subscribe inside its iPhone app, so always sign up on the website. Zid runs frequent promotions, such as cashback per order or a free extra year.

The full plan breakdowns live in our guides to Salla pricing and Zid pricing.

2. Payments (Salla Pay vs Zid Pay): Zid

Both platforms take every payment a Saudi shopper expects: mada, Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, STC Pay, BNPL and cash on delivery (COD). The difference is how clearly you can see what it costs.

Zid publishes its rates on its website. Salla Pay rates come with your merchant contract instead. Salla sellers typically pay about 1.75% + SAR 1 on mada.

Zid also offers the widest BNPL (buy now, pay later) menu in Saudi Arabia. It adds no charge of its own on top of the BNPL provider's fee.

Salla has momentum here, though. In September 2026 it bought Paylink, a SAMA-licensed payments company, to add in-store payments, tap-to-pay and payments from abroad.

Comparing BNPL providers too? See our Tabby vs Tamara guide.

3. Shipping: Salla

Salla links to more than 200 shipping partners, including Aramex, SMSA, J&T, Naqel and DHL. You get discounted labels, tracking, returns and COD collection. Salla Fulfillment can also store and pack your stock.

Zid runs Zid Ship, with negotiated rates from Aramex, SMSA, J&T and Naqel and label printing on every plan, even the free one.

For most stores, those four couriers cover the country. Salla's longer list helps if you want a niche carrier or same-day delivery in a specific city.

Want to know which courier fits your orders? Read our guide to Saudi couriers.

4. Apps and themes: Salla

Salla's app store is the bigger one, with 550 to 900+ apps depending on how you count. Zid has 400+.

More apps means more ready-made answers for reviews, WhatsApp cart recovery, loyalty and marketing pixels. Salla also has 100+ Arabic themes and a far bigger pool of designers who build for it.

Zid's strength is under the hood. Its open REST API and webhooks make it the developer's pick for ERP links and custom integrations.

On both, CSS and code edits unlock on the SAR 299 plans.

5. Marketplace connectors: Zid

Zid was the first Arab store platform to connect with Amazon, in October 2024. It also links to Trendyol and the delivery app Jahez, and lists your products on its own Mazeed marketplace.

That means one stock count and one order screen across your website and the marketplaces.

Salla runs its own shopping app, Mahally, with more than 9 million products. Links to Amazon and noon come through third-party connector apps in the Salla App Store.

6. Arabic shopper experience: tie

Both are Arabic-first. The dashboard, storefront, checkout, invoices and SMS messages all work in Arabic and right-to-left (RTL) without any setup.

Both also handle ZATCA e-invoicing, the Saudi tax authority's electronic invoice rules, out of the box.

7. Support: Salla

Salla offers Arabic support around the clock, though its free Basic plan is email-only. Zid adds live chat once you move to its SAR 99 Rise plan.

Salla wins on the help you find outside the platform. Its size means more Arabic tutorials, more agencies and more freelancers who know it well.

8. Verification and paperwork: tie

Both platforms check the same things before you can take card payments:

• A business licence. Usually a CR (commercial registration). The free freelance document only covers approved service activities, not general retail.
• Your identity. A Saudi ID and mobile number. Zid Payments checks you through Nafath, the national digital ID app.
• A Saudi bank account. Payouts go to a Saudi IBAN in the business's name.
• E-store authentication. Register the store on the Saudi Business Center's Business Platform, which replaced Maroof.

Have all four ready before you sign up and activation goes much faster. Get your CR sorted first with our Saudi business registration guide.

Year-one cost: a worked example

Let's price a growing Saudi store on the SAR 299 plans, billed yearly. It sells SAR 25,000 a month online, with an average order of SAR 250.

That's 100 orders a month. Seventy are paid by mada and 30 by Visa or Mastercard. Both stores run two apps at SAR 50 a month each.

Over the year, that's SAR 210,000 across 840 mada orders. Another SAR 90,000 comes in over 360 card orders.

The subscription and apps cost the same, so card fees decide it. At the typical Salla Pay rate, Zid saves you about SAR 1,050 a year.

The catch? That gap lives almost entirely in the mada line. Get Salla to match Zid's 1% and Salla drops to SAR 9,470, slightly below Zid.

Either way, it's a small sum next to what the right features earn you. Pick on features, then negotiate the rate.

Pros and cons

Which should you choose?

Here's my simple rule.

Opening your first online store? Start on Salla. You'll find the most help, the most apps and the most couriers.

Running shops, selling wholesale or listing on Amazon? Start on Zid. It brings every channel into one place.

Still unsure? Answer a few quick questions and get a recommendation:

Then open a free store on each and add five products. You'll know within an afternoon which dashboard you'd rather live in.

Thinking about Shopify as well? Our Shopify vs Salla vs Zid comparison adds it to the mix, and the ecommerce platforms hub covers the rest.

Notes for shops with physical branches

• Zid Cashier is the reason to pick Zid. It runs your tills and shares stock with your website across branches.
• Salla Point works too. It covers smaller setups, and Salla Pro handles up to five branches.
• Count your locations. Beyond a handful of branches, ask both for their custom tiers.

Our Zid review covers Zid Cashier in more depth.

Notes for B2B and wholesale sellers

• Zid has the strongest local B2B tools, with customer-specific prices, purchase orders, quotes and credit terms.
• Salla's wholesale features are basic, mostly tiered prices and minimum order quantities.
• Need ERP links? Zid's open API makes the integration easier to build.

Notes for foreign and Chinese brands

• Both need a Saudi entity. They verify a Saudi CR, ID and bank account.
• No Saudi company yet? Work with a Saudi distributor who runs the store, or start on Shopify.
• Once you're set up, Salla is usually the faster route to a first sale.

Notes for switching between Salla and Zid

• Moving is common. Products, customers and orders can move across with export files or a migration agency.
• Redirect every URL. Map each old product and category page to its new address so you keep your Google rankings.
• Avoid peak season. Don't switch in the weeks before Ramadan or White Friday.

Planning to outgrow both and move to Shopify one day? Our Salla to Shopify migration guide shows how.