Zid Review 2026: Is Zid the Right Store Platform for You?

Zid is one of the two big Saudi store builders. More than 13,500 merchants use it to sell online, and many also run a shop counter from the same dashboard.

It's free to start. You pay SAR 99 a month once you want card payments and your own domain.

My take: Zid is a strong, affordable home for a Saudi store. It shines if you also sell in a physical shop, on Amazon or Trendyol, or to other businesses.

Below you'll find the 2026 plans, real payment fees, a worked first-year cost and a clear answer on who Zid suits.

What is Zid?

Zid (زد) is a Saudi ecommerce platform founded in Riyadh in 2017. It gives you an online store plus the tools around it: payments, shipping, stock, a point-of-sale till and links to marketplaces.

Zid calls this "total commerce". In practice, it means one dashboard for every place you sell.

Zid is the clear number two behind Salla, which reports more than 65,000 paying stores. What Zid lacks in size, it makes up for in reach beyond the website.

It was the first Arab platform to connect directly to Amazon, in October 2024. It also links to Trendyol and Jahez, and it runs its own shopping marketplace, Mazeed.

The momentum is real. Zid's merchant base grew 30% in 2024 (Arab News). Its merchants' sales grew by a quarter.

Want the wider picture first? Our guide to the best ecommerce platforms in the Middle East puts Zid next to Salla, Shopify and WooCommerce.

Zid plans and prices in 2026

Zid has four plans. You can start free, then pay monthly or yearly as you grow:

Here's what matters for a new seller. Starter can't take card payments, so it's for building and testing.

Rise is where real selling starts. You can pay it month to month, so you can try Zid for a few months without committing to a year.

Paying yearly saves you two months. SAR 990 a year works out to about SAR 83 a month.

Every add-on and fee is broken down in our guide to Zid pricing and Zid Payments fees.

What does a first year on Zid really cost?

The subscription is only part of the bill. You also pay a small fee on each card payment, plus SAR 3 each time Zid sends money to your bank.

Here's a typical new Saudi store:

• Sales: SAR 15,000 a month at SAR 200 per order. That's 75 orders a month, or 900 a year.
• Payment mix: 60% mada, 20% Visa or Mastercard, 20% cash on delivery (COD).
• mada fee: 1% + SAR 1, so SAR 3 on a SAR 200 order.
• Visa and Mastercard fee: 2.4% + SAR 1 on Rise (SAR 5.80 per order) and 2.3% + SAR 1 on Growth (SAR 5.60).
• COD orders: no Zid payment fee. Your courier charges for collecting the cash.
• Payouts: about 12 deposits a month at SAR 3 each.

Zid publishes the Growth rates. The Rise rate is the one listed in Hussam Baaka's Salla and Zid fee calculator (October 2026).

On Rise, that's about SAR 340 a month, or 2.3% of sales. It's low for a store with payments, shipping labels and Arabic invoicing built in.

Notice the payment fees are bigger than the subscription. Bank with Riyad Bank and the SAR 432 in payout fees disappears.

Our Shopify vs Salla vs Zid comparison prices a bigger store, at SAR 50,000 a month, on all three platforms.

Zid Payments: fees, payouts and Nafath

Zid Payments is Zid's built-in way to take cards. It switches on mada, Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and STC Pay from your dashboard.

Saudi shoppers mostly pay with mada debit cards, often tapped through Apple Pay. So this is the feature that turns your store into a real checkout.

Here's what you pay:

• Card fees: from 1% to 3.3% plus SAR 1 per payment, depending on the card (Growth plan rates, ex-VAT).
• No setup or monthly fee, and no extra charge on refunds beyond the original fee.
• Payouts every 2–3 days, with a minimum of SAR 100 and SAR 3 per deposit (free for Riyad Bank accounts).
• BNPL (buy now, pay later): Tabby, Tamara, MISPay, Emkan and Madfu, with no extra charge from Zid.

Fast payouts help your cash flow, especially in busy months like Ramadan and White Friday.

Prefer your own gateway? Zid also connects to Moyasar, HyperPay, PayTabs and Tap.

How to switch on Zid Payments

Activation takes four steps. The identity check runs through Nafath, Saudi Arabia's national digital ID app:

1

Submit your request

Add your personal details, business information (CR or freelance document) and your Saudi bank account.

2

Verify with Nafath

The store owner confirms their identity in the Nafath app using their national ID or Iqama.

3

Zid reviews your account

Zid checks your documents. Make sure the names match across your CR, ID and IBAN to avoid delays.

4

Start taking payments

Once approved, card payments go live and your first deposit follows within days.

BNPL can lift order values for fashion, electronics and beauty. Our Tabby vs Tamara guide explains which one to switch on first.

Shipping with Zid Ship and cash on delivery

Zid Ship is Zid's built-in courier hub. It gives you negotiated rates with Aramex, SMSA, J&T and Naqel, and you can print labels on every plan, even the free one.

That matters because most new stores don't have the volume to negotiate their own courier deals.

COD is built in too. You switch it on, pick a courier that collects cash, and Zid tracks each order.

COD is still popular in Saudi Arabia, but it brings more returns. Many stores keep it on and nudge buyers toward mada or BNPL with a small COD fee.

Comparing couriers? Our guide to Saudi couriers covers rates, COD fees and delivery times.

Selling beyond your website: marketplaces and POS

This is where Zid stands out from other Saudi platforms. It treats your website as one channel among several.

Here are the main channels you can run from Zid:

• Amazon. Zid's direct integration lists your products on Amazon and pulls orders back into your dashboard.
• Trendyol. Zid partners with Trendyol to bring Saudi sellers onto the Turkish marketplace, which is growing fast in the Gulf.
• Jahez. Zid connects to the Saudi delivery app, useful for food, flowers and quick-commerce products.
• Mazeed. Zid's own marketplace lists stores to a reach Zid puts at 5 million shoppers.
• Zid Cashier (POS). A point-of-sale till for your shops, sharing stock with your website across branches.

For example, a perfume brand with two Riyadh boutiques can sell in store, online and on Amazon. Stock updates in one place, so you don't sell the last bottle twice.

Thinking about marketplaces? Start with our guide to selling on Trendyol.

ZATCA e-invoicing and Arabic

Two things every Saudi store needs come built in.

E-invoicing. ZATCA (Saudi Arabia's tax authority) requires VAT-registered businesses to issue electronic invoices through its Fatoora system.

Zid issues ZATCA-ready invoices, so you don't need a separate app. VAT invoice settings unlock on the Growth plan.

The deadlines are getting closer for small sellers. The next wave of ZATCA's rollout reaches businesses with more than SAR 187,500 in taxable sales. Its deadline is 1 February 2027.

Our ZATCA e-invoicing guide explains what to do.

Arabic. Zid is Arabic-first. Your dashboard, storefront, checkout, invoices and customer messages all work in Arabic and right-to-left (RTL), with English alongside.

That saves real time. On global platforms, translating the checkout and testing an RTL theme can take days.

Zid pros and cons

Agencies rate Zid's B2B tools as the best of the local platforms. See the B2B notes below for what's included.

The smaller ecosystem is the main trade-off. You'll find fewer ready-made themes and apps, so a custom design may cost more.

Who is Zid best for?

Zid suits Saudi businesses that sell in more than one place:

• Shops with physical branches that want one stock count across tills and website.
• B2B and wholesale sellers who need customer pricing and credit terms.
• Brands that also sell on Amazon or Trendyol and want orders in one dashboard.
• New sellers who want to pay month to month while they test an idea.

Salla is the easier start for a pure online store, thanks to its bigger app store and community. Shopify is the stronger choice for UAE brands and anyone selling across several countries.

Not sure which fits you? Answer a few questions:

For the full head-to-head, read Salla vs Zid or our three-way Shopify vs Salla vs Zid comparison.

How to open a Zid store

You can be ready to sell within a week. Here's the order I'd follow:

1

Sign up on the free Starter plan

Create your account at zid.sa, pick a theme and add five to ten products to test.

2

Get your paperwork ready

Have your CR or freelance document, your national ID or Iqama and a Saudi IBAN in the same name.

3

Upgrade to Rise

Connect your own domain and unlock online card payments. Pay monthly at first.

4

Activate Zid Payments

Submit your request and complete the Nafath check. Add Apple Pay, Tabby and Tamara once you're approved.

5

Set up shipping

Connect couriers in Zid Ship, set your delivery prices and decide your COD rules.

6

Place a test order and launch

Buy one product with mada, check the invoice and tracking, then go live.

7

Add more channels

List on Mazeed, connect Amazon or Trendyol, and set up Zid Cashier if you have a shop.

Rather have an expert set it up? Agencies across the Gulf build Zid stores every week.

Notes for shops with branches

• Zid Cashier runs your tills and keeps one stock count across all locations.
• Your Starter plan already includes the POS app, so you can test it free.
• Plan your staff seats: Rise has one, Growth five and Professional twenty.
• Sync your online prices and in-store promotions so customers see the same offer everywhere.

Notes for B2B and wholesale sellers

• Zid supports customer-specific prices, purchase orders, quotes and credit terms.
• B2B buyers need standard tax invoices, which ZATCA clears in real time. Turn on VAT invoice settings on Growth.
• Zid's open REST API and webhooks make it easier to connect an ERP or accounting system.
• Ask your developer to test the integration on a staging store before you move real orders.

Notes for foreign and UAE brands

• Zid is built around Saudi businesses: a CR or freelance document, a Nafath check and a Saudi bank account.
• Without a Saudi entity, most foreign brands use Shopify or partner with a Saudi distributor who runs the Zid store.
• UAE brands selling mainly at home usually do better on Shopify, where Shopify Payments works.
• Our Shopify guide shows how foreign brands set up for the Gulf instead.

Notes for stores planning to move later

• Zid offers API-based data export, which makes moving easier than on many platforms.
• Products, customers and orders transfer. Themes, apps and gateways get rebuilt.
• A standard store takes about 2–4 weeks to move. Avoid moving just before Ramadan or White Friday.
• Our Zid to Shopify migration service handles redirects so you keep your Google rankings.