Short answer: an online store in Saudi Arabia and the UAE in 2026 starts with a monthly subscription on Salla, Zid or Shopify. A medium custom-designed store reaches about SAR 10,000 in market estimates, while large custom stores pass SAR 50,000. The right choice depends on your sales volume and how much you need a unique experience.
I'm Mohamed Saber, a store and web developer based in Cairo, working with stores in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt. This guide compares the three ways to build a store, the monthly and yearly costs, and what every Gulf store needs for payments, VAT and shipping.
Three ways to build an online store in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
Option | How you pay | Pros | Cons | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ready platform (Salla, Zid, Shopify) | Monthly plan + a share of each payment | Fast, no code, ready app | Limited design, fees and paid add-on apps | Starting out and small stores |
WordPress + WooCommerce | Hosting + theme + plugins | Flexible, reasonable start cost | Needs ongoing maintenance and security updates | Medium stores on a tight budget |
Custom store (Next.js and Node.js) | One-time build + hosting | Faster, stronger SEO, full ownership, any integration | Higher start cost and longer build | Growing stores or a unique experience |
Shopify Basic, for example, is USD 39 a month, or USD 29 a month billed yearly. Salla and Zid plan prices change, so check each platform's official pricing page before deciding.
Online store design prices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
Project type | Saudi Arabia | UAE |
|---|---|---|
Small company site (5–10 pages) | From about SAR 1,500 – 3,000 | From about AED 1,000 for basic sites |
Advanced site or medium store | SAR 5,000 – 10,000+ | — |
Large site or store with custom integrations | Over SAR 50,000 | Over AED 50,000 |
Source: GoDaddy's 2026 guide to website costs in the Middle East. In Egypt a custom store costs roughly EGP 50,000–150,000, as in the website design cost guide for Egypt.
What every Saudi or UAE store needs
Payment methods
In Saudi Arabia: mada, Visa and Mastercard, Apple Pay and STC Pay, plus Tabby and Tamara for instalments. In the UAE: cards, Apple Pay, Tabby and Tamara. Cash on delivery is still expected by some customers.
VAT and e-invoicing
VAT is 15% in Saudi Arabia and 5% in the UAE for registered businesses. In Saudi Arabia invoices must also follow ZATCA e-invoicing (Fatoora). A store that issues compliant invoices automatically saves your accountant time and lowers the risk of penalties.
Shipping
Connect local carriers to price shipping, print the waybill and track the parcel from the dashboard, instead of copying details by hand for every order.
Arabic first, with English
A well-built right-to-left Arabic interface with an English version for residents, and separate URLs for each language so the store ranks in both.
Speed on mobile
Most orders in the Gulf come from phones. Every second a product page takes to load means more abandoned carts, and speed is also a Google ranking factor.
Salla, Zid or a custom store? How to choose
- Start on Salla or Zid if you are testing a new product, your budget is tight and you want to sell within days.
- Move to a custom store when platform fees and add-on apps add up every month, or you need a design the platform does not allow, or a link to stock and accounting in Odoo.
- Choose a multi-vendor marketplace if other merchants will sell on your site; that is a bigger project than a single store.
Monthly and yearly costs to budget from day one
- Domain: about USD 10–20 a year for a .com.
- Hosting: from a few dollars a month for shared hosting to USD 20–100 for cloud hosting, depending on traffic.
- Payment fees: about 2–3% of each transaction plus a fixed amount, depending on the gateway.
- Maintenance and security: a monthly or yearly plan for updates and backups.
- Marketing: ads and content, usually the biggest line after launch.
Domain, hosting and payment fee figures from GoDaddy's 2026 guide; they vary by provider.
Why Saudi and UAE stores work with a developer in Egypt
Same language, a one- or two-hour time difference, and a clearly lower cost for the same quality, with a contract and milestone payments. Get a price range for your store in SAR, AED or EGP with the free website cost calculator.
Stores I built
The products page of the Poktco e-commerce platform.
Poktco: a full e-commerce platform with product pages, cart and checkout. Also Kidentials, a multi-vendor marketplace for kids' products, and Unique, a beauty store in Egypt.
Product details: photos, price and add to cart.
Steps to build your store without surprises
- Decide how many products you have and which payment and shipping methods you need.
- Choose a ready platform to start, or a custom store to grow.
- Ask for real examples and test their speed on a phone.
- Make sure the domain, code and accounts are in your name.
- Agree on post-launch maintenance and support, and what it covers.
Get a quote for your store
Send me what you sell and which market you sell in, and I will reply with a price range and plan within 24 hours. See e-commerce store development, or contact me directly. If you are thinking about an app for your store, read the mobile app cost guide.