The WhatsApp Business guide
for Saudi Arabia.

The WhatsApp Business Platform is not an app you download. It is an API service Meta provides through official Business Solution Providers. The real difference:

The Business App

Free, runs on one phone, a maximum of 256 groups, and unsuitable for more than 50 conversations a day. Fits very small shops.

The Business Platform (API)

Paid infrastructure handling thousands of conversations a day, integrating with your systems, supporting broadcast, bots, shared inboxes and performance reporting.

If your team handles more than a few dozen conversations a day, or needs an integration with a shop or a CRM, or wants to send regular campaigns, the only option is the platform (API). Everything else in this guide concerns that option.

Meta does not sell the API directly. It works through a network of accredited Business Solution Providers (BSPs). The provider’s role:

• Connecting your number to Meta through the official Embedded Signup
• Providing the interface your team uses (campaigns, bots, the inbox)
• Issuing the actual invoices for Meta’s fees and for the service
• Representing you before Meta in any policy review

Meta charges its fees per template message you send, and the rate differs by the template’s category and by the customer’s market. The figures below are the Saudi market’s rates in riyals, and they are the same ones the cost calculator on this site reads from:

On top of those fees come the provider’s fees (which differ from provider to provider) and 15% VAT. At SAEI we publish Meta’s margin openly on the pricing page and hide no charge.

The figures are effective from 2026-04-01 under Meta’s published rates. They change periodically — check Meta’s documentation.

The PDPL is the Kingdom’s Personal Data Protection Law, issued by SDAIA. Any company handling Saudi data is bound by it. Applying it to WhatsApp Business means:

• Naming the data controller in your documentation
• Explicit consent before any marketing contact
• Rights of access, correction and deletion for every customer
• Notifying SDAIA of a data breach within 72 hours
• Keeping data for the shortest necessary period
• Transferring data outside the Kingdom is subject to specific conditions

The biggest difference between a global platform and a local one: the integrations. WhatsApp on its own does nothing useful. The real value comes from connecting it to your systems. The systems most used in the Saudi market:

E-commerce shops

Salla, Zid, Shopify (for multi-market shops)

CRM

Zoho CRM, Salesforce, HubSpot

ERP and accounting

Odoo, SAP B1, Onyx Pro (Saudi)

Point of sale

Foodics for restaurants, Marn for retail

Payments

Tap Payments, PayTabs, Moyasar

Automation

n8n, Zapier, Make

The SAEI platform integrates directly with Salla and Zid. The other systems can be connected through our team, depending on your case.

There are more than 250 BSPs in the world. The real difference for the Saudi market comes down to four criteria:

This list comes from setting up dozens of accounts. Every item on it is a condition for launching, and skipping any of them delays you.

1. 01A valid commercial registration and a registered business address
2. 02A verified Meta Business Manager account
3. 03A phone number not previously used on personal WhatsApp
4. 04An approved display name compliant with Meta’s policy
5. 05A published privacy policy mentioning the use of WhatsApp and the lawful basis for processing
6. 06Approved message templates for every kind of conversation you start
7. 07A team trained on the limits of the 24-hour window
8. 08An existing CRM or online-shop integration
9. 09A clear cost dashboard in Saudi riyals
10. 10A contingency plan for pausing any campaign