SMS Marketing Rules in Saudi Arabia & UAE: Sender IDs, Hours & Costs

SMS still works in the Gulf, because almost every shopper has a phone number on file, and a text lands even when WhatsApp is muted.

It's also cheap. A promotional SMS sent through a local Saudi gateway costs half the price of a WhatsApp marketing message, or less.

The rules are strict but simple. Register a sender ID, send during the day, collect opt-in consent and let people stop with one reply.

You'll get the Saudi and UAE rules side by side, 2026 prices, a cost comparison with WhatsApp and a worked campaign example. It's part of our GCC marketing guides.

What are the SMS marketing rules in Saudi Arabia and the UAE?

Both countries treat marketing SMS as advertising. That means a labelled sender, daytime-only sending and proof that the customer said yes.

The details differ, though:

Order confirmations, delivery updates and one-time codes are service messages. They use your plain sender name and aren't bound by the promo time windows.

Saudi Arabia: sender IDs, "-AD" and sending hours

Every business SMS in Saudi Arabia comes from a pre-registered alphanumeric sender ID, your brand name instead of a phone number. Numeric senders are blocked.

You register the name through your SMS gateway. Expect to share your commercial registration (CR) and a signed authorisation letter. Approval takes about two weeks.

Most stores register two versions:

• Service name (e.g. "NoorScents") for order, shipping and OTP messages.
• Promo name (e.g. "NoorScents-AD") for offers. The suffix counts toward the 11-character limit, so keep the brand part to 8 characters.

When can you send promotional SMS in Saudi Arabia?

The CST anti-spam rules ban promotional SMS between 10pm and 9am.

Gateways and networks often stop earlier: Twilio allows promos only until 8pm, and Unifonic pauses campaigns at 9pm.

So plan every Saudi campaign for 9am to 8pm local time. Anything later may sit in a queue until morning.

During Ramadan the legal window shifts to midday until 1am.

That suits shoppers, who browse late after iftar. Late-night card payments double during the holy month, so a send just after 10pm can be your best slot.

What can't go in a Saudi SMS?

Saudi networks filter content before it reaches the phone. Leave out:

• Shortened links, WhatsApp links and phone numbers in the body.
• Gambling, alcohol, loans, religious and political content.
• Links on domains your gateway hasn't allowlisted.

Use your full store domain and ask your gateway to approve it before launch day.

UAE: the "AD-" prefix, quiet hours and who may send

The UAE runs a mirror-image system. Promotional sender IDs must start with "AD-", and the prefix counts within the 11 characters.

Marketing SMS can't be sent between 9pm and 7am UAE time. Messages sent in that window are queued until morning.

Here's the catch. Only UAE-domestic entities may send promotional SMS. A brand selling into Dubai from London, Riyadh or Shenzhen can still send order updates and codes, but not offers.

If UAE promos matter to you, a UAE company or free zone licence unlocks them. Our directory of UAE business setup consultants can get one moving.

Consent and opt-out: what the PDPL and TDRA require

Consent is the rule that matters most, because it carries the biggest fines.

In Saudi Arabia, Article 25 of the PDPL (Personal Data Protection Law) bans marketing messages without prior consent. The Implementing Regulation adds that consent must be specific, freely given and backed by evidence. Opting out must be as easy as opting in, free and honoured straight away.

Fines reach SAR 5 million and double for repeat offences. Our Saudi PDPL guide covers the rest of the law.

In the UAE, TDRA defines spam as any marketing message sent without consent. The opt-in has to come from the customer, and you can't ask for it by SMS or phone call.

Every marketing message needs a free opt-out. The UAE PDPL guide explains the wider data rules.

In practice, the same set-up covers both countries:

• An unticked checkbox at checkout, just for SMS, separate from email and WhatsApp.
• A consent log with date, time, the exact wording and the customer's number.
• A STOP keyword in Arabic and English in every promo, such as "للإلغاء أرسل إلغاء".
• Suppression within 24 hours across every list and tool you use.
• No bought lists. Ever.

How long can an Arabic SMS be?

Arabic SMS holds about 70 characters per message, while English holds 160.

Arabic letters need a different encoding (UCS-2), which takes more space. When a message runs longer, it splits into parts of 67 Arabic or 153 English characters. Gateways bill every part.

For example, a 120-character Arabic offer counts as two SMS. Trim it to 70 characters and it fits one segment, so the cost halves. An emoji switches an English message to the 70-character limit too.

Write Arabic promos as tight as a headline, then test the count in your gateway before sending. If you also run a Shopify store, the Arabic checkout translation guide shows how to translate order SMS.

How much does SMS marketing cost in Saudi Arabia and the UAE?

Local Saudi gateways sell prepaid packages. The bigger the package, the cheaper each segment.

A halala is one hundredth of a riyal. The SAR 230 sender name fee goes to the CST-approved operator, so expect it with most local gateways. Twilio's Saudi rate is several times a local package, which is one more reason Saudi stores use a local gateway.

In the UAE, few gateways publish prices, so get two quotes. Twilio's UAE rate sets a useful ceiling.

SMS vs WhatsApp: which is cheaper?

For promotions, local SMS is cheaper per message, but WhatsApp wins for order updates.

A WhatsApp marketing message in Saudi Arabia costs USD 0.0576, about SAR 0.22. A one-segment local SMS costs a third to a half of that.

But price per message isn't the whole story. WhatsApp carries images, buttons and a reply thread, so it usually converts better per send. SMS reaches shoppers who aren't on your WhatsApp list and gets read fast.

Most Gulf stores use both: WhatsApp for order updates, COD confirmation and rich offers, SMS for short promo blasts and OTP codes. Model your WhatsApp side with our WhatsApp cost calculator.

Worked example: a White Friday blast to 20,000 Saudi customers

Noor Scents, a Riyadh fragrance store, has 20,000 customers who ticked the SMS box. It wants to announce a White Friday sale.

1. The message. The first Arabic draft runs to 120 characters, which is two segments. That's 40,000 billable segments. Noor would need Taqnyat's 50,000 package at SAR 4,025.
2. The trim. Cut to 70 characters, the offer fits one segment: 20,000 segments in total. Taqnyat's 25,000 package covers it for SAR 2,185.
3. The WhatsApp alternative. Sending WhatsApp marketing templates instead costs USD 1,152 in Meta fees, about SAR 4,320. A pay-per-message provider like Twilio adds USD 0.005 each, another SAR 375 or so.
4. The plan. Noor sends the one-segment SMS to all 20,000 on launch morning. Then it sends a WhatsApp offer with product photos to its 5,000 most engaged buyers. That adds about SAR 1,080 in Meta fees.

Total cash out: about SAR 3,265, plus the SAR 230 yearly sender name fee. That's a quarter less than WhatsApp alone. The 5,000 spare SMS credits stay valid for a year, ready for Saudi National Day and Ramadan.

How to choose an SMS provider in the Gulf

Pick a licensed local gateway for Saudi Arabia and confirm each provider's UAE coverage separately.

The main options:

• Unifonic. Saudi-founded, enterprise-grade, SMS plus WhatsApp and voice, with local data hosting. Best for larger brands.
• Taqnyat. Saudi gateway with clear prepaid packages and a WhatsApp API. A good fit for growing stores.
• Msegat. Saudi SMS and WhatsApp provider, listed on Monsha'at's Mazaya benefits programme for small businesses.
• 4jawaly, OurSMS and Mobily. Further local Saudi gateways worth quoting.
• Twilio. Developer-friendly and global, but it can't register sender IDs for domestic Saudi brands and costs more per SMS.

When you compare them, ask four questions:

1. Will you register both my service and "-AD" sender IDs, and how long does it take?
2. What's the price per segment at my monthly volume, VAT included?
3. Do you queue messages outside the legal window and handle STOP replies automatically?
4. Do you integrate with my store platform (Shopify, Salla or Zid)?

Many of these firms also sell WhatsApp. Compare them in our guide to WhatsApp Business API providers.

How to set up compliant SMS marketing

1

Choose a licensed gateway

Use a Saudi gateway for Saudi customers. For UAE promos, confirm your UAE entity first.

2

Register your sender IDs

Submit your brand name in two versions: plain for service messages and "-AD" (Saudi) or "AD-" (UAE) for promos. Allow about two weeks.

3

Add an SMS consent checkbox

Unticked, SMS-only, in Arabic and English at checkout and signup. Log the date, time and wording.

4

Allowlist your domain

Send your full store domain to the gateway. Skip short links and phone numbers in the text.

5

Write short Arabic and English versions

Aim for one segment: 70 Arabic or 160 English characters, STOP instruction included.

6

Schedule inside the window

09:00–20:00 in Saudi Arabia (12:00–01:00 in Ramadan), 07:00–21:00 in the UAE.

7

Suppress opt-outs within 24 hours

Sync STOP replies to every list, including your email and WhatsApp tools.

Notes for foreign and cross-border sellers

• Saudi customers: you can run promos through a Saudi gateway. It will ask for company papers and an authorisation letter.
• UAE customers: without a UAE entity, keep SMS to order updates and codes. Put offers on WhatsApp and email instead.
• OTP and COD: SMS codes still help verify cash-on-delivery orders. Our guide to reducing fake COD orders covers OTP, WhatsApp and deposits.

Notes for Shopify, Salla and Zid stores

• Zid has built-in SMS campaigns in the merchant dashboard, which is the quickest way to start.
• Salla includes SMS and WhatsApp notifications, billed by usage.
• Shopify stores connect a gateway through an app or the provider's API, then translate SMS notifications into Arabic.
• Whichever platform you use, check that consent and STOP replies sync both ways. Our mobile commerce guide covers the rest of the phone-first journey.