Creating a store on Salla takes three stages: an account and a store through guided steps, then store verification with payments and shipping, then design and a test order before launch. The cost starts at zero on the free Basic plan and rises with what you need: online payments, your own domain, and customization with code.

We started AfterAds in 2019 and worked with more than 200 merchants on Salla before we built themes. This guide gathers what comes up at every launch, and points you to Salla's official articles for the steps whose screens change.

Full disclosure: we at AfterAds make the Angel theme for Salla stores. It has its own section near the end of this article.

What you actually need before signing up

Signing up is quick. What usually delays a launch is a missing document or a name that does not match. Prepare these first:

  • A document to verify your store: according to Salla's help center, a Saudi individual verifies with a freelance document, and an establishment or company with its unified commercial registration number (Verifying your new store in Saudi Arabia, in Arabic, updated 26 October 2026). The freelance document is issued on the government Freelance Platform.
  • A bank account and IBAN certificate: in the owner's name for an individual, or a business account in the entity's name, linked to the commercial registration, for an establishment or company. The names on the ID, the document and the bank account must match.
  • A store name: short and easy to type in Arabic and English. Search for it before you commit, to make sure no other store uses it.
  • Your first product list: name, price, photos, and weight if you will ship.
  • A pickup location for shipments: you set it on a map during setup.
  • Your exchange and return policy: the period and the conditions, written once so customers can see them.

Signing up

After you create your account, you click Start Now (ابدأ الآن) and go through five stops, according to Salla's article on creating a new store (in Arabic, updated 24 August 2026):

  • Store information: an optional logo, the store name your customers see, your main and secondary activity, and your entity type. You can change the store link after launch.
  • First product: of the type that fits your business.
  • Shipping: your pickup location, and the carriers you turn on from Salla's shipping labels (بوليصات سلة).
  • Online payments: you choose payment methods, but payment gateways only work after your store is verified.
  • Plan: you choose a plan, and go to checkout if you picked a paid one.

Do not worry if you skip something: everything you entered can be edited later in the dashboard. Some of these stops are launch requirements, as the minimum-to-launch section below explains.

Which plan fits your start

Choose a plan for what you need in the first six months, not for everything you might need one day. This is what the Salla plans page and its comparison table showed on 27 October 2026:

  • Basic (free): unlimited products and orders, and Salla's discounted shipping labels. The comparison table does not include online payments, a custom domain or the search engine optimization tools on this plan.
  • Plus (99 SAR a month, or 990 SAR a year): adds online payments, local and international shipping, booking your own domain, and choosing and customizing a theme.
  • Pro (299 SAR a month, or 2,990 SAR a year): adds staff accounts, VAT activation linked to ZATCA, the store visibility (SEO) tools, theme customization with CSS and JavaScript, and building a custom theme.
  • Special: by contacting Salla's sales team.

Questions that settle the choice:

  • Will you accept card payments from day one? You need at least Plus.
  • Do you want a link in your brand's name instead of Salla's? You need at least Plus.
  • Do staff work with you, or do you need custom code in your design? You need Pro.

An illustrative example: a new abaya store starts with twenty products, and most of its orders come from Instagram. The owner needs card payments and a link in the brand's name, but no code and no staff yet. Plus is enough, and the owner might start monthly until demand is clear, then switch to yearly.

You do not have to decide forever on day one. You can upgrade your plan later, as Salla's help center explains in Managing your store plan (in Arabic).

What a Salla store costs in its first year

Add up these items to see your first-year cost:

  • Plan: zero on Basic, 990 SAR a year on Plus, and 2,990 SAR a year on Pro. Salla shows a 16% discount for paying yearly. On Plus, paying monthly costs 1,188 SAR a year (99 SAR × 12), 198 SAR more than paying yearly. On Pro it costs 3,588 SAR (299 SAR × 12), a difference of 598 SAR.
  • Theme: free, or paid once rather than by subscription (Theme store FAQs, in Arabic).
  • Domain: Salla says you may activate a free domain depending on whether your plan is monthly or yearly (Managing your store domain, in Arabic). If you book a different domain, count its yearly renewal.
  • Apps: some are free and some are subscriptions. Check each app's price on its page before installing it.
  • Payment and shipping fees: these are charged on orders, not on the store. See Activating payment methods and Shipping management in Salla's help center (in Arabic) for the fees that apply to your store.
  • Your time: setup, photography and writing descriptions take days. Count them before you set a launch date.

The prices above are as shown on the plans page on 27 October 2026. Check them before you pay, as they may change.

Choosing a theme and preparing the design

Decide the theme before you start designing, because every theme has its own settings and elements. Judge three themes from your industry against clear criteria and measure their mobile speed, as in our guide to choosing a Salla theme.

Then design in order: materials first, then the first screen on a phone, then the product page, then preview and publish. We walk through that order step by step in our guide to designing your Salla store yourself.

The minimum to launch

Salla splits launch requirements in two. The basic ones block launch: store verification, a first product, and your location. The secondary ones can wait: store information, shipping options, online payments and design customization.

But launching without any payment method or shipping means a store that cannot take orders. So we suggest a practical minimum:

  • Products: a few of your core products, with clear photos and descriptions that answer your customers' questions.
  • Payment: at least one working payment method. Remember that payment gateways wait for verification, and that Salla says verification takes 24 hours at most.
  • Shipping: at least one carrier that covers your customers' cities, and a clear shipping price.
  • Pages: your exchange and return policy, and a way to contact you.

A pre-launch checklist on your phone

Open your store on your phone as a customer who does not know you, and place a full test order:

Step 1: Search for a product, open its page, choose its options, and add it to the cart.

Step 2: Complete the order with an available payment method, using an address in a city you ship to.

Step 3: Confirm that the order confirmation reached you as a customer, and that the order appears in your dashboard.

Step 4: Cancel the test order from the orders page once you have checked it.

Go through this list as well:

  • The logo and name show clearly in the header.
  • Every link in the menu opens a page that exists.
  • The price and shipping cost are clear before payment.
  • Your exchange and return policy is visible.
  • The English version is sound, if your store runs in two languages.

After your first order

Your first real order tests everything above. Once it is delivered, review:

  • How long did preparing and shipping take? Adjust the delivery time shown in your store if needed.
  • Did the customer ask about something missing from the product page? Add it to the description.
  • Did the order messages reach the customer on time?
  • Where did the customer come from? Note the source, so you know where to put your marketing effort.
  • Did they review the product? Salla lets every plan receive customer questions and reviews, according to the plans page, and early reviews help the next customer decide.

If you choose Angel

This section is about our own theme.

If you choose the Angel theme for your new store, start with installing Angel, then first setup, step by step, which orders the settings the way you need them at launch. To see what the theme offers and its price on Salla, read the Angel page. If you have a question before buying, write to us.

Frequently asked questions

Is Salla free?

Yes, the Basic plan is free, with unlimited products and orders. But online payments and a custom domain start from the Plus plan, according to the comparison table on the plans page.

Do I need a commercial registration?

Not necessarily. A Saudi individual can verify a store with a freelance document. An establishment or company needs its unified commercial registration number.

How long does store verification take?

Salla says the process takes 24 hours at most after a complete request. Matching names on your ID, document and bank account lowers the chance of rejection.

Do I need my own domain from the start?

No. The store works on Salla's default link. But a custom domain is required for customizing the design with code, and it may be free depending on your plan type.

Yes. Salla says you can change the store link after launch and edit store details from the dashboard.

Can I open a Salla store from outside Saudi Arabia?

Yes. Salla's help center has verification articles for stores in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, and the documents required differ by country. Start with your country's article before you sign up.

Should I pay monthly or yearly?

Both are available on Plus and Pro. Yearly costs less, with a 16% discount according to the plans page; monthly suits you if you want to test before committing to a year.

Your next step

Before you sign up, prepare one folder with the verification document that fits you, your IBAN certificate, a list of five products with photos and prices, and your exchange and return policy. Then sign up on Salla, complete the five stops, and place a test order on your phone before you announce your store.

Last reviewed: 27 October 2026.