Do I need to register a sender name to send SMS in Saudi Arabia?

Yes. Every sender name is registered through the Jaber system and renewed yearly. Advertising senders must end in -AD and can be up to 8 characters. Taqnyat and Msegat quote the fee as 230 SAR a year; Unifonic documents 299 SAR including tax. The registration belongs to your business, not to the provider.

What is the cheapest way to send SMS in Saudi Arabia?

Of the prices we could see on 19 October 2026, local packages were far cheaper than global APIs: Taqnyat’s 100,000-message package works out to about 0.063 SAR a message including VAT, against Twilio’s $0.1949 a message. Ask for a written quote, because volume pricing is negotiated.

How many characters fit in an Arabic SMS?

Seventy in a single message. Arabic uses Unicode encoding, so a message is split into segments of 67 characters once it runs past 70, and each segment is billed. Our free Arabic SMS counter shows the segment count before you send.

Which SMS provider is best for an online store in Egypt?

If you only need SMS through an API, CEQUENS registers senders on all four Egyptian networks. If you want SMS inside automated order flows next to WhatsApp and email, Nonito sends SMS in Egypt at 0.25 EGP a message beyond the plan allowance and connects to Shopify and Odoo.

Best SMS Platforms in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt (2026)

How we compared them.

Sender ID registrationAll three countries require a registered sender name. A provider that handles the paperwork saves weeks.
Published priceWhether you can see the cost per message before you talk to sales.
ArabicArabic SMS is counted at 70 characters a segment, not 160, so long Arabic messages cost two or three times as much.
Other channelsWhether WhatsApp and email come from the same provider.
Store integrationsShopify, Salla, WooCommerce or Odoo, so order messages send themselves.

By country.

Saudi Arabia

The rules: Every sender name is registered and renewed once a year, through the official Jaber system. Advertising sender names can be up to 8 characters and must end in -AD; transactional ones up to 11. Sender names cannot use Arabic letters. Providers quote the yearly fee as 230 SAR (Taqnyat, Msegat) or 299 SAR including tax (Unifonic).

Provider	In this country
Taqnyat	5,000 SMS for 529 SAR, 100,000 for 6,325 SAR, including VAT.
Msegat	Sender names through Jaber, 230 SAR a year. Salla and Foodics integrations.
Unifonic	Documents Saudi sender ID registration at 299 SAR a year including tax. Unifonic: Alternatives in Saudi Arabia
CEQUENS	Pre-registers senders on all Saudi networks, with a no-objection letter.
Nonito	Not self-serve yet. Ask us about Saudi sender IDs.
Twilio	$0.1949 per outbound SMS from an alphanumeric sender. Twilio: Alternatives in Saudi Arabia
Omnisend	Supported; sender name registration required. Omnisend: Alternatives in Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

The rules: Sender names are pre-registered with du and Etisalat (e&). CEQUENS asks for a signed and stamped no-objection letter and the company’s certificate of incorporation.

Provider	In this country
Unifonic	Office in Dubai. Its pricing page does not break rates out by country. Unifonic: Alternatives in UAE
CEQUENS	Pre-registers senders on du and Etisalat (e&).
Nonito	Available on request. We register your UAE sender ID with you first.
Twilio	$0.1176 per outbound SMS; discounts through sales. Twilio: Alternatives in UAE
Omnisend	Supported; sender name registration required. Omnisend: Alternatives in UAE

Egypt

The rules: Sender names are pre-registered on each network: Vodafone, Orange, Etisalat and Telecom Egypt (WE). For Etisalat, CEQUENS asks for a local commercial registration, a tax card and a signed no-objection letter on company letterhead.

Provider	In this country
Unifonic	Office in Cairo. Its pricing page does not break rates out by country. Unifonic: Alternatives in Egypt
CEQUENS	Pre-registers senders on Vodafone, Orange, Etisalat and WE.
Nonito	0.25 EGP per SMS beyond the plan allowance, in the same flows as WhatsApp and email. How bulk SMS in Egypt works with Nonito
Twilio	$0.3959 per outbound SMS; discounts through sales. Twilio: Alternatives in Egypt
Omnisend	Supported; sender name registration required. Omnisend: Alternatives in Egypt

The providers.

Taqnyat

Best for: Saudi businesses that want a local provider with prices on the page.

Sender ID: Each additional sender name costs 230 SAR a year including tax, paid to the regulator.
Price: Prepaid local packages from 5,000 SMS for 529 SAR to 100,000 for 6,325 SAR, including VAT, valid up to 365 days. Postpaid from 910 SAR for 10,000.
Other channels: Lists WhatsApp API, email API, chatbot and an AI callbot.
Integrations: REST API. International SMS packages through sales.

Watch for: Package prices cover local Saudi SMS only.

Msegat

Best for: Saudi stores on Salla, WooCommerce or Foodics that want SMS wired into the platform.

Sender ID: Requested in its dashboard and approved through the Jaber system. The licence is 230 SAR and renews yearly for 230 SAR.
Price: Prepaid balance, valid for one year. We found no per-message price on its FAQ.
Other channels: WhatsApp, with activation in 3 to 7 business days.
Integrations: Free API. Paid integrations with Salla, Foodics, WooCommerce, Magento, OpenCart, ExpandCart and WordPress.

Watch for: The free plan sends up to 10 messages a day through the API.

Unifonic

Best for: Larger organisations that want SMS, WhatsApp, voice and email under one enterprise contract.

Sender ID: Handles Saudi registration; advertising IDs up to 8 characters ending in -AD.
Price: Connect $499 a month for 10,000 messages across SMS, voice, email and WhatsApp; Engagement $999; beyond that by agreement.
Other channels: WhatsApp, voice, email and chatbots.
Integrations: Shopify connector in Flow Studio (custom tier) and a Salla app for order SMS.

Watch for: No free plan or trial shown; accounts open through sales.

Full comparison: Nonito vs Unifonic Unifonic: Alternatives in Saudi Arabia Unifonic: Alternatives in UAE Unifonic: Alternatives in Egypt Unifonic: Alternatives in Kuwait

CEQUENS

Best for: Businesses sending across Egypt and the Gulf that want one provider to register senders on every network.

Sender ID: Requested from its console. Its support table lists the documents each network needs.
Price: We found no public price list. Ask its sales team.
Other channels: Lists WhatsApp Business API and voice alongside SMS.
Integrations: SMS and WhatsApp APIs.

Watch for: Sales-led pricing, so compare a written quote.

Nonito

Our product

Best for: Egyptian stores on Shopify or Odoo that want SMS to pick up the customers WhatsApp misses, in the same flow.

Sender ID: Egypt built in. UAE on request. For Saudi sender IDs, ask us on a call.
Price: 0.25 EGP per SMS for the first 10,000 a month beyond the plan allowance. Prices include VAT.
Other channels: WhatsApp and email in the same flows, on one bill.
Integrations: Native Shopify, Odoo through Nitro, REST API and webhooks.

Watch for: Only Egypt is self-serve today.

Flow benchmarks 2026 How bulk SMS in Egypt works with Nonito

Twilio

Best for: Product and engineering teams that want to build sending into their own app.

Sender ID: Alphanumeric sender IDs are free to use in 150 locales; local registration rules still apply.
Price: Pay as you go, per message, published per country.
Other channels: WhatsApp, voice and email (SendGrid) as separate products.
Integrations: A developer API. You build the flows, consent and reporting.

Watch for: Per-message prices are high next to local providers, and nothing works without a developer.

Full comparison: Nonito vs Twilio Twilio: Alternatives in Saudi Arabia Twilio: Alternatives in UAE Twilio: Alternatives in Egypt Twilio: Alternatives in Kuwait

Omnisend

Best for: Shopify and WooCommerce stores that mainly send email and want SMS in the same tool.

Sender ID: Its help centre marks Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt as supported with registration required.
Price: Plans by contact count from $16 a month; SMS bought as credit, priced per country.
Other channels: Email and web push. No built-in WhatsApp on its pricing page.
Integrations: Native Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and Wix.

Watch for: Its help centre says emails do not natively render right-to-left text.

Full comparison: Nonito vs Omnisend Omnisend: Alternatives in Saudi Arabia Omnisend: Alternatives in UAE Omnisend: Alternatives in Egypt Omnisend: Alternatives in Kuwait

Questions businesses ask.

Do I need to register a sender name to send SMS in Saudi Arabia?: Yes. Every sender name is registered through the Jaber system and renewed yearly. Advertising senders must end in -AD and can be up to 8 characters. Taqnyat and Msegat quote the fee as 230 SAR a year; Unifonic documents 299 SAR including tax. The registration belongs to your business, not to the provider.
What is the cheapest way to send SMS in Saudi Arabia?: Of the prices we could see on 19 October 2026, local packages were far cheaper than global APIs: Taqnyat’s 100,000-message package works out to about 0.063 SAR a message including VAT, against Twilio’s $0.1949 a message. Ask for a written quote, because volume pricing is negotiated.
How many characters fit in an Arabic SMS?: Seventy in a single message. Arabic uses Unicode encoding, so a message is split into segments of 67 characters once it runs past 70, and each segment is billed. Our free Arabic SMS counter shows the segment count before you send.
Which SMS provider is best for an online store in Egypt?: If you only need SMS through an API, CEQUENS registers senders on all four Egyptian networks. If you want SMS inside automated order flows next to WhatsApp and email, Nonito sends SMS in Egypt at 0.25 EGP a message beyond the plan allowance and connects to Shopify and Odoo.

Sources.

Checked on 19 October 2026. Prices as each provider published them, including or excluding tax as stated.

SMS, WhatsApp and email in one flow.

Send order updates and offers on the channel each customer answers, and see which orders each message brought back.

Start free Count an Arabic SMS

The best SMS platforms in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, 2026.