Saudi Hosting for Companies: Everything You Need to Know
Your company needs Saudi hosting? We explain: government requirements, pricing, suitable specs, and how to choose between shared hosting and a server.
Saudi Hosting for Companies: Requirements and Options
Many Saudi companies discover local hosting requirements at the last moment — either when a government portal rejects their integration because their server is in Europe, when they receive a note from an information security auditor, or when a central bank system refuses to connect due to missing data requirements. This guide clarifies the requirements before you run into them.
Commercial Registration and Hosting Requirements
There is no explicit law that obliges Saudi companies to host their websites inside the Kingdom for general public-facing activities. But the situation differs when dealing with:
Personal Data: The Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) issued in 2021 mandates the protection of citizens" data. Article 29 restricts the transfer of personal data outside the Kingdom except under specific conditions. Applications that store Saudi employee or customer data fall under this requirement.
Payroll and HR Data: The Mudad system — the Ministry of Human Resources platform for salary payment verification — requires integration with systems operating within the Saudi environment. An external server may cause delays in verification processes.
Payment Gateway Integration: If you use mada or local Saudi payment gateways, some licensing authorities require that the server through which payments pass is located inside the Kingdom.
Requirements for SaaS Companies Serving the Government Sector
If your SaaS product targets Saudi government or semi-government entities, you will encounter:
National Cloud Computing Framework (NCA): Government entities are required to work with approved cloud providers. For private sector companies selling to government, hosting inside the Kingdom on reliable infrastructure is a near-mandatory practical requirement.
Etimad and Namaa Platforms: Government electronic contracting requires company data and associated systems to be documented and compliant with local requirements.
Practical PDPL Requirements for Companies
| Data Type | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Employee data | Store within the Kingdom or with explicit, justified consent |
| Customer and user data | Apply security controls appropriate to the sensitivity level |
| Financial records | Retain according to Zakat Authority requirements |
| Correspondence and contracts | Must be retrievable upon request from regulatory authorities |
Corporate Email: A Hidden Problem
One of the most common issues our clients face: messages sent from a corporate email system hosted outside the Kingdom are classified as spam by government mail servers, or simply do not arrive.
The reason: government mail servers use reputation lists that tend to favor IP addresses with a good track record within Saudi IP ranges.
Hosting your corporate email on a Saudi server with a Saudi IP address solves this problem immediately.
Cloud Options for Companies
At cloud.net.sa, you will find three options suited to different company needs:
Managed Cloud Hosting (2,900-competitive pricing — pricing and plans): suitable for companies that need corporate email and a simple website on a Saudi server.
Cloud VPS Server (3,450-18,000+ SAR/year): for companies with a custom application or system that needs complete isolation and defined resources.
VPS with cPanel for those needing flexible management with a familiar interface.
cloud.net.sa also provides technical support meetings for client developers to assist with migration, making the transition from an external server to Saudi infrastructure significantly easier.
Get Started
Need reliable hosting? Choose a cloud hosting plan or configure your own server with custom specs.
