Software Company in Madinah, Saudi Arabia: How to Hire Origami From France, the UK or Anywhere in Europe

Origami is a Saudi software company headquartered in Madinah, with a second office in Riyadh. We build custom business systems, ERP, mobile apps and SaaS platforms, and we take on projects from companies outside Saudi Arabia: France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Ireland and the rest of Europe. You send a short brief to sales@origami.sa or on WhatsApp at +966 55 524 6173. After a 20-minute call you receive a written proposal within 48 hours, and the first working version is ready within 3 weeks. App projects start at SAR 15,000, which is USD 4,000 at the official rate of 3.75 riyals per dollar. A client with no office in the Gulf usually pays 0% Saudi VAT on these services.

Who is Origami?

Origami was founded in 2025 and is a brand of SmartBuild, a Saudi company. Our main headquarters is in Madinah, on Airport Road (building 5254, postal code 42325). We have a second office in Madinah and an office in Riyadh. The full addresses and maps are on our contact page, and our story is on the about page.

We focus on three sectors we know well: industry and warehouses, contracting and maintenance, and commerce and services. Alongside client systems we build and run our own products: Faheem, an ERP you run from WhatsApp, and M&M, an AI assistant that answers customers on WhatsApp. Our portfolio includes a delivery platform (Routex), a cloud attendance system (Hader), a warehouse app for an iron factory (Baghdadi) and a car-wash point of sale with a customer app (Netlos).

What a European company can order from Madinah

• A custom business system or ERP built around how your team really works: stock, purchasing, projects, invoices and approvals.
• A mobile app for iOS and Android, with its admin dashboard.
• A SaaS platform that you sell to your own customers by subscription.
• An Arabic, right-to-left version of your product if you plan to sell in Saudi Arabia or the Gulf.
• An AI assistant that answers your customers on WhatsApp.

If you are a European company entering the Saudi market, a team based in Saudi Arabia also knows the local requirements your system has to meet, such as Arabic interfaces and the e-invoicing rules of the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA).

Time difference: how many working hours overlap?

Saudi Arabia keeps the same time all year (UTC+3). Our office hours are Saturday to Thursday, 9:00 to 17:00 Madinah time. The EU moves its clocks on the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October (Directive 2000/84/EC), and the UK and Switzerland use the same dates, so the gap changes twice a year:

In practice, European mornings from Monday to Thursday fall fully inside our working day, and Friday is our weekend. Meetings run by video call, and day-to-day questions run on WhatsApp or email.

How much does it cost, and in which currency?

We price in Saudi riyals. The riyal is pegged to the US dollar at the official rate of 3.75, a commitment the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has confirmed, so a quote in riyals keeps a fixed dollar value for the whole project. Our usual ranges for apps and platforms:

Euro and pound amounts move with their exchange rate against the dollar, so the final amount, the currency and the payment schedule are set in the written quote.

Do you pay Saudi VAT?

Usually not. ZATCA's guideline on imports and exports (section 8.2, based on Article 33 of the VAT Implementing Regulations) says that services supplied by a VAT-registered supplier in Saudi Arabia to a customer who is not resident in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries are zero-rated by default. Three conditions matter:

• Your company has no office or branch in a Gulf country.
• The service is not one of the special cases tied to a place in the Gulf, such as hotel stays or real estate.
• No one benefits from the service directly while present in a Gulf country.

The same guideline gives the opposite example: a German company with a branch in Saudi Arabia is charged 15% VAT. We check these conditions with you when we prepare the quote. VAT in your own country follows your local rules, so confirm it with your accountant.

Your data: GDPR and UK GDPR

If the system holds personal data about people in Europe, the GDPR transfer rules apply when that data is accessed from outside the EU. Saudi Arabia is not on the European Commission's list of adequacy decisions, so the usual safeguard is the Standard Contractual Clauses adopted by the Commission on 4 June 2021 (Decision 2021/914), signed with the contract. For UK data, the ICO accepts the International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the UK Addendum to the EU clauses.

A practical option: the live system runs on a cloud account that you own, in a European region, and we work on it with access that you grant and can withdraw. Your data stays in your account, and you keep the keys when the project ends.

How to start: five steps

1. Send a short description of your need to sales@origami.sa or on WhatsApp (+966 55 524 6173). You can write in English or French.
2. We hold a 20-minute call to understand your situation and tell you honestly whether we are the right partner.
3. If we agree, you receive a written proposal within 48 hours: scope, price, currency and timeline.
4. Within 3 weeks you get the first working version.
5. We then develop it week by week based on your team's feedback, and keep maintaining it after launch.

If you are also thinking about opening an office in the region, read our guide to doing business in Madinah.

Summary

Origami is a software company with its main headquarters in Madinah, building systems for clients in Saudi Arabia and abroad. From France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland or anywhere in Europe, you get a first version within 3 weeks, a price in riyals with a fixed dollar value, usually 0% Saudi VAT, and a clear route for your GDPR obligations. To start, write to sales@origami.sa or use our contact page.

Sources

• ZATCA: Guideline on imports and exports under VAT, section 8.2 (Arabic, PDF)
• European Commission: adequacy decisions
• European Commission: Standard Contractual Clauses (Decision 2021/914)
• ICO: the UK IDTA and the Addendum
• SAMA: commitment to the official rate of 3.75 riyals per dollar (May 2020)
• EUR-Lex: Directive 2000/84/EC on summer-time arrangements