Telegram Ads in Saudi Arabia — Sharia Compliance, Measured CPMs and What Runs in 2026

TL;DR

Saudi Arabia is open for Telegram Ads: it is one of the 229 country options in the ad form, on Euro and TON accounts alike. Measured on our accounts, Saudi-only campaigns cost 1.21 TON per thousand impressions on TON accounts (6.0M impressions, 10 accounts, 22 August–3 October 2026) and €1.69 on Euro accounts (74k impressions, 4 accounts — a thin base).

What makes Saudi Arabia different from the other countries in this series is that two layers apply at once. The first is law: finance is licensed by SAMA and the CMA, crypto has no licence at all, and promoting gambling or pornographic sites is a crime. The second is cultural and religious: a financial message is read against Sharia principles — no riba (interest), no gharar (excessive uncertainty), no maysir (gambling). The second layer is not in any statute an advertiser has to cite, but an ad that ignores it is talking to no one.

What runs without a licence question: SaaS, e-commerce, education, B2B, consumer goods and services, Telegram Mini Apps, travel and tourism.

What needs a Saudi licence or a decision to stay out: banking and payments (SAMA), investment and securities, forex included (CMA).

What has no lawful route: gambling and pornography, under the Anti-Cyber Crime Law. Complying with Saudi law is the advertiser’s responsibility; this guide maps the rules and links the sources, and it is not legal advice.

Audience reality — who you actually reach

Telegram does not publish user numbers by country. The estimates that circulate for Saudi Arabia come from sites we could not trace to a primary source, so we quote none. What can be sourced:

• A young country that is fully online. 34.7 million people in October 2025, a median age of 29.6 and 34.4 million internet users (DataReportal, Digital 2026: Saudi Arabia).
• iOS and Android are almost level. iOS carried 51.6% of mobile web traffic in Saudi Arabia in September 2026 and Android 48.4% (StatCounter). In Turkey the same source shows 77% Android. That is web traffic, not Telegram’s own split, but it is reason enough to run the two devices as separate campaigns here.
• Arabic first. Telegram’s ad guidelines say the language of the targeted channel should match the language of the ad and of the destination: Arabic creative for Arabic channels, English creative for English-language ones. We publish no split of who prefers which; test both and let your own numbers decide.
• Native copy, not translated copy. This is advice rather than a measurement: Arabic written by an English copywriter and passed through a translator reads as foreign. Have a native Saudi writer produce the text. The AI text generator in Adsly Pro Panel can draft Arabic variants, and a native speaker should still read them before launch.

What a thousand impressions costs — measured

Our own accounts, campaigns targeted at Saudi Arabia only, all niches blended, as of 3 October 2026. Euro accounts are billed in euros and TON accounts in TON; the two are never converted into each other.

Account type	CPM	CTR	Cost per click	Impressions	Accounts
Euro (EUR)	€1.69	1.47%	€0.115	74k	4
TON (in TON, 22 Aug–3 Oct 2026)	1.21 TON	1.26%	0.097 TON	6.0M	10

The Euro row stands on 74,000 impressions and four accounts. That is thin: read it as direction, not as a market price. The TON row is the larger base.

We do not publish a per-niche split: the base is too thin to separate one niche from another honestly. Country-by-country tables for both account types are in the CPM by country guide.

The CMA / SAMA regime in 30 seconds

Saudi financial regulation rests on two bodies:

• SAMA, the Saudi Central Bank — banks, payments, insurance and finance companies. It also runs a regulatory sandbox for fintech.
• CMA, the Capital Market Authority — securities, investment and asset management.

Three facts shape what can be advertised:

• Unlicensed forex is what the authorities warn about. In August 2017 the Ministry of Commerce and Investment, the CMA and SAMA jointly warned the public against unlicensed forex activity and told people to check the lists of licensed entities on the SAMA and CMA websites (SAMA).
• Crypto is neither banned nor licensed. A Library of Congress review found that, as of December 2024, Saudi Arabia had enacted no specific crypto legislation: cryptocurrencies are not explicitly prohibited, but they have no formal legal recognition and local financial institutions do not trade them (Library of Congress, January 2025). The last official statement we can cite is the August 2018 warning from a standing committee of regulators, which said virtual currencies, Bitcoin included, are “illegal in the kingdom and no parties or individuals are licensed for such practices” (Baker McKenzie).
• Fintech is state policy. The Financial Sector Development Program targets 525 active fintech companies by 2030 (Arab News, November 2023).

What that means for Telegram Ads:

• A Saudi-licensed bank, fintech or investment firm can advertise and should say who licensed it. The reader can check the name on the regulator’s list.
• A foreign broker or forex firm without a CMA licence is exactly what the 2017 warning describes. The only clean route is not to target Saudi Arabia: leave it out of the country list and target users by country rather than by channel. The same logic is set out in the UK guide and the Turkey guide.
• Crypto has no Saudi licence to cite. An ad cannot claim one, and whether to run at all is a risk the advertiser carries.

So the regulators are friendly to licensed fintech and wary of everything sold from outside the perimeter. The harder constraint for a creative team is the next one.

Sharia-aware ad copy — three ideas to respect

These are concepts of Islamic finance, not clauses of an advertising law. They decide whether a Saudi reader takes a financial message seriously.

1. No riba (interest as the product). Do not headline “earn X% APY”. Describe a share of profit or an asset-backed return, if that is what the product is. A named Sharia board on the landing page is the strongest signal.
2. No gharar (excessive uncertainty). Quantify what you can: the minimum order, the fee, the settlement time. Concrete terms are also what Telegram’s guidelines ask for — no unsupported claims.
3. No maysir (gambling-like speculation). Forex and CFD copy should foreground analysis, hedging and risk management, not a “win big” angle.

Examples in Arabic, with a translation underneath:

Sharia-aligned fintech (licensed by SAMA):

{Brand} — هيئة الرقابة الشرعية معتمدة. حلول استثمار متوافقة مع الشريعة الإسلامية. مرخصة من البنك المركزي السعودي.

({Brand} — endorsed by an independent Sharia board. Sharia-compliant investment solutions. SAMA-licensed.)

Digital-asset trading (neutral wording, risk stated — read the crypto note above first):

تداول الأصول الرقمية. عقود مفتوحة، رسوم شفافة. الاستثمار في الأصول الرقمية ينطوي على مخاطر عالية. لا توجد ضمانات للعائد.

(Trade digital assets. Open contracts, transparent fees. Investing in digital assets carries high risk. No guaranteed returns.)

Mini App launch:

تطبيق Telegram الجديد للألعاب. مكافآت TON. سحوبات فورية إلى محفظتك.

(New Telegram gaming app. TON rewards. Instant withdrawals to your wallet.)

Vision 2030 sectors (tourism, renewables):

{Sector} في المملكة 2030. فرص استثمارية متوافقة مع رؤية المملكة.

({Sector} in the Kingdom 2030. Investment opportunities aligned with the national vision.)

Adsly setup for Saudi Arabia

1. Pick a Euro account. It can link to a website as well as to a channel, bot or Mini App, add a custom button and have a declined ad escalated to a human through us. A TON account links to Telegram destinations only: channels, bots and Mini Apps. Both use the same targeting form since 22 August 2026, and Saudi Arabia is not among the four countries where TON-funded ads are not served. Most of our Saudi data comes from TON accounts.
2. Opening. A Euro account opens in 2 business days as a World account: its campaigns can target Saudi Arabia or any other available country. Minimum ad budget: €500; €1,000 for crypto and for stocks and investing. Payment in any cryptocurrency, no KYC. Price your Euro account →
3. Targeting. Country: Saudi Arabia. Language: Arabic, plus a separate English campaign if you want English-language channels. Then topics or the channels your customers already follow.
4. Device split. Run iOS and Android as separate campaigns; with traffic split almost evenly, a blended campaign hides which half is working.
5. Frequency. The form has a “views per user” cap. Start low and raise it only if reach runs out.
6. Timing and Ramadan. We have no hour-of-day or seasonal data for Saudi Arabia, so we publish no “best hours” and no Ramadan curve. Read the hourly analytics of your own campaigns, and adjust the tone of the creative during the holy month.
7. Access and moderation. You get the account itself on ads.telegram.org and the Adsly Pro Panel on app.adsly.pro. Over 98% of the 13,199 campaigns we measured in September 2026 had a moderation decision within three hours.

Where the legal line runs

Adsly opens the account and gives you the tools. What may be advertised to people in Saudi Arabia is decided by Saudi law and by Telegram’s moderation, and that responsibility stays with the advertiser:

• Gambling and betting. Article 6 of the Anti-Cyber Crime Law (Royal Decree M/17 of 2007) makes the “preparation, publication, and promotion of material for pornographic or gambling sites which violates public morals” punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to three million riyals (WIPO Lex). Telegram’s own guidelines restrict real-money gambling as well. Our launch formats for gambling are described in the betting and iGaming guide; they do not change Saudi law.
• Adult content. The same article covers pornographic material.
• Interest-headlined products. “Earn 8% APY guaranteed” may pass moderation and still be ignored by the audience. Reposition it or offer a Sharia-compliant alternative.
• A crypto exchange described as licensed in Saudi Arabia. No such licence exists. Do not claim one.
• Pharma and CBD. We do not take them, in any country.

FAQ

How many Telegram users are in Saudi Arabia?

There is no reliable public figure, and we do not repeat estimates we could not trace to a primary source. What is documented: 34.7 million people, 34.4 million internet users and a median age of 29.6 (DataReportal, Digital 2026).

Is crypto legal in Saudi Arabia?

It is neither banned nor licensed. As of December 2024 there was no specific crypto legislation, and local financial institutions do not trade cryptocurrencies. The 2018 warning from the regulators’ standing committee calls virtual currencies illegal in the Kingdom and says no one is licensed to deal in them, and we have found no licensing regime that replaced it.

Can I run Sharia-compliant financial products?

Profit-sharing, mudarabah, sukuk-style and similar Islamic-finance products are the natural fit for this audience. Whether the product may be offered in the Kingdom at all is a licensing question for SAMA or the CMA, not a copywriting one.

Do I need a SAMA or CMA licence to advertise on Telegram in Saudi Arabia?

It depends on the offer. SaaS, e-commerce and other non-financial offers need no financial licence. A bank, payment, investment or forex product offered to Saudi residents does: the regulators publish lists of licensed entities and warn the public against anyone who is not on them.

Should I run Arabic, English or both?

Both, as separate campaigns. Telegram expects the ad language to match the channel language, so Arabic creative goes to Arabic channels and English creative to English-language ones. We publish no share of who prefers which language.

What about Ramadan?

We have no measured data on how Ramadan changes delivery or prices, so we will not give you a timing rule. What we can say is editorial: keep the tone respectful, and avoid imagery of food and drink or anything at odds with fasting. For timing, use the hourly analytics of your own campaigns.

Can I run Telegram Mini App launches in Saudi Arabia?

Yes. A Mini App is a Telegram destination, so it runs on a Euro account like any other campaign. We publish no separate price for Mini App campaigns; the measured Saudi level above, all niches blended, is the reference.

What does Adsly do for an advertiser in Saudi Arabia?

We open the account in 2 business days and give you access both to the account on ads.telegram.org and to Pro Panel. If you want us to run the campaigns for you, that is a separate paid service: managed service. Talk to us at @adsly_pro.

Are Saudi CPMs higher than Turkish or Brazilian?

It depends on the account type. On our Euro accounts Saudi Arabia is cheaper: €1.69 against €2.92 for Turkey and €2.22 for Brazil — though the Saudi Euro row stands on only 74k impressions. On TON accounts it is the other way round: 1.21 TON against 0.42 TON for Turkey and 0.61 TON for Brazil, on 6.0M Saudi impressions. Compare markets inside one currency.

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Saudi Arabia rewards advertisers who treat the cultural context as part of the product rather than an afterthought. Licensed fintech is welcome, the audience is young and online, and the Sharia layer is a creative brief, not an obstacle. Get the Arabic right, respect the frame in financial copy, and take the bans on gambling and adult content at face value.