Quick answer
It depends on what your customer does with you: if they book a time slot, as at a car wash or a salon, an app is the right fit at SAR 3,999, or an app with a linked website at SAR 4,399. If they order from a menu, as with catering, start with a website at SAR 599 delivered within 48 hours of content and brand approval. Instagram and WhatsApp are excellent marketing channels but they are not an operating system, and a shop that relies on them alone runs on scattered chats it does not own.
Three shop owners and what suits each
A car wash owner. The customer wants three things: to know prices, to pick a time without waiting, and to be told when the car is ready. All three are "booking a slot", which is an app's job. The app lists services with prices, opens available times by branch hours, sends a notification at pickup and completion, and remembers the customer's cars so the second booking takes two taps. See the car wash app package.
A salon owner. Same logic as the car wash: appointments, staff and services of different durations. The difference is that clients often choose a specific stylist, and a last-minute cancellation costs the salon a full hour. The app shows availability per stylist, reminds the client before the appointment, and takes a deposit via mada or Apple Pay to reduce no-shows. See the salon app package.
A caterer or home kitchen. This customer does not book a slot; they browse a menu, compare and order for an event days away. That is "ordering from a menu", and a website serves it better at first because customers arrive from Google or an Instagram link without installing anything. A SAR 599 website with menus, photos, prices and an order button is enough to start. See the catering package and the website package.
The limits of Instagram and WhatsApp alone
- Bookings live in an employee's head: a time in a chat, a number on paper, a notebook at the counter. On the first busy day, appointments clash and a customer is lost without anyone noticing.
- Prices are retyped all day: every customer asks "how much" and the same answer is written dozens of times instead of being published once.
- You do not own the data: customer names, numbers and orders sit on an employee's phone. If the employee leaves or the phone is lost, the data goes too.
- The account is not really yours: a platform policy change or an account block stops the shop from taking orders in a moment.
- Search does not reach you: someone googling "car wash in Unayzah" finds websites, not Instagram posts.
The fix is not replacing Instagram but putting it in its place: a post that attracts, and a link in the bio that sends the customer to a website or app that books, pays and keeps the data with you.
The real cost of each option
| Option | Price | Duration | Includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram and WhatsApp only | No development cost | Immediate | Marketing and messaging. The real cost is staff time spent replying and arranging appointments by hand, and data you do not own. |
| Basic website | SAR 599 | 48 hours from content and brand approval | Service, price and photo pages with an order button, plus domain, hosting and SSL for the first year. |
| App on the Apple and Google stores | SAR 3,999 | From 14 days depending on scope | A booking app with notifications and OTP messages, store publishing, server, support and warranty for the first year. |
| App with a linked website | SAR 4,399 | From 14 days depending on scope | All of the above plus a website sharing the same data, so customers can book from either. |
In every package the first year is included: server, hosting, domain, SSL, OTP messages, store publishing, support and warranty. From year two, renewal is your choice at 20% of the contract value per year with no auto renewal, covering operation and support without new features. Payment is by transfer to Al Rajhi or up to five instalments via Tamara, MISpay, Madfu or Emkan subject to the provider's approval. All packages are on the pricing page.
Start with the website, add the app later
- Month one, the website: approve content and brand, receive the site 48 hours later, and put the link in your Instagram bio and WhatsApp greeting. Prices are now published and nobody retypes them.
- Watch what customers ask: if most messages are "when is your next free slot", you need slot booking, which is the app's job. If they are "I want the order on Thursday", the website will carry you longer.
- Move to the app: when you decide, we build the app on the same data, so services and prices are not re-entered. Since the combined SAR 4,399 package includes both, owners who know from the start they will need both save by taking it once.
Either way the source code and accounts are delivered in your name, so if you continue with another provider after a year, the work is yours.
