Free business email in Saudi Arabia: create name@yourbusiness.com.sa

Saudi Arabia's small business scene has changed fast: Salla and Zid stores, Maroof-registered sellers, freelancers with a Freelance Licence, and a wave of new commercial registrations. Most still email from Gmail. A .com.sa domain and free mailboxes give you name@yourbusiness.com.sa, and this guide walks through the SaudiNIC requirements, DNS and device setup.

Quick answer

Register yourbusiness.com.sa (with your commercial registration) or a .com, create a free OquMail workspace, add the domain, paste four DNS records, create mailboxes. The email is free with no card, so you pay only the domain fee.

Domain choice: .com.sa, .sa or .com

Saudi domains are administered by SaudiNIC. A .com.sa requires a Saudi commercial registration (CR) or an equivalent licence, and direct .sa names also require a Saudi presence, so they are strong trust signals inside the Kingdom. Registration is done through SaudiNIC-accredited registrars. A .com is common among e-commerce brands and freelancers and is accepted by Saudi customers.

• .com.sa: requires a CR or licence; the standard for Saudi companies
• .sa: shorter, same presence rules; increasingly used by brands
• .org.sa and .edu.sa: organisations and institutions
• .com: fine for online stores and freelancers; register it too if you sell across the Gulf

Why Saudi buyers trust a domain address

Government portals, Etimad tenders, corporate procurement and banks all expect a company email that matches the CR. For online sellers, a domain address alongside a Maroof listing reassures customers who have seen fake stores. A quote from sales@yourbusiness.com.sa is acted on; a Gmail quote gets a call. A domain address also keeps orders@ with the company when staff change, which matters as businesses grow quickly.

Step by step

1. Register yourbusiness.com.sa with a SaudiNIC-accredited registrar, providing your CR number, or register a .com anywhere.
2. Create a free OquMail workspace at oqumail.com. No card.
3. Add the domain in the dashboard and copy the four DNS records.
4. In the registrar’s DNS panel add the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records.
5. Click Verify. The live DNS check shows anything still missing.
6. Create mailboxes: info@, orders@, accounts@ and one per person, up to 15.
7. Send a test from webmail and add the account to Outlook or the phone mail app with the settings below.

The four DNS records OquMail needs

Saudi hosts often bundle email and pre-set an MX. Delete it before adding OquMail's. If Cloudflare handles your DNS, keep the MX and TXT records unproxied.

• MX — host @, value mail.oqumail.com, priority 10
• SPF (TXT at @) — v=spf1 MX (Mail Exchanger — where incoming email is delivered) a:mail.oqumail.com ~all
• DKIM (TXT at your selector ._domainkey) — v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=… (the exact key is shown in your OquMail dashboard)
• DMARC (TXT at _dmarc) — v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com

OquMail connection settings

• Incoming (IMAP): mail.oqumail.com, port 993, SSL/TLS
• Outgoing (SMTP): mail.oqumail.com, port 587, STARTTLS
• Username: your full email address (you@yourdomain.com)
• Password: the same password you use for OquMail webmail

What it costs

The domain is a yearly fee at the registrar, payable by mada or credit card. The email is free: OquMail's free plan needs no card and includes 15 mailboxes, 3 domains, 5 GB per mailbox, webmail, IMAP/SMTP, delivery logs and a send API. That is a useful saving for a new establishment that would otherwise pay per user per month for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.

Pitfalls common in Saudi Arabia

• Bundled hosting email with no DKIM: quotes to corporates using Microsoft 365 land in junk.
• Choosing SSL on port 587 in Outlook. It must be STARTTLS.
• STC, Mobily and Zain connections block outbound port 25. Port 587 is all you need.
• Arabic-script mailbox names. Keep addresses plain ASCII and put the Arabic name in the display name.
• Leaving a Gmail on your Salla or Zid store and Maroof listing after the domain is live.

Common questions

Can a freelancer register .com.sa?

The registrar will ask for a CR or an approved licence; a Freelance Licence is generally accepted. If in doubt, start with a .com and add .com.sa later on the same OquMail workspace.

Does it work with Outlook and my phone?

Yes. Add an IMAP account with the settings above in Outlook, Apple Mail or the Gmail app.

What are the limits?

15 mailboxes, 3 domains, 5 GB per mailbox, no expiry.