Madriss vs Drahim vs Masarif — which Saudi budget app fits how you pay?
Three apps, three philosophies. Drahim connects to your banks through Open Banking. Masarif has you type each purchase. Madriss reads the purchase alert your bank already sends you — on your phone, without a bank login. Here's how they differ, and who each one suits.
Last checked 20 September 2026 against each app's own App Store, Google Play and website listings. We make Madriss — read this as a builder's honest map of the landscape, not a neutral review, and check the sources at the bottom yourself.
You want every account in one place
Balances, transfers, salary, spending — all consolidated by linking your banks through SAMA-licensed Open Banking. It also invests for you in Sharia-compliant portfolios, which nothing else here does.
Drahim on the App Store →You want a free, offline manual tracker
On Android, with your data on your device and your own Google Drive — and you don't mind entering each purchase yourself. Simple, bilingual, no account needed.
Masarif on Google Play →You want purchases to log themselves — mada included
Without handing anyone a bank login, and you're on iPhone. Set up two automations once; every card tap and online checkout records itself from the alert your bank already sends.
Madriss on the App Store →| Drahim | Masarif | Madriss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How purchases get in | Bank connection via SAMA-licensed Open Banking | You enter each one | Your bank's purchase SMS and Apple Pay taps, parsed on your iPhone |
| Bank login or account linking | YesConsented, revocable Open Banking access | No | NoNever asks for credentials |
| mada tap-to-pay logged automatically | YesFrom the bank feed | Manual | YesFrom the bank's SMS |
| Online, in-app & subscriptions | Yes | Manual | Yes |
| Cash purchases | ManualSees the ATM withdrawal, not what you bought | Manual | Manual |
| Account balances & transfers | Yes | No | NoPurchases only |
| Where your transaction data lives | Drahim's serversSAMA-licensed provider | Your devicePlus your own Google Drive if you turn on sync | Your iPhoneBank SMS text is never uploaded. Optional account backup for the transactions themselves |
| Arabic | Yes | YesFull right-to-left | YesArabic-first — including Arabic bank alerts |
| Platforms | iPhone & Android | AndroidGoogle Play | iPhone (iOS 17+)Android in development |
| Price | Free appDrahim Plus subscription — 96 SAR for the first year at the time of writing; investing fees from 0.25% a year | FreeCore features | FreeAutomatic logging included |
| Investing | YesCMA-authorised portfolios | — | — |
| Splitting expenses with friends | — | — | YesQattah groups |
| Setup | Link each bankA few minutes per bank | None | Two guided Shortcuts automationsAbout two minutes |
"—" means the feature isn't listed on the app's store page as of 20 September 2026. Drahim and Masarif are trademarks of their respective owners; Madriss is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.
The real difference: where your data goes
Open Banking is the most complete way to see your money — balances, transfers, salary, everything — and Drahim was the first Saudi app licensed by SAMA to offer it. It's regulated and consent-based. The trade-off is structural: for it to work, a copy of your transaction history has to live with a third party.
Manual trackers avoid that entirely, at the cost of your time and your memory — every purchase you forget to type is a purchase your budget never sees.
Madriss sits in between. It only ever sees the purchase alerts your bank already texts you, reads them on your phone, and keeps the message text there. The price of that is scope: it sees purchases, not balances.
What Madriss doesn't do
- No balances, transfers or salary. Purchases only — if you want the whole-account picture, that's Drahim's job.
- Cash is manual. There's no alert for a cash purchase, so there's nothing to capture.
- iPhone only for now, on iOS 17 or later. Android is in development.
- The bank SMS has to arrive on the same iPhone, and the first-time setup is two Shortcuts automations — guided, about two minutes.
Frequently asked
Is Open Banking safe?
Yes. In Saudi Arabia it's regulated by SAMA, it's consent-based, and you can revoke access. The question is less about safety than preference: some people are happy to consolidate everything with a licensed provider; others would rather no third party hold their transaction history at all. Madriss exists for the second group.
Can I use Madriss alongside Drahim?
Yes. They don't conflict — Drahim reads your bank feed, Madriss reads the SMS your bank sends you. Some people use Drahim for the whole-picture view and Madriss for day-to-day budgeting with the Dynamic Island prompt.
Why compare against Masarif rather than another manual tracker?
Because it's the manual tracker most often recommended for Saudi Arabia. The manual-entry column applies to most trackers of that kind, so the comparison holds for whichever one you're weighing.
Where do these facts come from?
Each app's own App Store or Google Play listing and, for Drahim's pricing, drahim.sa — all linked below and checked on 20 September 2026. If something has changed, email us and we'll correct it.
Sources
- Drahim: Manage & Grow Finances — App Store listing
- Drahim — Google Play listing
- drahim.sa — Drahim Plus pricing and investing fees
- Al Rajhi Bank — Drahim's Open Banking licence from SAMA
- Masarif: Expense Money Manager — Google Play listing
- Madriss: Money & Budget — App Store listing
- Madriss privacy policy
Try the third way
Free on the App Store. No bank login. Your next tap-to-pay logs itself.
Download Madriss