Cost to Build a Healthcare App Like Sehhaty: Features, Tech, and Compliance

“Healthcare in your hands makes life easier and people notice the difference.” The rising demand for healthcare apps in Saudi Arabia has created substantial business opportunities and is expected to reach $412.25 billion by 2032. One app that has become a household name in the region is Sehhaty. 

With over 24 million users, Sehhaty proved that Saudis are ready for digital-first care. Launched by the Ministry of Health (MoH), it achieved what many thought was impossible: it unified millions of records, dozens of services, and thousands of clinics into one single icon on a smartphone.

The government’s goal is clear: 100% of the population must have a unified digital health record.

The GCC healthcare app development is currently seeing a gold rush for Health Super-Apps. Building in the Kingdom means aligning with Saudi Vision 2030. If you build an app like Sehhaty that helps bridge the gap between patients and providers, you are a partner in a national mission.

Understanding the Sehhaty Business Model

Gone are the days when a simple “Find a Doctor” app would suffice. Today, the bar for entry is Government Integration. If your app doesn’t talk to national systems like Nafath, users will simply move on.

Today, a healthcare app development company in Saudi Arabia must be an expert in these local protocols to even get off the starting line. What makes the cost to build a healthcare app like Sehhaty so variable? It’s the complexity of the features under the hood.

⭐User Onboarding & Digital ID (Nafath/Absher)

You can’t just have a Sign Up button. In Saudi Arabia, medical apps require Nafath (National Single Sign-On) integration. This verifies every user’s identity against government records. It’s a massive security win, but it requires specific technical expertise to implement correctly.

⭐Appointment Management

The engine of the app is its real-time booking system. It handles:

• Primary Care Clinics: Real-time slots at government centers.
• Virtual Consultations: Seamlessly switching between a physical visit and a video call.
• Smart Reminders: Automated nudges that keep no-show rates low.

⭐Telemedicine Hub

A HIPAA-compliant healthcare app development cost breakdown always allocates a huge chunk to Telemedicine. You need:

• End-to-End Encrypted Video: Ensuring patient-doctor privacy.
• Secure File Sharing: For swapping X-rays or lab results mid-call.
• Virtual Triage: An AI-powered symptom checker that acts as a digital front door.

⭐The “Health Wallet”

This is the user’s digital filing cabinet. It holds Lab Results, E-Sick Leaves, and Prescriptions. The complexity here lies in the Read/Write permissions—making sure the data is accessible to the patient but editable only by authorized clinicians.

⭐Wellness & Tracking

Sehhaty isn’t just for sick people; it’s for healthy people too. By integrating with Apple Health or Google Fit, the app tracks steps, sleep, and vitals. This preventative feature is a massive trend in 2026, helping users avoid the hospital altogether.

⭐E-Pharmacy & Lab Integration

Finally, the app connects to the real world. Integrating with the Wasfaty system allows patients to walk into any pharmacy and pick up their meds using just their ID. This requires complex API connections between your app, the doctor’s desk, and the pharmacy’s inventory.

How Much Does it Cost to Build an App Like Sehhaty?

In the Saudi healthcare space, “good enough” doesn’t exist anymore. Your budget needs to reflect the level of trust and functionality you’re providing to the patient.

1. The “Saudi Integration” Premium

To be a real player in KSA, your app has to talk to the government.

• Nafath (National SSO): Integrating with the national identity system is mandatory for security.
• Wasfaty/E-Pharmacy: Linking your app to the national prescription network so patients can pick up meds anywhere.
• Insurance (nphies): Real-time eligibility checks and claim processing.

Cost Impact: These integrations alone can add SAR 40,000 to SAR 75,000 to your development phase.

2. PDPL & Data Sovereignty

Under the Saudi Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL), healthcare data is classified as sensitive. This means:

• Local Hosting: You cannot host this data on a random server in the US. You must use Saudi-based regions like AWS Riyadh or Oracle Cloud Jeddah.
• Security Audits: You’ll need rigorous penetration testing and data encryption that meets National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) standards.

Cost Impact: Expect to spend 15–20% of your total budget just on security and legal compliance.

3. The AI & Wellness Layer

In 2026, a Sehhaty-like app is expected to be smart.

• AI Symptom Checkers: Using LLMs to help patients triage themselves before they even book a doctor.
• IoT Sync: Pulling data from Apple Watches or Oura rings to track vitals like heart rate and blood oxygen.

Cost Impact: Adding a custom AI layer can increase your backend costs by SAR 100,000+.

4. Nafath/Absher Compliance

To develop an app like Sehhaty, you cannot rely on simple email logins. National security requires integration with Nafath (National Single Sign-On). It verifies the user’s identity via their National ID or Iqama instantly.

You need a license from the Technology Control Company (TCC) to access these APIs.

Cost Impact: This involves both a setup fee and a small per-verification cost (approx. SAR 15 per request).

5. Arabic-First UX/UI

Saudi Arabia is an “Arabic-First” market. This is about RTL (Right-to-Left) optimization. Here’s a checklist for arabic apps.

Designing for RTL requires mirroring your entire interface, ensuring fonts like Tajawal or Cairo are legible, and respecting cultural privacy norms (e.g., gender-specific medical sections).

Cost Impact: Proper RTL design takes 25% longer than standard LTR (Left-to-Right) design.

6. E-Prescription & WASFATY Integration

The true power to make an app like Sehhaty lies in its utility. Integrating with the Wasfaty network allows patients to:

• Receive digital prescriptions from their doctor.
• Pick up medications at over 5,000 participating pharmacies in 170+ cities.

Cost Impact: Custom API development for real-time pharmacy stock and insurance (nphies) checks is a significant development milestone.

Operational & Maintenance Costs: The “Hidden” 20%

Most stakeholders focus on the launch date, but in the healthcare world, that’s just Day 1. In the Saudi market, maintenance typically consumes 15% to 20% of your initial development budget every single year.

Cloud Infrastructure:

Under Saudi law, patient data cannot leave the Kingdom. This means you must use local data centers like AWS Riyadh, Oracle Cloud Jeddah, or STC Cloud. Hosting in Saudi regions is often 20–30% more expensive than US or EU regions due to high demand and specialized local infrastructure.

As your user base grows from 1,000 to 100,000, your monthly server bills can jump from SAR 4,000 to SAR 15,000+ ($1,100 – $4,000+).

Regulatory Updates:

The Saudi healthcare landscape moves fast. SDAIA and the Ministry of Health (MoH) frequently update data privacy protocols (PDPL) and integration standards. You need a technical team on standby to update your encryption, data audit logs, and API connections whenever a new circular is released.

Annual penetration testing is often mandatory to keep your medical license active.

24/7 Patient Support:

Healthcare never sleeps. If a patient can’t access their digital prescription at 3 AM, you need more than a chatbot. A professional support team that understands medical urgency is a major operational expense.

Many successful apps use a hybrid model—AI for basic FAQs and a specialized local team for medical escalations.

Ideal Tech Stack for HIPAA-compliant Healthcare App Development

To build an app like Sehhaty that is scalable and secure, your medical app development company in Saudi Arabia should recommend a modern, future-proof stack.

Flutter: The go-to for healthcare app development services in 2026 because it allows you to build for iOS, Android, and Web from a single codebase, saving you nearly 40% in dev costs.

Swift/Kotlin: Use these only if you need deep integration with high-performance health sensors (like hospital-grade wearables).

Python (FastAPI): Perfect for AI-readiness and fast data processing.

Go (Golang): If you expect millions of concurrent users (like Sehhaty during a national campaign), Go is the king of high-concurrency.

AI Layer (The Assistant): Integration of SARA-inspired AI models (Saudi AI Resource Assistant). These LLMs help with patient triage, symptom checking, and even translating complex medical jargon into simple Arabic for the patient.

Blockchain (Data Integrity): Using a private blockchain for EHR (Electronic Health Records) ensures that medical history is immutable and can be securely shared between different hospital systems without risk of tampering.

The Development Journey: Where Your Money Goes

Mobile app development companies in Saudi Arabia follows a strict lifecycle to ensure the app is actually allowed to launch on the App Store and Google Play.

1. Discovery & Compliance Mapping (15%)

Before a single line of code is written, you must map your app against MoH (Ministry of Health) and SDAIA regulations. This stage defines your how to build a healthcare app like Sehhaty strategy.

2. Design & Localization (10%)

This is where the Arabic-first UX comes to life. We focus on accessibility for everyone—from tech-savvy Gen Z to the elderly who need simple, large-button interfaces.

3. Development & Integration (50%)

The “heavy lifting.” This phase is API-heavy, focusing on connecting your app to Nafath, Wasfaty, and various payment gateways like Mada.

4. Security Audit & Pen-Testing (15%)

For HIPAA-compliant healthcare app development, this is non-negotiable. You’ll need a third-party security firm to try and “hack” your app to find vulnerabilities. This is a mandatory step for obtaining a medical license in KSA.

5. Launch & SFDA Licensing (10%)

The final hurdle is the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA). If your app provides diagnoses or treatment plans, it may be classified as a “Software as a Medical Device” (SaMD), requiring specific certification before you can go live.

How to Get Funding & Build an App Like Sehhaty?

Building a full Sehhaty clone from scratch is expensive. To attract investors, you shouldn’t build everything at once. You should build for Series A.

Start with “Sehhaty Lite”- Launch an MVP that focuses on Preventative Health rather than complex curative care. Tracking steps, sleep, and heart rates (preventative) has much lower legal liability and lower initial costs than virtual surgeries or complex diagnostics (curative).

Prove user engagement first. Investors want to see that Saudis are actually using your app before they fund the multi-million-riyal “Super-App” phase.

• Align with Vision 2030: Explicitly state how your app supports the Health Sector Transformation Program.
• Focus on Local Content: Show that your development and data are “Made in Saudi” (Local Content requirement).
• Apply for RDIA Grants: The Research, Development, and Innovation Authority (RDIA) offers grants for Health & Wellness tech.
• Leverage SVC & PIF: The Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC) and Public Investment Fund (PIF) are actively backing health-tech that reduces the load on government hospitals.
• Secure an MoH Pilot: Even a small “Proof of Concept” with a single clinic makes you 10x more attractive to private VCs.

Conclusion: Is it Worth the Investment?

Building a healthcare app like Sehhaty in Saudi Arabia isn’t a “get rich quick” scheme. It’s a high-stakes, high-reward commitment. Instead, the real win is securing a seat at the table of a SAR 250 Billion+ healthcare transformation.

To build an app like Sehhaty in 2026,

• A Basic MVP might cost between SAR 56,000 and SAR 112,500 ($15,000 – $30,000).
• A Feature-Rich Platform usually lands between SAR 112,500 and SAR 225,000 ($30,000 – $60,000).
• A Full-Scale Super-App can easily cross the SAR 375,000 mark ($100,000+).

At Apptunix, we act as your boots-on-the-ground strategic partners. We’ve been in the trenches of the Middle East tech scene for years. From navigating the technical hurdles of Nafath integrations to ensuring your data architecture is 100% PDPL compliant, we’ve got the local playbook ready to go.

With over 2,500 digital solutions shipped globally and a heavy footprint in the UAE and Saudi tech ecosystems, we know what works and what doesn’t. Our healthcare app development company focus on high-performance, AI-driven healthcare and the kind of high-security architecture that keeps regulators happy and patient data safe.

Ready to launch the Kingdom’s next big health success story?
Let’s jump on a call to map out your PDPL-compliant roadmap and get a realistic cost breakdown tailored to your vision.