Sarwa vs Wahed Invest: automated investing, or automated investing that's also halal?

Sarwa vs Wahed Invest at a glance

Feature	Sarwa	Wahed Invest
Regulator	FSRA, ADGM — Category 3C licence	FSRA, ADGM — Islamic Financial Business, Category 3C licence for Sharia-compliant activities
Sharia certification	Not a certified Islamic platform — no Islamic Window endorsement from the FSRA	✅ Every portfolio screened and certified by an independent Sharia board
Management fee (Invest)	Tiered 0.40%–0.85% annually depending on balance, with a $7/month minimum fee floor for smaller accounts (waived for the first 3 months)	0.99% annually up to $250,000, then 0.49% above that; no fee on balances under $100
Minimum to start	No minimum for Invest; $500 for Sarwa Trade	No practical minimum — accounts under $100 aren't charged at all
Portfolio holdings	Conventional global ETF portfolios (equities, bonds, gold)	Halal-screened stocks, sukuk (Islamic bonds), and gold
Other products	Sarwa Trade (self-directed US stocks), Sarwa Save (high-yield cash, up to ~3.7% estimated)	Primarily automated portfolios; a savings-style product in some markets
Withdrawal / account fees	No account opening, closing, custody, or withdrawal fees	No deposit or withdrawal fees from Wahed (your bank may still charge for transfers)
Best for	Cost-conscious investors who don't need Sharia certification, or want trading + savings in one app	Investors who need genuine, certified Sharia compliance as a non-negotiable

Fees sourced directly from Sarwa's and Wahed's published pricing pages as of July 2026 — both platforms revise pricing periodically, so confirm the current schedule before funding an account.

The real difference isn't the fee, it's what's inside the portfolio

It's tempting to treat this as a straightforward fee comparison, and we'll do that further down. But the more important distinction happens before fees even enter the picture: what Sarwa and Wahed are actually allowed to put in your portfolio.

Sarwa builds conventional, globally diversified portfolios using low-cost ETFs, a mix that typically includes standard equity index funds, bonds, and sometimes gold, selected purely on cost and diversification grounds. Nothing wrong with that; it's a sensible, well-tested approach. But Sarwa is explicit on its own pricing page that it "does not hold an Islamic Window endorsement from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA)." In plain terms: the platform itself is not certified as Sharia-compliant, and its default portfolios aren't screened for halal status.

Wahed exists specifically to solve that problem. It holds an Islamic Financial Business licence from the ADGM, a category built around Sharia-compliant regulated activities, and every portfolio is constructed from halal-screened equities, sukuk, and gold, reviewed by a panel of Islamic scholars. If you've ever tried to build a genuinely halal portfolio yourself, screening out interest-bearing debt, conventional insurance, and non-compliant sectors, you'll know how much manual research that saves.

Fees, worked through on realistic numbers

For readers where Sharia compliance isn't the deciding factor, here's what each platform actually costs at different balances, using each provider's own published pricing.

Sarwa's Invest product charges a tiered annual management fee — roughly 0.85% on lower balances, stepping down to around 0.40–0.50% on larger balances (confirm current thresholds directly with Sarwa) — subject to a $7/month minimum fee floor (waived for the first 3 months). The $7/month floor only matters at small balances, where the percentage fee would otherwise fall below $7; above that point, you pay the percentage rate, not a flat $7. On a $2,000 portfolio, the percentage fee might fall below $7/month, so the floor applies. On a $50,000 portfolio, the 0.40–0.85% tier applies and is well above $7/month.

Wahed's fee is 0.99% annually on the first $250,000, dropping to 0.49% above that threshold, with no fee at all on balances under $100. On a $10,000 portfolio, that's $99/year. Whether Sarwa or Wahed is cheaper at a given balance depends on where Sarwa's tier breakpoints currently sit — confirm both schedules directly before assuming one is cheaper.

The pattern that emerges: Sarwa's tiered percentage fee falls as your balance grows, with a $7/month floor protecting against very small balances paying less than that. Wahed's percentage-based fee also steps down, but at a higher threshold ($250,000). Neither is more or less expensive across the board — it depends on where your balance sits relative to each platform's current tier breakpoints, so confirm both schedules directly before deciding.

Regulation and where your money actually sits

Both platforms are regulated by the same body: the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), and both hold a Category 3C licence, the category covering firms that manage client assets and arrange custody. The difference is the specific endorsement: Wahed's licence is explicitly for Sharia-compliant regulated activities, structured as an Islamic Financial Business, while Sarwa's is a conventional Category 3C licence without that endorsement.

In practical terms, both platforms use third-party custodians to hold client assets separately from their own balance sheets, the protection that matters most if either company were to run into financial difficulty. Neither is a bank, and neither offers UAE deposit insurance the way a local bank account would, standard for this category of investment platform, not a red flag specific to either provider.

Beyond the headline product: what else you get

Sarwa has grown into more than a robo-advisor. Sarwa Trade lets you self-direct US stock and ETF purchases for $1 per trade or 0.25% of the order amount, with a $500 account minimum, useful if you eventually want to pick individual stocks alongside your automated portfolio. Sarwa Save offers a high-yield cash account with an estimated return of up to 3.7%, no lock-up period, and a halal option, a genuinely useful place to park an emergency fund while it earns something rather than sitting idle. If you're weighing where to keep short-term savings, our UAE expat emergency fund guide covers this decision in more depth.

Wahed is more tightly focused on its core halal investing product, with less of a multi-product ecosystem in the UAE market. What it lacks in breadth it makes up for in specificity: if halal investing is the entire reason you're looking at a robo-advisor, Wahed's singular focus on getting that right is arguably a feature, not a limitation.

Matching the platform to what you actually need

You need certified Sharia compliance, full stop

Wahed Invest. This isn't a close call. Sarwa's own pricing page states plainly that it doesn't hold an Islamic Window endorsement, so if halal certification is a requirement rather than a preference, Wahed is the only one of the two that qualifies.

You're not constrained by Sharia requirements and want the lowest cost

Often Sarwa, but check the numbers for your balance. Sarwa's tiered fee (with a $7/month minimum floor at small balances) is often competitive against Wahed's percentage structure, and the option to add Sarwa Trade or Sarwa Save under one login is genuinely convenient — but confirm current fee tiers for your specific balance rather than assuming.

You're just starting out with a small, regular monthly contribution

Either works, run the numbers for your specific amount. At small balances the two platforms land close enough together that the Sharia-compliance question, not the fee difference, should usually decide it. If you're investing AED 1,000 a month or less, see our dedicated guide on investing AED 1,000/month from the UAE for how small, regular contributions compound over time regardless of which platform you choose.

You want to compare against a third option too

StashAway is the other major robo-advisor UAE expats commonly weigh against these two, and we've covered that three-way decision directly in StashAway vs Sarwa vs Wahed if you want the fuller picture before deciding.

Two mistakes worth avoiding

Assuming any UAE robo-advisor is automatically halal. It isn't a safe default. Always check the specific certification, not just the general reputation of the platform or the fact that it's based in a Muslim-majority country. Sarwa is a well-regulated, reputable platform, and still isn't certified Sharia-compliant by default.

Choosing based on fees alone at very small balances. The dirham difference between Sarwa's fee (percentage or the $7/month minimum floor, whichever is greater) and Wahed's 0.99% fee on a $3,000 portfolio is a few dollars a month, not enough to justify picking a platform that doesn't otherwise fit your requirements. Get the underlying suitability right first; optimise fees once your balance is large enough for the difference to matter.

EW+ View: the plain verdict

This comparison resolves faster than most. If Sharia compliance is non-negotiable, Wahed is your answer and the fee comparison barely matters. If it isn't a requirement, Sarwa is usually the more cost-effective and more flexible option once your balance grows, thanks to its lower tiered fee at most balance levels and its wider product range. Either way, the mistake to avoid is picking based on brand recognition alone, check the certification and run your own numbers before committing.

A few things worth clarifying