Baraka

Baraka's fee schedule, last updated on 3 August 2026, is built around three plans: Standard is free, Premium costs USD 9.99 a month and Premium+ costs USD 19.99 a month (Premium+ is available on iOS only). The help centre lists different prices – USD 7.99 a month or USD 95.99 a year for Premium, USD 20 a month or USD 199.95 a year for Premium+ – so check the price in the app before you subscribe.

• US stocks and ETFs: one free trade a month on Standard, 12 on Premium and 25 on Premium+, then USD 1 per trade. Free trades do not apply to stocks, ADRs or OTC securities priced below USD 5. Stocks at or below USD 5 cost USD 1 plus USD 0.002 per share; ADRs and OTC securities at that price cost USD 1 plus USD 0.03 per share. Extended-hours trades cost USD 1 on every plan.
• US options: USD 1 per contract; Baraka says it absorbs regulatory and exchange fees.
• UAE shares: 0.15% on ADX and 0.28% on DFM, plus a DFM fee of AED 10 that Baraka does not charge itself.
• Gold and silver: no commission on buying or selling and no storage fee; minting, delivery and VAT are charged only on physical redemption.

The costs that add up sit around the trade. Funding from a UAE bank carries an FX and processing fee of 0.75% on Standard, 0.65% on Premium and 0.60% on Premium+, and 0.60% on deposits over USD 50,000. The help centre and clause 3.3 of the terms, by contrast, say Baraka charges no deposit or transfer fees; we record the fee schedule. There is no custody or account maintenance fee, but an inactivity fee of USD 1 a month applies to accounts holding less than USD 50 in cash and no open positions at month end. An FAQ on Baraka's website calls stock and ETF trades commission-free; the fee schedule does not support that, so we record the fee schedule.

Baraka Financial Limited is a DIFC company licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority since 2 June 2021 under reference F006586. The DFSA public register lists endorsements for retail clients, for holding or controlling client assets and for operating an Islamic Window, and showed no regulatory actions when we read it on 2 November 2026. Baraka itself describes the licence as Category 3C. The firm is a subsidiary of Baraka Technology Holding, registered in Abu Dhabi Global Market; we found no stock-exchange listing for either company and no published financial statements.

The structure matters more than the licence. Baraka's DFSA permissions include arranging deals and dealing in investments as agent, but US stocks, ETFs and bonds are executed and held by DriveWealth LLC, an SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA and SIPC member with which, according to the terms, every client also opens an account. For options, the terms name only a 'Regulated Third Party Provider'. Baraka states that SIPC covers up to USD 500,000 per client, including USD 250,000 for cash, and that DriveWealth adds excess cover beyond SIPC of up to USD 49 million for securities and USD 1 million for cash. SIPC protects against a broker's failure, not against market losses. We found no official source for an investor compensation scheme in the DIFC.

Baraka's terms also spell out the caveats: client money can sit with DriveWealth at a bank that is not approved under the DFSA's client money rules, or with Baraka in a segregated client money account at a UAE bank, in both cases possibly in an omnibus account. On 4 and 5 September 2026 an unauthorised party accessed data on DriveWealth's systems, according to Baraka; DriveWealth says it has no reason to believe that passwords or payment details were affected. A residual risk of failure remains with any broker.

Baraka's Islamic Window is recorded by its regulator: the DFSA public register lists the endorsement 'Operating an Islamic Window' for Baraka Financial Limited. According to Baraka, the window operates under the oversight of its own Shariah Supervisory Board. A certificate published on Baraka's website (reference AA/BFL/2026-01, issued on 7 August 2026 and valid until 6 August 2027) states that the board was constituted by Amanah Advisors; it is signed by Mufti Faraz Adam as chairman, Mufti Mirza Zain Baig and Mufti Mahmood Suliman.

By its own wording the certificate is narrow. It covers the screening methodology (Musaffa's equity screen with AAOIFI ratio thresholds), a permitted universe of US, ADX and DFM shares that pass the screen, fractional interests in them, allocated physical gold, the window's client money and the governance around all of this. ETFs and sukuk are not admitted as a class and need case-by-case approval by the board. Bonds, options, margin, securities lending, interest on client cash, payment for order flow and any offering of Baraka Crypto FZCO are expressly excluded. For window clients the certificate requires interest to be disabled on their client money, with any interest received given to charity in full.

The Sharia Screener in the app shows Musaffa ratings from C- to A+ for supported US stocks, ETFs and UAE stocks. Baraka itself states that the data comes from a third party, is for reference only and is not a fatwa, a Sharia ruling or personal religious advice. Brokaro does not rule on permissibility; if you need a personal ruling, ask a qualified scholar.

As far as we could find, Baraka is a mobile-only broker for trading: orders are placed in the iOS and Android app. The website carries market pages, news, research and a sign-in for watchlists, but we found no web or desktop order entry. The app is available in English and Arabic and holds 4.4 out of 5 from about 1,500 ratings on the UAE App Store (as of 2 November 2026).

For a long-term investor the toolset is complete enough: market, limit, stop and market-if-touched orders, good-till-cancelled orders, extended-hours trading on eligible US stocks and ETFs with limit orders (according to Baraka, pre-market 04:00–09:30 and after-hours 16:00–20:00 US Eastern time, which is 13:00–18:30 and 01:00–05:00 Gulf time while US standard time applies and one hour earlier during US daylight saving time), fractional shares from USD 1, Auto-Invest for regular purchases weekly, every two weeks or monthly, Auto-Deposit by debit card and a free dividend reinvestment plan. The Income Center tracks dividends and the income from Auto-Income, Baraka's opt-in securities lending.

Options are deliberately simple, according to the help centre: you can only buy calls and puts, with limit orders, after completing an options questionnaire, and Baraka closes positions before expiry because the contracts are physically settled. App Store release notes (versions 2.51.3 and 3.0.1) speak of 'advanced options strategies'; we found no such product described elsewhere. Short selling and CFDs are not offered, according to the help centre. Baraka's terms allow for margin lending through its US partner for eligible clients, but we found no margin product in the app description or the fee schedule. baraka AI, an assistant for prices, earnings and company data, comes with 5, 25 or 50 prompts depending on the plan. We found no API and no desktop workspace, which is the price of the simplicity.

Baraka advertises 10,000+ assets. The core is US stocks and ETFs, bought as whole or fractional shares through DriveWealth; Baraka stresses that clients own the underlying shares rather than CFDs. Around that sit:

• US equity options on 500+ US stocks: long calls and puts only, according to the help centre, exchange-traded, USD 1 per contract.
• US Treasuries and corporate bonds, most of them from around USD 1,000; we found no bond fee in the fee schedule, so bond costs remain unknown here.
• UAE shares on ADX and DFM, traded in AED from a separate GCC wallet without a separate investor number. The App Store listing says this is open to eligible UAE investors and coming soon for the rest of the GCC.
• Physical gold and silver through SafeGold Precious Metal FZCO, a DMCC-licensed company, stored in Brink's vaults in Dubai, from AED 15 per purchase and with delivery of bars within the UAE. The help centre limits gold to UAE residents with an Emirates ID, while the metals page says clients outside the UAE can still buy and hold. The metals page also calls silver live, while the help-centre answer 'Can I trade silver?' says it is not available yet.
• Private markets (baraka Access): pre-IPO deals through special purpose vehicles, for professional investors only and typically from USD 25,000.

What we did not find matters as much: mutual funds, forex, futures and a crypto product on getbaraka.com; short selling and CFDs are ruled out by the help centre. The Sharia certificate names a separate company, Baraka Crypto FZCO, but without a client-facing crypto page we do not count crypto. Non-US clients pay the 30% US withholding tax on US dividends, as Baraka's help centre notes.

Accounts are opened in the app: you confirm your phone number, enter your personal details and upload an ID (passport, identity card or driving licence) together with a GCC home address; UAE residents can also sign in with UAE Pass, and Baraka advertises sign-up with an Emirates ID. You must be at least 18, resident in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain or Kuwait – the countries Baraka's help centre lists – and not a US resident. Baraka also names nationalities it cannot onboard, among them Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Vietnam and Yemen. According to the terms, every client also opens an account with DriveWealth.

According to Baraka there is no minimum deposit to open an account, but instant deposits must be at least USD 50. The funding routes:

• Debit card, Apple Pay and Google Pay (Visa, Mastercard or Amex debit cards; credit cards are not accepted): credited at once, settled after 2–3 days. The help centre quotes gateway fees of 0.50% (above AED 1,050) to 1.65% for UAE cards and 2.45% for non-UAE cards; the fee schedule says the card transaction fee applies only to non-UAE cards and to local wallets such as Benefit, KNET and OmanNet, and that Baraka may receive part of it.
• Connect UAE Bank (open banking through Lean Technologies, regulated by the FSRA in ADGM) and bank transfer: 2–5 business days; your own bank may charge USD 15–35 for an international transfer.

The account has a USD wallet and an AED wallet, and the terms say conversions between the two are not supported. Withdrawals reach UAE banks in 1–3 business days and banks elsewhere in up to 5. The fee schedule lists USD 0 for withdrawals from the US wallet (FX fees aside) and AED 3.67 from the GCC wallet, while clause 3.4 of the terms still says the broker's bank charges a flat USD 25 on every withdrawal. Check the amount in the app before a larger withdrawal.

Research is better than the app's simplicity suggests. The fee schedule lists company reports from LSEG for every plan (the Premium page and clause 2.3 of the terms present LSEG research as a subscription benefit), with analyst ratings, 12-month price targets and stock scores, sentiment and ESG data, an investor calendar with earnings and dividend dates, themes and sector lists, and baraka AI for questions about prices and earnings. Baraka's help centre says it does not offer investment advice, and its terms describe the trading service as execution-only (clause 4).

Education consists of a Learn section, a glossary, a blog, market news and a daily newsletter in English and Arabic, plus calculators. Baraka says it offers short articles and newsletters rather than courses, and we found no demo account.

Support runs through the in-app chat and by email (support@getbaraka.com). One help-centre answer gives support hours of 11:00 to 23:00 UAE time, another advertises 24/7 support; Premium+ adds VIP support. We found no customer phone line. The help centre is available in Arabic and English, while the terms state that formal communications with Baraka must be in English. On the UAE App Store the app rates 4.4 out of 5 from about 1,500 ratings (as of 2 November 2026). Trustpilot blocked our request, so we cite no Trustpilot figure. Our support rating of 3.2 reflects reasonable channels; it stays lower because we found no customer phone line and the information on hours is contradictory.