Web development · Qatar
Built for Qatar, down to the checkout. Website development company for Qatar businesses
Marketlube designs and builds websites for businesses in Doha, Lusail and Al Wakrah from our office in Calicut, India, working in Doha hours over WhatsApp and video calls. We have no office in Qatar, so we put the country's rules in writing instead: QPay debit checkout, privacy notices under Law No. 13 of 2016, the e-commerce law's contact block and Arabic laid out right to left.
Concept build · Qirmiz, a contracting company website for Doha
Concept build · Bunood Legal, a law firm website for Doha
Concept build · Qirmiz on a phone
Concept build · Qirmiz, a contracting company website for Doha / Concept build · Bunood Legal, a law firm website for Doha
Who we are, before the first Doha call.
Marketlube is a web and marketing team in Calicut, Kerala. We have no office, no +974 number and no licence in Qatar, and we would rather you knew that before the first call than after it. We build for businesses in Qatar from Calicut, and we plan for the country's own rules from the first brief.
A Qatar site is not a Dubai site with the flag changed. Many shoppers pay with local debit cards over NAPS and QPay, and that checkout opens as a full page, not inside your site. Every enquiry form needs a privacy notice under Qatar's data protection law, the e-commerce law asks for your commercial register details on the site, and a 2016 ministry circular asks for Arabic on prices and product information. Qatar also counts 4.75 million mobile connections for 3.13 million people, so we design every page for the phone first and put all of this in your written quote.
Calicut is two and a half hours ahead of Doha all year, with no clock changes, so a 9:00 call in Doha is 11:30 at our desk. We work over video calls, shared links and WhatsApp, and owners from Kerala, part of an Indian community in Qatar that India's ambassador put above 830,000 in July 2026, can brief and review in Malayalam as easily as in English.
What a Qatar business website has to handle.
NAPS and QPay debit checkout
NAPS/QPay is Qatar's local online card option, usually for debit cards, and it works in QAR only. The shopper enters card details and a one-time code on the QPay page, and that page must open as a full browser redirect, not inside an iframe. We build the hand-off and the return page so a booking or order survives the trip.
Source: Tap Payments developer docs, NAPS/QPay, read 27 Oct 2026
A gateway licensed by Qatar Central Bank
Sadad and SkipCash are Qatar-based payment providers licensed by Qatar Central Bank, and both offer online payment gateways to merchants. Your business signs with the gateway or its bank; we connect the checkout, payment links and wallet buttons it offers. We never take or hold the payments ourselves.
Source: The Peninsula, Dukhan Bank signs MoUs with Sadad and SkipCash, read 27 Oct 2026
Withholding tax on a team abroad
Qatar applies 5% withholding tax to service fees paid to non-residents with no permanent establishment in Qatar, including services performed abroad but used in Qatar. The payer remits it by the 16th of the next month. Paying a Calicut team for a website can fall under this, so bring your accountant in before the first invoice.
Source: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Qatar withholding taxes, read 27 Oct 2026
Who you are, on every page
Article 51 of the Electronic Commerce and Transactions Law (Decree-Law No. 16 of 2010) asks a provider to keep its name, address, contact details including email, commercial register details and any licensing authority easily accessible. Regulated professions add their professional body and title (Article 52). We build that block into the footer, with your CR number.
Source: WIPO Lex, Decree-Law No. 16 of 2010 (unofficial English translation), read 27 Oct 2026
Order terms before the buy button
Before an order, the law asks for the main features, the price and whether tax and delivery are included, payment and delivery arrangements, how long the offer holds and any right to cancel (Article 55). Shoppers must be able to fix input errors and get a prompt acknowledgement (Article 56). Unless agreed otherwise, a consumer may cancel within three days of the contract if the provider has not yet fully performed it and the goods are unused (Article 57), and may cancel for a refund if delivery is more than 30 days late (Article 58).
Source: WIPO Lex, Decree-Law No. 16 of 2010 (unofficial English translation), read 27 Oct 2026
A privacy notice on every form
Qatar's Law No. 13 of 2016 needs consent or a listed lawful purpose for processing personal data, and tells the controller to say who it is, why the data is processed and who receives it, before processing. So every enquiry, booking and admissions form links its notice. Sites aimed at children need a notice on children's data and a parent's approval first, which matters for schools and academies.
Source: DLA Piper, Data Protection Laws of the World: Qatar, read 27 Oct 2026
Marketing consent, unticked
The guidelines under Qatar's data protection law call for explicit consent to direct marketing, given by a clear action and easy to withdraw, so pre-ticked boxes may not count. We keep newsletter, SMS and WhatsApp opt-ins unticked and separate from the enquiry button.
Source: Clyde & Co, New regulatory guidelines on the Qatar personal data law, read 27 Oct 2026
Arabic for prices and product details
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce's Circular No. 5 of 2016 made Arabic the main language for invoices, service lists and product labels, and asks for Arabic on product information, prices, adverts and warranty statements, with another language allowed alongside. It does not name websites, so for a consumer site we plan Arabic prices, terms and product details. We lay those pages out right to left; the words come from a native Arabic writer, never machine translation.
Source: Gulf Times, MEC makes Arabic mandatory for businesses, read 27 Oct 2026
.qa or .com.qa
Qatar's Communications Regulatory Authority opens .qa and the Arabic .قطر to all, keeps .com.qa for companies registered in Qatar and .net.qa for Qatar-registered ICT firms, and reserves .gov.qa, .mil.qa, .edu.qa and .sch.qa for official bodies, schools and colleges. Names are bought through a CRA-accredited registrar. We register yours in your company's own account, and check eligibility with the registrar first.
Source: CRA Qatar, Domains: Registrants, read 27 Oct 2026
Doha, Lusail and Al Wakrah.
Doha
Nearly all of the web firms listed for Qatar give a Doha address, so a Doha buyer compares many quotes before choosing one. Doha sites tend to need English and Arabic pages, QPay checkout or booking deposits, and a branch map that matches the address in the footer. If your sector wants hosting in the country, Microsoft Azure's Qatar Central and Google Cloud's me-central1 regions are both in Doha. Our own Doha work so far is social media: the Instagram launch for Blaze Electromechanical, an MEP and HVAC contractor.
Lusail
Lusail is the newer planned city just north of Doha. For a firm opening or moving an office there, the new address, map pin and commercial register details must change everywhere at once, since the e-commerce law asks for them on the site. We keep those details in one place so a move is a single edit.
Al Wakrah
Al Wakrah sits on the coast south of Doha. A business there that serves nearby homes and shops needs clear service areas and delivery zones, Arabic for customers who search in Arabic, and photos the owner's own team takes, with the consent of anyone shown in them and of the families whose homes appear.
Concept builds for Doha.
Concept builds are working homepages we designed and built for fictional brands. For Qatar: Qirmiz, a contracting company website for Doha and Bunood Legal, a law firm website for Doha. None of them is a client, and every page of every demo says so. See every concept build.
Prices in Qatari riyals.
- Business websiteCustom design, up to 8 pages · 4 to 8 weeksfrom QAR 8,000
- Next.js website with a CMSHeadless CMS, up to 15 pages · 8 to 14 weeksfrom QAR 15,000
- Website care planBilled yearly · starts within a weekfrom QAR 500 a month
Qatar has no VAT in force, so none is added; if VAT arrives, these figures stay before tax. Your written quote lists what the project includes: the payment gateway it connects, the Arabic pages and who writes them, the legal blocks above, and meetings in Doha hours.
Five steps. No surprises.
Every stage has an owner, a deliverable and a sign-off, all agreed with you before it starts.
Book a discovery callA first call about how Qatar pays
We start on WhatsApp or a video call between 7:00 and 16:00 Doha time, our 9:30 to 18:30. We ask who buys, whether they pay by QPay debit, card or a Fawran deposit, and whether you sell to consumers, which decides how much Arabic the site needs.
A quote with the tax settled
The quote lists the pages, the Arabic pages and their writer, the gateway, the Article 51 contact block and the .qa or .com.qa name. It also says how the 5% withholding tax is handled, so your accountant sees it before the first invoice.
Arabic prices in the first draft
Circular No. 5 asks for Arabic on prices and product details, so the first designs already show Arabic prices, terms and product pages, right to left. You review them on a phone link and sign off each round in writing.
Build and test checkout
We build the site and run QPay's full-page redirect and the return page in test mode until an order survives the trip, then add the privacy notices, unticked consent boxes and footer details.
Live on your accounts
The site launches on the .qa or .com.qa name registered to your company, with every login handed over. The care plan covers updates, backups and fixes, and a new CR number or address is one edit that reaches every page.
Why Qatar firms hire a Calicut team.
No Doha address to borrow
We have no office, +974 number or licence in Qatar, and our Calicut address sits beside the questions below. If a team across the table matters most, Doha has many; if work you can open matters more, start with our Doha concept builds.
Qatar's rules in the quote
QPay checkout, the Article 51 contact block, Article 55 order terms, privacy notices and unticked consent are line items in your quote, not things you find missing after launch.
Arabic where the circular asks
Arabic prices, terms and product details are planned in the first draft, not added after launch. Our Arabic client work so far is design, and we don't write Arabic copy ourselves; a native writer does, and our guide to Arabic-English website design explains how.
Yours from day one
Your domain, hosting, analytics and code sit in your company's accounts from the start. If you ever move on, you take the whole site with you.
Website development for Qatar, answered.
The team is in Calicut, India
1414, 4th Floor, Phase 1, HiLITE Business ParkKozhikode, Kerala 673014Mon–Sat · 9:30 am to 6:30 pm
Does Qatar charge VAT on a website project?
Not today: Qatar has no VAT or sales tax in force, and PwC expects a 5% VAT under the GCC framework with no date set. Separately, on 6 May 2026 the Council of Ministers approved a draft e-invoicing law, which still needs the Shura Council and the Amir. There is no official start date yet; if your site issues invoices, we plan for e-invoicing once the rules are published.
Do I have to withhold tax when I pay a web team in India?
You may. Qatar applies 5% withholding tax to service fees paid to non-residents without a permanent establishment in Qatar, even when the work is done abroad, and the payer remits it by the 16th of the next month. Treaty relief is normally claimed back afterwards, though since 16 Mar 2026 approved Trusted Entity payers can apply it at source. Ask your accountant; we agree in the written quote how it is handled.
Which payment methods should a Qatar website accept?
Local debit cards over NAPS and QPay, alongside Visa and Mastercard. Himyan, the national card QCB launched in 2024, runs over NAPS and works on local online shops through QPay, and since June 2025 Himyan cardholders can use Apple Pay on the web too. Some QCB-licensed gateways, such as Dibsy, also offer payment links you can send on WhatsApp. For deposits within Qatar, QCB's Fawran service moves money between local bank accounts by mobile number, at any hour, up to a per-transfer cap.
Does my website have to be hosted in Qatar?
For an ordinary business website, the sources we read set no general rule that it must be hosted in Qatar, though transfers out of the country need a lawful purpose and banking, health and government regulators may set their own terms. If you want hosting in the country, Microsoft Azure's Qatar Central and Google Cloud's me-central1 regions are in Doha; AWS has no Qatar region. Firms in the Qatar Financial Centre follow the separate QFC Data Protection Regulations.
Does my website need to be in Arabic?
For consumer businesses, Circular No. 5 of 2016 asks for Arabic on prices, product details and adverts, with another language allowed alongside. It does not name websites, but the safe reading is Arabic prices, terms and product details. Law No. 7 of 2019 on the Arabic language goes further for ministries, government bodies and educational and public institutions, so schools, colleges and government suppliers should plan Arabic-first or fully bilingual sites. A B2B site for an English-speaking audience can often start in English and add Arabic later.
Can I use .qa instead of .com.qa?
The CRA's registrant rules open .qa to all, while .com.qa is for companies and businesses registered in Qatar, so you need your Qatar CR for it. A 2021 notice moved company-related .qa names to .com.qa, which sits uneasily with today's wording, so we confirm with the registrar before you buy. Either way, the name is registered to your company, not to us.
What hours do you keep for a Doha business?
Qatar keeps UTC+3 all year, two and a half hours behind Calicut, so our 9:30 to 18:30 day runs from 7:00 to 16:00 in Doha. We take Sunday off, so a message sent then is answered on Monday morning. Calls run on WhatsApp or video with a written note after each, and we travel for a kick-off or a shoot when a project needs it.
Sources
- Tap Payments developer docs, NAPS/QPay, read 27 Oct 2026
- The Peninsula, Dukhan Bank signs MoUs with Sadad and SkipCash, read 27 Oct 2026
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Qatar withholding taxes, read 27 Oct 2026
- WIPO Lex, Decree-Law No. 16 of 2010 (unofficial English translation), read 27 Oct 2026
- DLA Piper, Data Protection Laws of the World: Qatar, read 27 Oct 2026
- Clyde & Co, New regulatory guidelines on the Qatar personal data law, read 27 Oct 2026
- Gulf Times, MEC makes Arabic mandatory for businesses, read 27 Oct 2026
- CRA Qatar, Domains: Registrants, read 27 Oct 2026
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Qatar other taxes, read 27 Oct 2026
- EY, Qatar approves draft e-invoicing law and implementing regulations, read 27 Oct 2026
- QNA, Qatar Central Bank enables first fintech direct integration with NAPS and QPay, read 27 Oct 2026
- Gulf Times, QCB launches Himyan debit card, read 27 Oct 2026
- Gulf Times, QCB brings Apple Pay to its Himyan cardholders, read 27 Oct 2026
- The Peninsula, QCB grants Paywise (Dibsy) a licence, read 27 Oct 2026
- Dibsy, payments and payment links, read 27 Oct 2026
- QNA, QCB launches Fawran instant payment service, read 27 Oct 2026
- DLA Piper, Data Protection Laws of the World: Qatar Financial Centre, read 27 Oct 2026
- Shura Council, Law No. 7 of 2019 on protecting the Arabic language, read 27 Oct 2026
- DataReportal, Digital 2026: Qatar, read 27 Oct 2026
- Microsoft Learn, Azure regions list, read 27 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia, Arabia Standard Time, read 27 Oct 2026
- The Peninsula, Indian community bids farewell to Ambassador Vipul, read 27 Oct 2026
Website development for Qatar
Let's build your website.
Tell us what the site has to do and who it's for. A strategist replies within one working day, on WhatsApp or a call in Doha hours.
Every rupee you spend with us has to earn its keep.
