Wahed vs StashAway Shariah (2026): Which Halal Robo Wins?

Malaysia has exactly two verified halal robo advisor options in 2026: Wahed Invest, the halal-native platform, and StashAway's Shariah Global Portfolio, the endorsed corner of a conventional platform. A third name sometimes mentioned, Raiz Malaysia, failed our verification: its domain did not resolve when checked on August 6, 2026. So the choice is binary, the two products are genuinely different in architecture, and the right answer depends on which trade-off you would rather live with. Every figure here comes from the two providers' Malaysian pages crawled on August 6, 2026.

The one-paragraph verdict

StashAway wins on price at most balances and on named-adviser disclosure. Wahed wins on compliance architecture, because a platform with no conventional products cannot route you into one. Cost-focused investors who trust their own discipline should take StashAway's Shariah portfolio; conviction investors who want the halal question settled at the platform level should take Wahed and accept the somewhat higher fee. Neither choice is wrong; they price different kinds of certainty.

Fees, side by side

Wahed charges a flat 0.79% per annum from RM100 to RM499,999, dropping to 0.39% above RM500,000, as an all-in wrap covering management and custody, plus RM1 per FPX or direct debit deposit. StashAway charges tiered management fees from 0.8% down to 0.2% as balances grow, with underlying ETF expenses around 0.2%, no sales charges, no deposit fees, and a RM5 minimum monthly fee that only matters for small dormant accounts. At small balances the two are close; as balances grow, StashAway's tiers pull ahead. On pure arithmetic, StashAway is the cheaper platform for most investors most of the time.

Compliance architecture: the real difference

This is the decision that matters more than the fee. Wahed is halal-native: every product on the platform is Shariah-compliant, so compliance is structural and requires nothing from you. Its gap is disclosure, since the Malaysian pages do not name local Shariah oversight (the global group maintains a published Shariah board). StashAway is the mirror image: disclosure is excellent, with Masryef Advisory, an SC-registered independent Shariah adviser, named on the product page with ongoing review, but the compliance is portfolio-level. Choose the Shariah Global Portfolio and stay in it, and you are fine; wander into the platform's conventional products and you are not. One product asks you to trust structure without named local scholars; the other gives you named oversight and asks for your discipline.

Portfolios and reach

Wahed offers six risk levels plus a dedicated physical gold portfolio, built from Shariah-compliant funds, with RM100 minimum entry. StashAway offers four Shariah risk levels built from Islamic-screened equity ETFs across US, developed and emerging markets, global sukuk and physical gold, with no minimum. StashAway's construction is more explicitly global, which is worth having when the rest of your wealth (EPF, property, local savings) is already concentrated in Malaysia; it also means more USD exposure and therefore more currency movement in your ringgit returns. Wahed's gold portfolio is the more direct option for savers who specifically want a standalone gold allocation.

Minimums, deposits and small-saver mechanics

For the RM100-a-month starter, both work, with different frictions. Wahed's RM100 minimum fits exactly, but the RM1 FPX deposit charge is 1% of a RM100 contribution, which argues for quarterly RM300 deposits instead. StashAway has no minimum and no deposit charge, but its RM5 monthly minimum fee penalises tiny stagnant balances, which argues for consistent funding. Funded steadily, either platform serves the beginner well; our RM100-a-month guide builds the full starter plan around these mechanics.

Where both lose to other routes

Keep the comparison honest by widening it. Self-directed investors with brokerage accounts get Malaysian and US halal index exposure through Eq8 Capital's ETFs at 0.40% a year, cheaper than either robo, at the cost of doing their own rebalancing and order management. Savers wanting human service can buy Shariah unit trusts through agents at much higher cost. And the biggest halal allocation most Malaysians will ever make is free: switching EPF to Simpanan Shariah carries no direct fee at all. The robos are the automation layer, not the whole plan; our route comparison prices all three open-market routes.

Service, reporting and the ownership experience

Day to day, the two feel similar: app-first onboarding with Malaysian ID, FPX funding, automatic rebalancing, and statements suitable for your own records and zakat reckoning. Neither gives you holding-level control; both give you risk-level control. Withdrawals are free and processed to your bank account on both platforms, which matters more than it sounds: the exit being clean and costless means neither platform holds your money hostage to its fee schedule, and switching later is administratively easy (though it realises whatever prices prevail that week). Support is in-app on both. The genuine experience difference is scope: Wahed's app contains only halal products, so browsing it never presents a compliance decision, while StashAway's app contains the full conventional shelf around your endorsed portfolio, which some users find noisy and others never notice.

Profile-by-profile verdicts

The halal-only purist: Wahed, without much debate; platform-level compliance is the product. The fee-optimiser with discipline: StashAway Shariah, and set the recurring deposit on day one. The globally under-diversified saver: StashAway Shariah, for the screened US, developed and emerging market reach. The gold-inclined: Wahed's dedicated gold portfolio. The absolute beginner with RM100 a month: either; Wahed if platform simplicity keeps you invested, StashAway if the no-minimum flexibility does. The self-directed cost-minimiser: neither; open a brokerage account and buy Eq8 ETFs at 0.40%. The common failure mode is not choosing the wrong robo; it is choosing correctly and then not funding it.

Frequently asked questions

Is StashAway's Shariah portfolio as halal as Wahed?

The Shariah Global Portfolio carries named, SC-registered endorsement from Masryef Advisory with ongoing review, which is strong verification. The difference is scope: Wahed's compliance covers the whole platform, StashAway's covers the endorsed portfolios only. Inside the endorsed portfolios, both are verified halal products.

Which is cheaper?

StashAway at most balances: 0.2% to 0.8% tiered versus Wahed's 0.79% flat below RM500,000. Wahed's 0.39% tier above RM500,000 narrows the gap at the top end. Include the small frictions: RM1 per deposit at Wahed, RM5 minimum monthly fee at StashAway.

Can I hold both?

Nothing prevents it, and a Wahed gold portfolio alongside a StashAway Shariah equity-heavy portfolio is a coherent pairing. Two apps means two zakat line items and two sets of statements; consolidation has administrative value, so hold both for a reason, not by accident.

Do these portfolios pay dividends?

Both are total-return managed portfolios: fund distributions are reflected in portfolio value rather than paid out as income streams. Investors who specifically want income should look at sukuk funds, covered in our retail sukuk guide.

What happens to compliance if I leave the Shariah portfolio on StashAway?

Money moved into StashAway's conventional portfolios or cash products sits outside the Masryef endorsement, and returns earned there would need the treatment covered in our purification guide. The clean answer is simpler: keep halal money inside the endorsed portfolios.