What Zabihah does

Zabihah is a private, bootstrapped US-based company operating the original and self-described world's largest halal restaurant guide, launched in 1998 in Silicon Valley by Muslim engineers. The platform provides a human-curated directory of 53,000+ verified halal restaurants, grocers, caterers, and mosques across 100+ countries, accessible via responsive web and native iOS/Android applications. Its core differentiator is the proprietary HalalRank verification system, which captures zabiha certification status, certifying authority, and alcohol service policy through human review and community-submitted evidence rather than purely automated methods. The founder is Shahed Amanullah and the company is structured as Zabihah LLC.

The product surface extends beyond the core directory through several modules: the Zabihah Shop (an e-commerce marketplace for halal-related merchandise), the Zabihah Creators program (a content creator engagement layer for user-generated reviews), and a Prayer Spaces Directory that integrates mosque and prayer-space discovery with restaurant search. Distribution is primarily product-led and organic, relying on app store presence, SEO, word-of-mouth within Muslim diaspora communities, and active social media channels spanning Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and BlueSky.

Zabihah's business model is freemium in structure but currently free for both diners and restaurant businesses, with no subscription, paywall, or paid listing fees disclosed. The company has not raised institutional funding and operates with 1-10 employees. Revenue generation appears to be at an exploratory stage, with Zabihah Shop representing the first explicit transactional extension. The company's customer base is bifurcated: individual Muslim travelers and halal-conscious diners on the demand side, and a long tail of SMB halal restaurants and food businesses on the supply side.

Name

Zabihah

Legal name

Zabihah LLC

Website

https://zabihah.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Zabihah is a bootstrapped, US-based directory platform founded in 1998 that provides human-curated, verified listings of halal restaurants, grocers, caterers, and mosques across 100+ countries, serving Muslim travelers and SMB halal food businesses through a free web and mobile product.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Restaurant Directory

NAICS

Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929)

SIC

Retail-Nonstore Retailers (5960)

akta.pro primary industry

Halal Certification Services (AFALAMAF)

Keywords

• Halal restaurant directory
• Halal food discovery
• Restaurant search platform
• Halal verification services
• Prayer space finder

Headquarters

HQ city

Vienna

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Platform services (currently free): Zabihah operates as a free platform for both users and restaurants. The platform may monetize through future initiatives such as Zabihah Shop, Zabihah Creators program, or premium services, but no revenue model was publicly disclosed in the source data.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Zabihah operates a global halal restaurant discovery platform with over 53,000 verified listings of restaurants, grocers, caterers, and prayer spaces across 100+ countries. Every listing is human-curated and scored using a proprietary HalalRank system that captures zabiha certification status, certifying authority information, and alcohol service policy. The platform is distributed through a responsive website, native iOS and Android apps, and is free for both diners and restaurants.

Product overview

Zabihah operates as a single unified platform—the world's largest halal restaurant guide launched in 1998—comprising a core directory product enhanced by complementary modules. The core product is the Zabihah Platform, a human-curated directory of 53,000+ verified halal restaurants, grocers, and caterers across 100+ countries, featuring HalalRank ratings and halal certification verification. This core platform is extended by the Zabihah Mobile App for on-the-go discovery, the Zabihah Shop for merchandise, the Zabihah Creators program for community content contribution, and a Prayer Spaces Directory that enables users to find nearby mosques and prayer accommodations alongside food listings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Zabihah Platform The original and world's largest halal restaurant guide platform, featuring 53,000+ verified halal restaurant, grocer, and caterer listings across 100+ countries, with human-curated reviews, HalalRank ratings, zabiha/non-zabiha status verification, certifying authority details, and alcohol service indicators, searchable by city, cuisine, neighborhood, price, rating, and distance.
• Zabihah Mobile App Native mobile application available on iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play) enabling on-the-go discovery of halal restaurants, grocers, and mosques with location-based search.
• Zabihah Shop An e-commerce marketplace integrated into the Zabihah platform where users can purchase halal food-related products, merchandise, and other items.
• Zabihah Creators A creator program and platform allowing content creators to contribute reviews, photos, and content about halal restaurants on the Zabihah platform.
• Prayer Spaces Directory A complementary directory feature within the platform that helps users find mosques and prayer spaces, including restaurants that offer prayer accommodations, enabling travelers to plan meals and prayer together.

Quantifiable outcome

• 53,000+ halal restaurants, grocers, and caterers listed
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Muslim Pro: One of the most-downloaded Muslim lifestyle apps globally, offering prayer times, Quran, and a halal restaurant/mosque finder module; comparable because it bundles restaurant discovery with broader religious utilities that compete for the same daily engagement Zabihah targets.

Broad incumbents

• Tripadvisor: Global travel and restaurant review platform with a large halal-tagged restaurant inventory and traveler audience; comparable because it competes for planning-time Muslim travel intent even though it is not halal-specialized.
• Zomato: Leading restaurant discovery and food delivery platform in South Asia and the Middle East with categories for halal and prayer spaces; comparable as a scaled regional incumbent that has begun overlapping Zabihah's discovery use cases in Muslim-majority markets.
• Yelp: Dominant consumer restaurant-discovery platform in the US with crowdsourced reviews, photos, and category tags including community/halal filters; competes with Zabihah for Muslim diner mindshare with vastly broader category coverage and distribution.
• Google Maps: World's most-used mapping and local-discovery platform with rich restaurant data, reviews, and ad surfaces; the principal incumbent that any halal discovery platform must differentiate against on trust, verification depth, or community credibility.

Direct peers

• HappyCow: Long-running vegetarian/vegan restaurant directory using human curation and a trust-scoring model (HappyCow-Approved) covering 180+ countries; closely comparable business model to Zabihah as a niche, curation-led, community-driven food discovery platform with similar go-to-market dynamics.
• CrescentRating: Singapore-headquartered halal travel rating and certification company with restaurant and hotel-quality scoring for Muslim travelers; comparable to Zabihah's HalalRank as a curated halal-grade trust layer for travel and dining.
• HalalTrip: Singapore-based halal travel guide with city/country restaurant and prayer-space directories serving Muslim travelers globally; directly comparable as a halal-specific discovery platform overlapping Zabihah's use cases, especially in Southeast Asia.

Others

• OpenTable: Restaurant reservation and discovery platform monetizing via booking fees and diner data; adjacent comparison for the restaurant-discovery plus transaction model that Zabihah could pursue to convert listings into monetized actions.

Regional players

• Talabat: Major Middle East food delivery and restaurant platform owned by Delivery Hero with strong halal-cuisine inventory in MENA; comparable because it owns demand-side restaurant discovery and ordering for halal-leaning consumers in a geography where Zabihah is underpenetrated.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/zabihah
• Facebookfacebook.com/zabihah
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zabihah
• Instagraminstagram.com/zabihah
• TikToktiktok.com/@zabihah

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zabihah