Choose Zoya if you want a fast pass/fail before you buy a stock at a normal brokerage. Choose Musaffa if you want deeper reports, letter grades, and holdings-level ETF tests. Both are screeners, not brokers. Neither holds your money, executes the trade as your custodian, or runs a managed portfolio. Read the Zoya app review and the Musaffa app review, then keep the rest of the plan on the investing hub.
That is the first-screen answer. The rest of this page is the pick-if table, the live product facts, and the cases where you should skip both tools and buy a screened ETF instead of picking names.
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Pick If
| If you need | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A fast "is this ticker halal?" check before you buy | Zoya | Search, AAOIFI-style verdict, ratios. You still trade at your broker |
| Deeper reports, grades, and ETF constituent tests | Musaffa | Research-heavy screener. SEC-registered IA. 8,241 ETFs on the product record |
| Portfolio alerts when a holding you already own flips | Zoya | Plaid read-only sync and alerts. Zoya still does not custody the shares |
| Beginner who will check a few stocks, not build a research desk | Zoya | Lower-friction daily check |
| Active DIY book where you read the ratios on every name | Musaffa | Halal / Doubtful / Not Halal plus a C- to A+ grade |
| A diversified core you do not have to pick | Neither | Buy a screened ETF. A screener is not a fund |
| Someone else to invest the money | Neither | That is a robo or a managed account, not Zoya or Musaffa |
They Are Screeners, Not Brokers
A brokerage holds the shares, sends the order, and shows a cash balance. Zoya and Musaffa answer a different question: does this name pass a published Shariah methodology today. You open a brokerage (or you already have one), you screen, then you place the trade there. If you wanted a fund that already did the screening, you would buy the fund. If you wanted a managed portfolio, you would open that account. Do not fund Zoya or Musaffa as if they were a robo-advisor. They are not that product. Searches that mix them up with a brokerage, an IRA custodian, or a one-ticker ETF are asking a different job. This page stays on the screener job.
Idle cash at the brokerage can still earn interest after you screen. Turn that off or purify it. The screener does not fix the cash sweep.
What Zoya Is
Zoya is a screening and monitoring app run as a research tool. The default rulebook is AAOIFI-style: more than 5% non-permissible revenue, or 30%+ interest-bearing debt or securities, fails. That is a published threshold, not a personal ruling. A company can pass on revenue and fail on debt after a leveraged acquisition. It can pass for years and then fail when a segment mix changes. Scholars on the product record are Sheikh Joe Bradford and Sheikh Umer Khan. Company materials describe verdicts on 30,000+ stocks, and up to 60,000 instruments including funds, across 13 markets. Open the app, search a ticker, read the verdict and the ratios. A pass is the methodology's current result. Re-check before you buy and on a calendar. Do not screenshot a 2024 pass and trade on it in 2026.
Zoya's other product is monitoring. You can link existing brokerage accounts read-only through Plaid. Holdings sync, and you get an alert if a name flips. That is the reason to pick Zoya if you already own a book of individual stocks and you are tired of re-checking every ticker by hand. Linking a brokerage does not make Zoya the custodian. Your broker still holds the shares. Optional order pass-through, if you use it, still settles at the linked broker. Treat Zoya as research plus alerts. If you never pick individual names, Plaid alerts are a feature you will not use. Buy a screened ETF instead.
What Musaffa Is
Musaffa is a halal investing research platform and screener. It is an SEC-registered investment adviser (CRD #338525). That registration describes the firm. It does not mean Musaffa is holding your IRA or running a robo for you on this product. The screening universe on the product record is 135,030 stocks, 8,241 ETFs, and 150+ markets. Verdicts come as Halal, Doubtful, or Not Halal, plus a C- to A+ grade. An August 2026 check listed 72 of 3,764 US ETFs as rated halal. Most broad-market ETFs fail a look-through because they hold banks, conventional insurers, or leveraged names. That is why a dedicated Islamic ETF is often the simpler core, and why Musaffa's ETF look-through is the reason to pick it over a faster app if you insist on testing a fund's constituents yourself.
Use Musaffa when you need to know why a name passed or failed, or when you are testing an ETF's constituents rather than a single stock. The extra data is the product. If that feels like homework every time you want to buy a share of a consumer name, Zoya is the better daily tool.
Side by Side
| Dimension | Zoya | Musaffa |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Quick Shariah stock check and portfolio alerts | Screening plus deeper research and ETF tests |
| Brokerage? | No. Plaid is read-only monitoring | No. Research tools |
| Holds your money? | No | No |
| Shariah names on file | Sheikh Joe Bradford, Sheikh Umer Khan | Published methodology with Halal / Doubtful / Not Halal and a grade |
| Coverage on the product record | 30,000+ stocks; up to 60,000 instruments; 13 markets | 135,030 stocks; 8,241 ETFs; 150+ markets |
| US ETF snapshot (Aug 2026) | Funds included in the instrument count; not the 72-of-3,764 figure | 72 of 3,764 US ETFs rated halal |
| Best for | DIY stock pickers who want speed | DIY investors who want holdings-level tests |
Pricing
Each app has a free tier for basic screening and paid tiers for extra research features. Exact prices and feature gates change. Confirm current free vs paid limits in each app before you subscribe. Start free. Upgrade only if you hit a wall. This page will not invent a monthly price.
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When the Two Apps Disagree
They will not always match. Methodologies, data refresh timing, and how each tool treats a mixed-business segment can differ. If Zoya passes a name and Musaffa marks it Doubtful, or the reverse, read the ratios and the business-segment notes before you buy. Do not average the two colours into a personal fatwa. Either follow one published rulebook consistently, or take the more conservative reading and skip the name. Many DIY investors keep both: Zoya for the daily check and Plaid alerts, Musaffa when a borderline name or an ETF needs more work.
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Where They Sit in a Halal Stack
A screener does not replace a brokerage, a long-term plan, or a diversified fund. Most households should put the core in a screened ETF and use Zoya or Musaffa only for a small satellite sleeve of individual names. If you do not enjoy stock picking, skip both apps for the core and stay on the investing hub. If you enjoy picking names, pick one rulebook and stick to it: Zoya's AAOIFI-style pass/fail for speed, or Musaffa's graded reports when the name is messy. Related product pages: Zoya and Musaffa. Full reviews: Zoya app review and Musaffa app review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Zoya or Musaffa better in 2026?
Zoya is usually better for speed and portfolio alerts. Musaffa is usually better for depth, grades, and ETF holdings tests. Better depends on how you invest, not on a single winner badge.
Are Zoya and Musaffa brokerages?
No. You still place trades at a brokerage after you screen. Zoya's Plaid link and any order pass-through still leave the shares at the broker.
Can I use both?
Yes. A common split is Zoya for daily ticker checks and alerts, Musaffa when you need the report or an ETF look-through.
Do they always agree on compliance?
Not always. If they disagree, read the ratios and segments. Do not buy on a colour alone.
Should beginners start with either app?
Only if they already want to pick stocks. Most beginners are better off with a diversified screened ETF as a core, then Zoya later for a small sleeve. Musaffa fits once you are reading reports on purpose.
Bottom Line
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See side-by-side comparisons of Shariah-compliant products, or let our matcher recommend the best options for your situation.
Zoya wins on speed and monitoring. Musaffa wins on research depth and ETF testing. Both are screeners, not brokers. Pick the tool that matches the job, read the Zoya app review and the Musaffa app review, and keep the portfolio plan on the investing hub.
