Practical guide
What it actually costs
A free zone licence with one visa generally runs AED 12,500–25,000 for the first year; total first-year cost including visas and a flexi-desk more commonly lands between AED 18,000 and AED 35,000. Mainland typically exceeds AED 30,000 once tenancy and Ejari are counted.
In practice
Business setup cost in Dubai
Why published prices mislead
Every setup firm advertises a headline figure, and every headline figure is a licence fee with the expensive parts removed. The licence is rarely more than half of what you actually pay in year one. Visas, premises, the establishment card, medical insurance and the deposits nobody mentions make up the rest.
What actually moves the number
Visa count first — the gap between a one-visa and a six-visa package frequently exceeds the licence fee itself. Then premises: a flexi-desk and a leased office are different businesses financially. Then activity: anything needing external approval or attested qualifications adds both cost and weeks.
Proportions indicative — they shift with visa count, premises and activity.
- Free zone licence, one visa
- Commonly AED 12,500–25,000 in year one
- Free zone, realistic all-in
- AED 18,000–35,000 including visa, flexi-desk and insurance
- Trading activity or several visas
- AED 35,000–50,000 is common
- Mainland
- Typically AED 30,000–50,000+ once tenancy and Ejari are included
- Ejari
- AED 177.75 online
- Recurring
- Licence renewal, tenancy, insurance, audit and accounting every year
The sequence
How it runs.
Fix the visa count
The single biggest variable. Size for year two, not year one.
Decide the premises honestly
Flexi-desk, serviced office or leased space — each has a different total, not just a different rent.
Check the activity for approvals
External approvals and attested qualifications add cost and weeks.
Add the recurring line
Renewal, audit, insurance and accounting are annual, and year two is not free.
Get it in writing
A quote that separates government fees from the adviser's margin is the only kind worth comparing.
Questions
A free zone licence with one visa generally starts around AED 12,500–25,000 for the first year, with a realistic all-in total of AED 18,000–35,000 once the visa, flexi-desk and insurance are included. Mainland typically exceeds AED 30,000 once tenancy and Ejari are counted.
IFZA and Meydan sit at the lower end of Dubai free zones for a service licence with one visa. Outside Dubai, SHAMS in Sharjah and Ajman Media City are materially cheaper again.
Not hidden so much as omitted from headline pricing: the establishment card, medical insurance, the DEWA deposit where you lease premises, Ejari, and the annual audit most free zones now require at renewal.
Renewal is usually somewhat less than formation, but most zones now also require audited financial statements, which is a separate professional fee. Budget for both.
One question
Who will be paying your invoices?
A free zone, then — full foreign ownership, and qualifying income can sit at 0% corporate tax where the substance tests are genuinely met. Confirm where the work is actually performed as well as where the client sits.
Compare the two routesOr just ask usMainland, then. Full market access is what a mainland licence buys and it is the only thing that buys it. Selling into the UAE from a free zone means a distributor's margin on every transaction, or a branch paying twice.
Compare the two routesOr just ask usThe usual answer, and the one worth a proper conversation. There is normally a sequencing that works — free zone first, mainland branch once domestic revenue justifies it — but it turns on your margins and your timeline.
Answer five questions insteadOr just ask us