Setup guide
How to start a media or creative company in the UAE
Media activities need a trade licence plus a media permit from the UAE Media Council, which the media free zones normally facilitate as part of setup. Cost ranges enormously for a nominally identical licence — SHAMS and Fujairah Creative City from around AED 12,000, Dubai Media City and twofour54 several times that.
What it costs
The cost drivers for this trade.
Agency and production demand tracks a consumer economy where e-commerce is heading to USD 21bn by 2031 and roughly 79% of commerce is mobile. Dubai Media City, twofour54 and the low-cost zones span a fivefold cost range for a nominally identical media licence.
Figures on this page
UAE e-commerce market around USD 12.3bn in 2026, forecast USD 21bn by 2031 (11.3% CAGR). Digital wallets held about 44% of payment share in 2025; smartphones carried roughly 79% of transaction volume; fashion led categories at about 22% share while food and beverage is forecast to grow fastest at around 13% CAGR.
Mordor Intelligence and market aggregates, 2025–26
How the business makes money here
Retainers and project fees against people cost, with utilisation and scope creep the perennial problems. Payment terms of 60–90 days against monthly payroll is the specific way agencies here fail. Media buying adds volume and working capital exposure simultaneously.
What it costs to start
Published "from" prices compare licence fees and ignore everything that actually moves the total. These are the variables that decide what a media, creative & marketing business pays in year one.
- Licence and permit
- Two instruments, not one. The media permit sits on top of the trade licence for most content activities.
- Zone premium
- The widest cost spread of any sector in the UAE. The same media licence is available at a fivefold difference in price.
- Filming permits
- Issued per shoot by the emirate film commission. A production budget that omits them is wrong.
- Freelance alternative
- For a single practitioner, a freelance permit from TECOM, SHAMS or twofour54 is materially cheaper than a company.
We quote a single all-in figure with every government fee itemised beside our own, before you commit. Ranges published anywhere — including here — are indicative.
Why here
Regional advantages
Regional media budgets are committed here
MENA marketing spend is frequently decided from Dubai, concentrating budget.
Freelance permits suit individual practitioners
GoFreelance, twofour54 and SHAMS all offer permits far cheaper than a company.
Genuine production infrastructure
twofour54 has sound stages and a production rebate that has pulled real international work.
And the other side
Regional disadvantages
Media Council permits add a layer
Content activities need a permit alongside the licence, which general free zones do not facilitate.
Enormous cost spread for the same licence
Paying Dubai Media City rates for work that could be licensed in SHAMS is a common and expensive error.
Cash flow
Long client terms against monthly payroll is the structural risk in agency businesses here.
Approvals
Beyond the trade licence.
- Media content
- A permit from the UAE Media Council sits on top of the trade licence for most content activities. Media free zones normally facilitate it as part of setup.
- Filming on location
- Per-emirate film permits — Dubai Film and TV Commission, Abu Dhabi's Creative Media Authority — issued shoot by shoot.
- Publishing
- Title registration, and content approval for printed material.
The sequence
How the setup runs.
Confirm the activity and the licence category
Map what you actually do onto the authority's activity schedule and identify any external approval it triggers, before a name is reserved or a fee is paid.
Choose the jurisdiction
Free zone or mainland, decided by who receives your invoices — then narrowed by visa quota, premises need and cost.
Reserve the trade name and obtain initial approval
Three candidate names checked against the register and the naming rules, then initial approval confirming no objection to you owning this business.
Prepare and notarise the incorporation documents
Memorandum of association, shareholder resolutions, attestations where required, and a power of attorney if you are not in the country.
Take the licence, establishment card and immigration file
The company now exists, can contract and can sponsor residence visas.
Complete residence, banking and registrations
Medical and Emirates ID, corporate bank account, corporate tax registration and any VAT, ESR or UBO obligation the structure carries.
Shortlist
Where to license it.
Four worth looking at for this activity, and why each one is on the list. All 9 are in the finder.
Questions
Yes, for most content activities — and a permit from the UAE Media Council on top of the trade licence. The media free zones bundle or facilitate the permit, which is a large part of what you are paying them for.
SHAMS in Sharjah and Fujairah Creative City are consistently at the bottom. Both are workable; both onboard more slowly with banks than a Dubai media zone.
Yes. GoFreelance through TECOM, twofour54, SHAMS and RAKEZ all run freelance schemes covering media fields. A permit carries a residence visa but cannot employ staff or hold a corporate bank account.
One question
Who will be paying your invoices?
The clearest free zone case there is. Cross-border e-commerce with no UAE delivery leg qualifies comfortably, and a virtual office satisfies the premises requirement — one of the few activities where that is both permitted and sensible.
Compare the two routesOr just ask usShipping goods to customers inside the UAE is domestic trade whatever the platform says, and marketplaces now verify the licence behind the seller account. That points to mainland, or a mainland distributor handling the last leg.
Compare the two routesOr just ask usThis one forces itself early. Marketplace fulfilment inside the UAE counts as domestic supply, so a business selling both ways usually needs the mainland route sooner than the plan assumed.
Answer five questions insteadOr just ask us