Free zone cost calculator

Choose your activity, the visas you need and an emirate. The calculator adds each zone's published starting package and, where the zone prints one, its fee per extra visa.

Ask on WhatsApp Get free quotes
Desk with a laptop, calculator and papers for planning company costs

Estimate your free zone cost

Estimates add the free zone's published starting package and its published visa fees only. Where a free zone publishes no price, we use the lowest price published by setup agents and label it. Office upgrades, medical tests, Emirates ID and agency fees come on top. Prices change, so confirm with the free zone.

Starting cost by free zone, lowest first

The same figures the calculator uses, as a table: 34 of 48 zones have a usable starting package. Where a zone prints no price, the row shows the lowest price published by setup agents or says so. Checked . Confirm with the zone before you pay.

Free zoneEmirateStarting package (AED, first year)Visas in the packageOfficePrice sourceChecked
Creative City Fujairah 3,999 None Flexi desk The zone's own price list
SRTIP Sharjah 3,999 None Co-working The zone's own price list
ANCFZ Ajman 4,888 None Lease agreement The zone's own price list
AMC Ajman 4,999 None Co-working The zone's own price list
SPC Sharjah 4,999 None Flexi desk The zone's own price list
UAQ FTZ Umm Al Quwain 5,500 None Co-working The zone's own price list
AFZ Ajman 5,555 None Shared desk Lowest published by setup agents
Shams Sharjah 5,760 None Flexi desk The zone's own price list
RAKEZ Ras Al Khaimah 6,000 None Coworking access The zone's own price list
Innovation City Ras Al Khaimah 6,600 None Shared desk The zone's own price list
Masdar City Abu Dhabi 7,000 None None The zone's own price list
KEZAD Abu Dhabi 9,450 1 Shared workstation The zone's own price list
SAIF Zone Sharjah 10,800 None Flexi desk Lowest published by setup agents
HFZA Sharjah 11,000 None Not stated The zone's own price list
ADAFZ Abu Dhabi 11,500 None Flexi desk Lowest published by setup agents
Dubai South Dubai 12,500 None None The zone's own price list
Expo City Dubai 12,500 None Shared desk The zone's own price list
Meydan FZ Dubai 12,500 None Flexi desk The zone's own price list
IFZA Dubai 12,900 None Flexi desk Lowest published by setup agents
DHCC Dubai 16,550 2 None in year 1 The zone's own price list
DWTC Dubai 16,845 1 Flexi desk Lowest published by setup agents
d3 Dubai 18,500 None Lease extra The zone's own price list
DIAC Dubai 18,500 None Lease extra The zone's own price list
DIC Dubai 18,500 None None (lease extra) The zone's own price list
DKP Dubai 18,500 None None (lease extra) The zone's own price list
DMC Dubai 18,500 None None (D/Quarters desk from AED 1,200 a month extra) The zone's own price list
DOC Dubai 18,500 None Lease extra The zone's own price list
DPC Dubai 18,500 None None (lease extra) The zone's own price list
DSC Dubai 18,500 None None (lease extra) The zone's own price list
DSP Dubai 18,500 None Lease extra (D/Quarters desk from AED 1,200 a month) The zone's own price list
IHC Dubai 20,800 None Business centre hot desk The zone's own price list
Dubai CommerCity Dubai 27,545 None Smart desk Lowest published by setup agents
DMCC Dubai 35,484 None Flexi desk options The zone's own price list
DAFZ Dubai 40,770 None Smart office Lowest published by setup agents
ADGM Abu Dhabi Not published: ask the zone Tech start-up licence gives 3 visas per dedicated desk; a new 2 year visa from outside the UAE is AED 3,237.39 Registered office in ADGM, Dedicated desk, Office No usable price
COMTECH Sharjah Not published: ask the zone Not published Not published No usable price
DIFC Dubai Not published: ask the zone Innovation licence: up to 4 visas on the first desk; new employment visa AED 3,950 plus AED 2,500 refundable deposit (DIFC handbook, may be out of date) Coworking (Innovation Hub), Shared office, Leased office No usable price
DMC Dubai Not published: ask the zone Not published Office, Warehouse, Workshop, Showroom, Ship repair plot No usable price
DSO Dubai Not published: ask the zone DSO publishes no visa quota or fee; agents quote AED 3,000 to AED 5,100 per visa Flexi desk, Fixed desk, Office, Warehouse, Light industrial unit, Retail, Land No usable price
DUCAMZ Dubai Not published: ask the zone Not published Showroom No usable price
Fujairah FZ Fujairah Not published: ask the zone Residence visa AED 3,460 per person on the archived FFZA price list; agents quote AED 3,500 to AED 7,500 Flexi desk, Virtual office, Trading office, Warehouse, Pre-built factory, Land No usable price
Gold and Diamond Park Dubai Not published: ask the zone Visas are processed by Jafza under Jafza Free Zone Rules Retail showroom, Workshop, Office No usable price
ICAD Abu Dhabi Not published: ask the zone Not published; ask KEZAD Group for the quota on your plot Not published No usable price
JAFZA Dubai Not published: ask the zone Visa quota not published; employment entry permit from AED 2,378 (Normal, 1 year) Co-working and workstations, Office, Warehouse, Showroom, Retail, Land plot No usable price
RAK ICC Ras Al Khaimah Not published: ask the zone No residence visas: offshore registry, not a free zone Registered office through registered agent No usable price
RAK Maritime City Ras Al Khaimah Not published: ask the zone Immigration approval through the zone; visa quota and fees not published Land lease (Musataha), Waterside plot No usable price
SHCC Sharjah Not published: ask the zone Not published Land, Offices and business centres, Warehouse, Clinical space No usable price
twofour54 Abu Dhabi Not published: ask the zone Co-Lab office gives 1 visa and Co-Create 2; setup agents put each visa at about AED 3,500 to AED 7,000 Co-Lab, Co-Create, Co-Quip, Co-Customize No usable price

Last updated

The calculator above gives a first view of your UAE free zone company setup cost, the free zone part of any UAE business setup cost. It ranks each free zone by two numbers: its cheapest starting package and, when one is published, its fee for each extra visa. Both come from the zone itself wherever the zone prints them. Nothing else goes into the sum. That keeps the estimate honest, but it also means the real first-year bill is higher. This page explains how the figure is built and what to add.

How the estimate is built

For each free zone we store one starting package. It is the cheapest package a real company can buy, with its price, the visas it includes and the office it comes with. When you pick a number of visas, the tool does one of three things.

  1. The package already covers your visas. The estimate is the package price.
  2. You need more visas, and the zone publishes a per-visa fee. The estimate is the package price plus that fee for each visa above the package's count.
  3. You need more visas, and the zone does not publish a per-visa fee. The tool shows "Ask for a quote" with a note that extra visa prices are not published.

When the price comes from setup agents

Some zones publish no price at all, and IFZA sells only through agents. For those we use one rule: if at least two independent setup agents publish a price for the same thing, the calculator takes the lowest of them as the starting package. The result then carries a small "setup agent price" tag, so you can tell it apart from a zone's own tariff. One agent alone is not enough, and we never take an agent's figure where the zone prints its own.

These zones are in the calculator on agent prices today:

  • IFZA: AED 12,900 for a zero visa licence (6 agencies).
  • Ajman Free Zone: AED 5,555 for a no visa licence with a shared desk (3 agencies).
  • SAIF Zone: AED 10,800 for a flexi desk with a 3 visa quota, visa fees extra (3 agencies).
  • Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone: AED 11,500 for a first year on a flexi desk, no visa.
  • DWTC Free Zone: AED 16,845 with a flexi desk and 1 visa. Extra visas use DWTC's own AED 2,000 fee.
  • Dubai CommerCity: AED 27,545 for a smart desk package with 2 visa allocations, visa fees extra.
  • DAFZ: AED 40,770 for a first year on a smart office, visa fees extra.

Agent prices often leave out the agent's own service fee, and agents do not always agree on what a package holds. Treat a tagged figure as a rough floor and ask for a written quote. Hamriyah is a special case: it appears at AED 11,000, the basic licence in HFZA's own FAQ, which is now only in a web archive from .

Zones with no usable price from either source, such as JAFZA, Dubai Silicon Oasis, twofour54 and Fujairah Free Zone, show "Ask for a quote". They still appear, because they may fit your activity.

The per-visa fees the tool can add come from the zones: Meydan Free Zone at AED 3,500 for an employee visa, Masdar City at AED 3,050, Expo City at AED 3,200, RAKEZ at AED 3,800, SPC Free Zone at AED 4,065 and Innovation City at AED 4,400. For other zones the result shows a visa note, such as an agency range or a fee the zone prints only for some cases, but does not add it.

What the estimate leaves out

These costs are real, and most founders pay at least three of them in year one.

  • Establishment card. The immigration file that lets your company sponsor visas. Zones price it themselves: AED 1,825 a year at DMCC, AED 2,000 at Meydan, AED 1,000 at KEZAD and AED 640 at SPC Free Zone. At renewal ICP charges AED 100 a year, plus AED 100 to apply, AED 100 for the smart service and a AED 1,000 system subscription.
  • Federal visa fees. ICP lists AED 100 to apply, AED 100 to issue and AED 100 for the smart service on an employment entry permit. The residence permit is AED 100 per year plus the same two service fees.
  • Emirates ID. AED 100 per year of residence, plus a smart service fee.
  • Change of status. AED 500 at ICP if you are already in the UAE on another visa.
  • Medical test. We found no official federal fee, and zones price it differently. Meydan, for example, charges AED 2,250 for the medical and Emirates ID together.
  • E-channel registration. Many zones charge this before the first visa: AED 2,280 at SPC Free Zone and AED 2,600 at Masdar City.
  • Office upgrades. A bigger desk or office raises the visa quota and the rent. The calculator assumes the office in the starting package.
  • Agency fees. If a setup agency files for you, its service fee comes on top.
  • VAT. Masdar City's AED 7,000 Startup price excludes VAT. KEZAD's AED 9,450 and Shams' AED 5,760 include it. The tool takes the printed number as it is.

Our pages on free zone hidden costs and free zone visa costs go through these line by line.

Worked examples with published figures

One person, no visa yet, any emirate. Two zones tie at the bottom with AED 3,999: SRTIP's SPARK Starter, a limited-time offer with co-working, one shareholder and up to 3 activities, and Creative City's Media Package, from an offer page its setup page does not link to. Ajman NuVentures follows from AED 4,888, then Ajman Media City and SPC's E-Publishing licence, both at AED 4,999. The estimate here is close to the real first-year cost, because with no visa you skip the establishment card and the visa chain.

One visa, Ras Al Khaimah. RAKEZ shows its Biz Starter at AED 6,000 plus AED 3,800 for the visa. RAKEZ says that visa fee covers the entry permit, medical and Emirates ID. RAKEZ also sells packages with a visa built in: Instant Licence Lite at AED 12,000 and All Inclusive at AED 14,000, which adds the immigration file and e-channel. Ask which route your activity fits before you compare.

One visa, Dubai. Meydan shows AED 12,500 plus AED 3,500 for an employee visa. A founder's own visa is the investor visa, which Meydan lists at AED 4,000, and the medical and Emirates ID add AED 2,250. The AED 2,000 establishment card comes on top of both. Setup agencies publish Meydan one-visa packages at about AED 16,350 to AED 20,670 (published prices of 2 agencies, checked ). That range is a better guide to the full bill than the sum the tool shows.

One visa, Abu Dhabi. KEZAD's start-up package costs AED 9,450 for one year with one visa, VAT included, so the tool shows that price. The package gives the visa allocation. KEZAD's tariff then lists the employment residence fee at AED 1,500 and the establishment card at AED 1,000.

Three visas, any emirate. The list gets short. Most zones sell visa packages in fixed tiers and print no per-visa fee, so they drop to "Ask for a quote". KEZAD publishes a 3-visa package at AED 12,850 and SRTIP a 2-visa Starter at AED 14,695, but the calculator only holds one package per zone. Open the zone page for the larger tiers.

Reading the result

Use the ranking to shortlist, not to pick. Three checks matter more than the order.

  • Activity limits. SPC's E-Publishing licence covers online publishing only, and the Shams Media Package covers media activities. A low estimate is no use if your activity is not on the list.
  • Promotions. SRTIP's SPARK prices and Dubai Healthcare City's Zawel package are marked limited time. The renewal may cost more.
  • Package versus allocation. Some visa packages include the visa processing, others only the right to apply for one. Ask which you are buying.

The free zone table on the full list of UAE free zones shows each zone's starting package in one place. For the lowest published prices grouped by visa count, see the cheapest free zone in UAE.

Get a total you can rely on

When the estimate looks right, send us the zone or zones, your activity and the visas from the form on this page. We pass it to the free zone or a licensed setup partner, who replies with one total that names every fee before work starts. We are an independent directory, not a free zone, and a partner may pay us a referral fee. It does not change the numbers above.

Where to get a written quote

Once you know which zone you want, you can search the setup consultants we list by area, service or Google score and ask for a written quote to check against the prices here.

Sources

Get free quotes from several free zones

Tell us about a free zone cost estimate: your activity, the visas and the office you need. We pass it to the free zones that fit or to a licensed setup partner, and reply with options you can compare side by side.

UAEFreeZoneDirectory.com is an independent directory, not a free zone or a government office. You pay nothing for using this form.

We use your details only to answer this enquiry and share them only with the free zone or setup partner that replies. See the privacy policy.

Good to know

Questions people ask

Is the calculator estimate a quote?

No. It adds two published numbers per zone: the starting package and, if the zone prints it, the fee for each extra visa. A quote from the zone or a licensed partner will add the establishment card, medical test, Emirates ID and any office upgrade.

Why does the calculator say ask for a quote for some free zones?

Either no usable price exists, from the zone or from at least two setup agents, or the starting package has fewer visas than you picked and nobody publishes a firm extra visa fee. In both cases a sum would be a guess, so the tool leaves it blank.

Does the free zone cost estimate include the establishment card?

Only when the package itself includes it. Meydan lists its establishment card at AED 2,000 and KEZAD at AED 1,000 outside the package, and the calculator does not add either.

Can I use the calculator for a DMCC or Ajman free zone cost?

Yes. DMCC appears with its Basic Biz Package at AED 35,484, and its visa note gives the AED 2,972.50 fee for a new 2 year visa. Ajman Free Zone publishes no package price, so it shows the lowest no visa price setup agents publish, AED 5,555, tagged setup agent price. Ajman Media City and Ajman NuVentures show their own no-visa packages.

Does the estimate cover the second year?

No, it is a first-year figure. Some zones renew at the same price, such as Ajman Media City's Business Club at AED 4,999 and UAQ LYTE at AED 5,500. Others charge a different renewal, so ask before you sign.

More on this site

Keep reading

Talk to a setup adviser

Turn the estimate into a real price

Send the zone, activity and visas you picked. A licensed partner replies with one total before any work starts.

WhatsApp us Get free quotes
Open your UAE company