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The federal u.ae portal lists two Ras Al Khaimah free zone authorities, RAKEZ and Innovation City, and a third, RAK Maritime City, licenses port companies at Saqr Port. The lowest published price is RAKEZ Biz Starter at AED 6,000 a year: a licence with coworking access and no visa. Innovation City starts from AED 6,600 with a shared desk. RAK Maritime City publishes no fees. The zone table shows each one.
How the RAK free zones differ
These zones barely overlap. One sells to almost anyone, one to tech founders, one to port users.
- RAKEZ, the Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone, is the general zone. It covers over 3,000 activities across 50+ sectors and issues commercial, general trading, e-commerce, media, industrial, educational and service licences, plus a freelancer permit. It has coworking and offices for small firms and warehouses and land in its industrial zones. Packages are cheap and published.
- Innovation City is the former RAK Digital Assets Oasis, relaunched on . Four packages from Idea to Growth, all with a shared or dedicated desk. It suits AI, Web3, gaming and other tech companies that want custom activities written for them.
- RAK Maritime City is a port zone run by RAK Maritime City Free Zone Authority, part of RAK Ports. It leases waterside plots at Saqr Port to bulk cargo, tank storage, ship repair and heavy industry firms. There are no desk packages.
Ras Al Khaimah free zone packages compared
| Package | Zone | Price for a year | Visas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biz Starter | RAKEZ | AED 6,000 | 0 |
| Idea | Innovation City | from AED 6,600 | 0 |
| Instant Licence Lite | RAKEZ | AED 12,000 | 1 |
| Seed | Innovation City | from AED 13,200 | 1 |
| All Inclusive | RAKEZ | AED 14,000 | 1, plus up to 3 extra |
Source: RAKEZ promotion pages and the Innovation City packages page, checked .
Extra visas are priced differently. A RAKEZ employee visa costs AED 3,800 on its service card, covering the entry permit, medical, Emirates ID and stamping. Innovation City charges AED 4,400 per added visa. RAKEZ also promises the same renewal price on All Inclusive, while Innovation City says renewal costs the same as the original package. If you are comparing RAKEZ with a Dubai zone, see IFZA vs RAKEZ.
RAK ICC is a registry, not a free zone
The name that confuses most people is RAK ICC, the RAK International Corporate Centre. It calls itself an international corporate registry. You form an offshore company there only through a licensed registered agent, and that company gets no office lease, no trade licence for working in the UAE and no residence visas. People use it to hold shares, property or intellectual property. If you need to live and work in the UAE, it is the wrong tool on its own. Cost is low for that reason: three setup agencies give the RAK ICC registry fee as AED 3,250 to incorporate and AED 3,950 a year to renew, before the registered agent's own fee (checked ).
Other names you may see
- RAK Free Trade Zone and RAK Investment Authority. Older guides list them as separate zones. News reports say they were combined into RAKEZ, and RAK ICC says it took over their two offshore registries. If a quote still uses an old name, ask which authority will issue the licence.
- RAK DAO. The same zone as Innovation City. The old RAK DAO packages are no longer sold.
- RAK Airport Free Zone. It was on the FTA list of designated zones until and is no longer designated.
- VAT designated areas. The FTA list names RAK Port Free Zone, RAK Maritime City and the Al Hamra, Al Ghail and Al Hulaila industrial zones. RAKEZ business zones are not on it, so VAT treatment of goods depends on where your company sits.
Free zone or mainland in Ras Al Khaimah
A free zone company trades inside its zone and abroad. Selling to UAE customers goes through a distributor or a mainland entity. RAKEZ is unusual here: besides the FZ-LLC with 1 to 50 shareholders, it also registers non-free zone entities, an LLC and an individual establishment. Ask which kind your quote covers. Our free zone or mainland guide explains the difference.
Business setup in a RAK free zone: asking for quotes
Use the form on this page to tell us what you will trade or build, the visas you need and whether you want a desk or land. UAEFreeZoneDirectory.com is independent; it is not RAKEZ, Innovation City or RAK Ports. We pass the request to the zone that fits, or to a licensed setup partner, and they send the price. Partners may pay us a referral fee.
Sources
- u.ae, starting a business in a free zone: RAKEZ and Innovation City on the federal list
- RAKEZ legal entities and RAKEZ Biz Starter: entity types and the entry package
- RAK Media Office on the Innovation City relaunch: the RAK DAO name change
- VJM Global RAK ICC fees and Binderr RAK ICC page: RAK ICC registry fees, with BCL as the third agency
- RAK Ports Tariff: RAK Maritime City as a RAK Ports entity
- FTA list of designated zones: VAT designated areas in Ras Al Khaimah
