What is the cheapest free zone in the UAE?

Of the 10 zones that publish a verifiable price, JAFZA in Dubai has the lowest published entry point at AED 5,000 — service or single-group trading licence, annual. Costs rise with visa quota and workspace, so the cheapest licence is rarely the cheapest total setup. A further 7 zones publish no complete public tariff at all and are quotation-based.

What is the median UAE free zone setup cost?

Across the 10 zones with published prices, the median entry cost is AED 6,489. The range runs from AED 5,000 to AED 20,285, with the premium financial centres at the top end. The remaining 7 of 17 zones in this index do not publish a complete tariff.

Which emirate has the cheapest free zones?

Umm Al Quwain has the lowest median published entry cost at AED 5,500 across 1 zone with public pricing, ahead of the other emirates covered.

Can I republish or cite this data?

Yes. The index is free to cite and embed with attribution to Incorporate Dubai. Every figure is taken from the free zone authority's own published material and carries a verification date — none are estimates. They are entry prices, not all-in setup costs, and should be presented as such.

Open data · updated 2026

The UAE Free Zone Cost Index

Name: UAE Free Zone Cost Index
Creator: Incorporate Dubai
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

What it actually costs to open a company in each UAE free zone, taken only from what the authorities themselves publish. 10 of 17 zones publish a verifiable price; the other 7 are quotation-based and we say so rather than inventing a number. Every figure carries a source and a verification date. Free to cite, quote and embed.

AED 5,000

Lowest published — JAFZA

Dubai

AED 6,489

Median published entry cost

across 10 priced zones

AED 20,285

Highest published — DMCC

Dubai

Zones with no public tariff

quotation-based only

Median setup cost by emirate

Median of the published entry prices in each emirate. Zones that publish no tariff are excluded rather than estimated, so an emirate’s median reflects only its transparent zones.

Umm Al Quwain

AED 5,500

1 zone

Sharjah

AED 5,750

3 zones

Ras Al Khaimah

AED 6,000

1 zone

Abu Dhabi

AED 6,978

1 zone

Dubai

AED 12,494

4 zones

Every zone, ranked by published entry price

Ranked zones publish a figure we can point to. Unranked zones at the bottom publish no complete tariff — they are not cheap or expensive, they are simply quotation-based.

#	Free zone	Emirate	Licence from*	Focus	Best for
01	JAFZA	Dubai	AED 5,000Service or single-group trading licence, annual	Industrial & Logistics	Manufacturing · Warehousing
02	UAQ FTZ	Umm Al Quwain	AED 5,500UAQ LYTE budget entry package	Startup & SME	Cheapest · Micro-business
03	SHAMS	Sharjah	AED 5,750Media package, from	Startup & SME	Cheapest · Freelancers
04	SPC	Sharjah	AED 5,750Zero-visa setup package, from	Startup & SME	Cheapest · Dual license
05	RAKEZ	Ras Al Khaimah	AED 6,000Advertised entry offer	Startup & SME	Low budget · Industrial
06	ADGM	Abu Dhabi	AED 6,978Specialised category, initial (USD 1,900)	Financial & Professional	Finance · Family office
07	HFZA	Sharjah	AED 11,000Basic licence cost	Industrial & Logistics	Manufacturing · Oil & gas
08	DIFC	Dubai	AED 12,487Retail private company incorporation (USD 3,400)	Financial & Professional	Finance · Funds
09	Meydan	Dubai	AED 12,500Base trade-licence package, per year	Startup & SME	Agencies · Consultants
10	DMCC	Dubai	AED 20,285Standard annual licence	Trade & Commodities	Commodities · General trading
—	IFZA	Dubai	Quote requiredno complete public tariff	Startup & SME	Consultants · E-commerce
—	DAFZA	Dubai	Quote requiredno complete public tariff	Industrial & Logistics	Import/export · Logistics
—	DSO	Dubai	Quote requiredno complete public tariff	Technology	IT & software · Electronics
—	DIC / DMC	Dubai	Quote requiredno complete public tariff	Media & Creative	Media · Advertising
—	Ajman FZ	Ajman	Quote requiredno complete public tariff	Startup & SME	Low budget · SMEs
—	SAIF Zone	Sharjah	Quote requiredno complete public tariff	Industrial & Logistics	Trading · Logistics
—	twofour54	Abu Dhabi	Revalidation requiredno complete public tariff	Media & Creative	Media · Film & gaming

* Entry prices as published by each free zone authority and verified on 1 August 2026 — not estimates and not quotes. Products differ: some are licence-only government fees, others are bundled packages. Most exclude visas, establishment cards, immigration-card fees, workspace upgrades and VAT. Promotional prices are time-limited. Each zone page shows the exact product, its inclusions and exclusions, and the official source.

Free to use

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Cite this index

Incorporate Dubai (2026). UAE Free Zone Cost Index. Retrieved from https://incorporatedubai.com/free-zone-cost-index

Journalists and researchers: we can provide the underlying dataset, commentary or an expert quote on UAE setup costs, corporate tax or free zone selection — get in touch.

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