How Much Does It Cost to Set Up a Company in Dubai? Full Breakdown

Setting up a company in Dubai is more affordable than most first-time founders expect — but the headline "starting from" prices you see advertised rarely tell the whole story. The real cost depends on three things: where you register (free zone or mainland), how many residence visas you need, and whether you require physical office space.

The short answer

• A lean free zone company with one visa typically costs AED 12,500–30,000 in year one.
• A mainland company usually starts higher, around AED 15,000–50,000, because of additional government fees and office requirements.
• Most service-based founders land in the AED 18,000–35,000 range once visas and essentials are included.

What the free zones actually publish

This is the part most cost guides skip. Roughly half the UAE's free zones publish a fee schedule you can verify; the other half don't publish one at all, and price on quotation. Knowing which is which tells you immediately whether a number you've been given is a fact or a guess.

Verified against each authority's own published material on 1 August 2026. These are entry prices for specific named products, not all-in setup costs, and they are not directly comparable with each other — a JAFZA service licence and a DMCC standard licence buy different things.

Two things follow from that table. First, if someone quotes you a precise "IFZA from AED X" or "DAFZA from AED Y", they are working from an estimate, a stale figure or their own package — not from a published authority price. Second, the cheapest published licence is rarely the cheapest company, because the licence is only one line of several.

The cost breakdown

Why the licence is the smallest line

Take a real example. DMCC publishes its schedule openly: an application fee, a registration fee, an articles-of-association charge and the annual licence itself. The licence is roughly AED 20,285, but the first-year total across those published charges lands closer to AED 32,000 — before you have rented a square metre of office or sponsored a single visa. That is not DMCC being expensive; it is what a complete first-year budget looks like once you stop reading only the headline.

The same arithmetic applies at the budget end. A UAQ LYTE licence at AED 5,500 is genuinely cheap. Add an establishment card, one investor visa, the medical, the Emirates ID and the entry permit and you are realistically at AED 12,000–15,000 for a one-person company in year one. Still inexpensive — but more than double the advertised figure.

Worked scenarios

Solo consultant, one visa, no office. A budget zone licence (Shams, SPC or UAQ), an establishment card, one investor visa and the associated medical and Emirates ID. Year one: AED 12,000–18,000. Renewal from year two: AED 9,000–14,000, because the one-off registration charges drop away but the licence, visa renewal cycle and establishment card remain.

Two-person agency in Dubai, flexi-desk. A Dubai licence such as Meydan or IFZA, flexi-desk address, two visas. Year one: AED 25,000–38,000 depending on the package tier your visa count forces you into. This is the band most service founders actually land in.

Trading company with a small warehouse. A northern-emirates zone with a pre-built unit, three visas, and a general trading licence. The licence might be AED 12,000–18,000; the warehouse is AED 30,000–70,000 a year depending on size and emirate; visas and staff accommodation add more. Year one realistically AED 70,000–130,000, and the licence is under a fifth of it.

Regulated financial firm in DIFC or ADGM. Incorporation is the small part. Regulatory authorisation brings capital adequacy requirements, a compliance officer, a money-laundering reporting officer, professional indemnity cover and a regulatory business plan. Budget in the hundreds of thousands of dirhams for year one and plan a six-to-nine-month runway. If a provider quotes you AED 50,000 all-in for a regulated licence, they are quoting the incorporation and leaving out the regulator.

Ongoing (annual) costs

The setup cost is only year one. Every year you renew the licence, renew visas on a two- or three-year cycle, and — depending on turnover — file corporate tax and maintain bookkeeping. A realistic annual running budget for a small company is AED 15,000–30,000, before accounting and tax-agent fees.

Three recurring costs founders routinely leave out of the model:

• Audit. Some zones require audited financial statements annually — DMCC among them. Audit fees for a small company typically run AED 5,000–15,000 a year. Zones with no audit requirement save you this, which is part of why their total cost of ownership is lower than a licence-price comparison suggests.
• Corporate tax compliance. Registration is mandatory regardless of profit. Even a company claiming Small Business Relief has to register and file. Budget for an accountant or tax agent from year one.
• Visa renewal cycles. Residence visas run on two- or three-year cycles, and each renewal repeats the medical and Emirates ID fees. Amortise those across the cycle rather than treating them as a one-off.

Rough all-in starting points

• Freelancer / zero-visa service licence: ~AED 5,500–12,000
• Small company, 1 investor visa, flexi-desk: ~AED 12,000–25,000
• Trading/office-based company, multiple visas: ~AED 25,000–50,000+

How to compare two quotes properly

Consultants bundle differently, which makes headline comparison useless. Force every quote onto the same footing by asking for these lines separately:

1. Authority fees — what the free zone itself charges, itemised. This is the only number that should be identical between two providers quoting the same zone.
2. Agent or service fee — what the consultant charges for handling it.
3. Visa costs per person — entry permit, status change if you're already in the UAE, medical, Emirates ID, stamping.
4. Establishment card — usually separate from the licence.
5. Office or flexi-desk — with the visa ceiling that product carries.
6. Deposits — refundable amounts are not a cost, but they tie up cash. Know the number.
7. Year-two renewal total — the figure you'll pay every year afterwards.

If a provider won't break it down, that itself is information.

How to keep costs down without regretting it

• Choose a service or consultancy licence if you don't physically trade goods — it's cheaper than a trading licence.
• Start with a flexi-desk and upgrade to an office only when you genuinely need one.
• Only buy the visa quota you'll actually use — you can add visas later.
• Don't pick the absolute cheapest zone if it undermines your banking credibility; a rejected bank application costs far more in lost time. The gap between a AED 5,500 licence and a AED 12,500 one is a few thousand dirhams. Three months of not being able to invoice because no bank will onboard you is a different order of loss.
• Match the zone to the work. Paying DAFZA's airport premium for a consultancy, or DIFC's regulatory pricing for a business that isn't regulated, is the most expensive mistake in this list — and it's the easiest to avoid.

Figures marked as published come from each free zone authority's own material, verified 1 August 2026. Ranges are indicative for budgeting, not quotes. Government and free-zone fees change frequently — always confirm current pricing before you commit.

Want a real number for your business? Use our cost estimator, compare what every zone publishes, or request a written quote with every line item spelled out.