Key Takeaways
- The lowest published prices in Dubai are a freelance licence from the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) at AED 4,020 and Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) licences from AED 5,000. Outside Dubai, Ajman NuVentures Centre Free Zone starts at AED 4,888, Ajman Media City at AED 4,999 and Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) at AED 6,000, as of October 2026.
- Meydan's base package doesn't cover the visa, medical test or Emirates ID. The AED 12,500 START package from the Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone (UAQ FTZ) includes all three.
- A RAKEZ freelance permit starts at AED 6,100, but RAKEZ says you can't open a corporate bank account with it (RAKEZ, October 2026).
- Look at the renewal price too. Ajman Media City's Innovator package drops from AED 22,999 to AED 14,999 in year two, while Business Club stays at AED 4,999.
- A cheap setup suits a single owner with a standard, unregulated activity who won't trade on the mainland and needs two visas at most.
Search for a low cost business setup in Dubai and most of the prices you find are for a licence, not for a working company. The difference between the two can be large. A licence-only quote can be perfectly accurate and still leave you without a visa, a bank account or the right to trade on the mainland, which means anywhere in the emirate outside a free zone.
Some of the cheapest offers aren't in Dubai at all. Several entry prices in the table below come from zones in Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. Each of these zones licenses companies under its own authority. If you'd like to trade in Dubai with a company licensed in another emirate, check first with the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), Dubai's mainland licensing office formerly known as DED. It can tell you whether that's allowed and how.
What a low cost business setup in Dubai usually includes
A low quote means one of two things. Either the company is smaller, or the quote covers fewer costs. A smaller company has one shareholder, one activity and no visa. A shorter quote drops the visa, the medical test, Emirates ID, insurance, bank help and anything after year one.
Meydan Free Zone says this openly. Its base package covers the trade licence, company registration and a flexi desk. The visa, medical tests, Emirates ID and other additional services are not part of it (Meydan price page, package, October 2026). To actually operate, a company needs more than a licence. It needs an address the authority accepts, a residence visa if you'll live in the UAE, a bank account and a tax registration.
That's why the price should be the last thing you decide on. For labelled figures across more zones, see the overview of free zone company setup cost.
Low priced options and what each leaves out
Use the table to see what each zone's published entry price doesn't cover. The prices are the zones' own and date from October 2026 unless another document date is given.
| Option | Published entry price | Source and date | What it leaves out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ajman Media City (Ajman), Business Club | AED 4,999 a year, the same at renewal | package, October 2026 | visas; the package includes none |
| Ajman NuVentures Centre Free Zone (Ajman), Zero Visa Package | from AED 4,888 | package, October 2026 | visas; the package includes none |
| RAKEZ (Ras Al Khaimah), Biz Starter | AED 6,000 | package, October 2026 | a visa, since none is listed |
| Sharjah Media City (SHAMS), Media licence | from AED 5,760 | package, SHAMS start page, October 2026 | visas and add-ons, which change the final total |
| JAFZA (Dubai), licence | licences start at AED 5,000 | zone headline, October 2026 | the final figure, which depends on how many activities you need |
| DMCC (Dubai), FreelanceUAE | AED 4,020 for one year | package, October 2026 | a visa, employees and a second profession; DMCC says its visa packages are on hold |
| RAKEZ (Ras Al Khaimah), freelance permit | from AED 6,100 | package, October 2026 | staff, extra visas and a corporate bank account |
| Meydan (Dubai), standard trade licence | from AED 12,500 a year | package, October 2026 | the visa, medical test and Emirates ID |
| UAQ FTZ (Umm Al Quwain), START | AED 12,500 | package, October 2026 | nothing is listed as excluded, but you must be in the UAE for visa stamping, biometrics and the medical test |
| Ras Al Khaimah International Corporate Centre (RAK ICC), offshore company | AED 3,250 in year one, as reported | secondary sources, 2026; confirm with RAK ICC | agent fees, any UAE business outside the zone and the licence it would need |
There are also two mainland licences for people working from home. Dubai's e-trader licence is a sole-proprietorship licence for people who sell through social media or online platforms (dubai.ae, April 2026). Abu Dhabi's Tajer licence lets holders work without physical premises for a set period. In September 2026 the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) gave holders whose period ends in 2026 one more year, as the Abu Dhabi Media Office announced on 24 September 2026. Fees and eligibility are set by DET in Dubai and by TAMM, Abu Dhabi's government services platform. Start with them.
RAK ICC's reported AED 3,250 is a registry fee for an offshore company. It doesn't give you the right to trade in the country. Under Regulation 40(8) of the RAK ICC Business Companies Regulations 2018, such a company may not carry out activities in the UAE outside the zone until it holds all the licences it needs.
Zones that publish no entry price
IFZA, Dubai South and Ajman Free Zone (AFZ) had no public entry price on their websites when we checked in October 2026. Any low figure you see for IFZA comes from someone's quote. The IFZA company setup guide covers what the zone's terms do say.
For Dubai Airport Freezone, you'll need a written quotation from the zone. AFZ gives its prices through an online cost calculator, and the AFZ guide walks you through it. At UAQ FTZ, get a written answer on whether a minimum capital, the money the owners must commit to the company, applies to you.
Costs that come after a low quote
Anything a cheap package doesn't include is billed on top. Behind each of these costs is an authority or a zone that sets it.
- Visas. RAKEZ sells up to three extra visas at AED 4,000 each in its package. Meydan lists investor visas from AED 4,000 and says a first investor visa usually comes to about AED 7,850 in total (Meydan home page, package, October 2026).
- Establishment card, the immigration record that lets your company sponsor visas. Meydan lists it from AED 2,000 in its package, and DMCC charges AED 1,825 a year (schedule, October 2026).
- Insurance. The government portal u.ae lists a basic health insurance package at AED 320 a year (September 2026).
- Office. Registering a company tenancy in Ejari, Dubai's official register of tenancy contracts, costs AED 220 at a trustee centre. The AED 177.75 option through the app and website is for individual tenants and landlords (Dubai Land Department, October 2026).
- Access to the mainland. Dubai's six-month permit costs AED 5,000. A dual-licence branch, which is a mainland branch run from your free zone office, costs AED 10,000 a year (Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025, Article 12).
- Bank help. Meydan advertises a guaranteed bank account process with partner banks. We couldn't find the price on a page we could read, and the bank still runs its own checks (October 2026).
Regulated activities need a permit from the regulator on top of the licence. Under Executive Council Resolution 5 of 2024, a Dubai licence can be issued instantly, and the permits have to follow before the activity starts. If you choose a cheap package for an activity that needs a permit, the cost doesn't go away. It turns up later as the permit fee. The Dubai trade licence cost page covers the mainland fees.
How a minimal setup affects visas and banking
Your visas depend on the package and the desk. With a zero-visa package you don't get UAE residence. Adding a visa later depends on your quota, the number of residence visas your company may apply for. RAKEZ's serviced-office page says one desk allows up to 2 visas and two desks up to 4 (October 2026).
Banks make their own decision after running due diligence, the checks they carry out on every new client. Under the Central Bank's customer due diligence guidance, a bank that can't finish those checks shouldn't take the client on or keep them. On 25 December 2025 the Dubai Free Zones Council flagged the difficulty free zone companies have in opening bank accounts. Banks don't publish approval rates, and the timelines they advertise are marketing claims.
Some cheap options restrict banking. RAKEZ freelance permit holders can't open a corporate bank account, and DMCC's FreelanceUAE bank support requires a valid UAE visa and a FreelanceUAE licence (October 2026). Others have added a bank option. On 1 October 2026 RAKEZ announced an account-opening option with RAKBANK for eligible licence holders, with no minimum balance for the first 12 months and an AED 49 monthly fee. Mashreq lists its NEO BIZ Pro plan at AED 99 a month with no minimum balance, according to its NEO BIZ page in October 2026.
When the cheapest option makes sense
A low price can work well when one natural person, meaning an individual rather than a company, owns the business. The activity should be standard and unregulated, and you shouldn't be trading on the mainland. The zone should publish its package and run an online portal, and you should need no more than two visas. Even then, three things need attention: your bank application, Corporate Tax registration and the exact wording of your activity.
You have to register for Corporate Tax within three months of incorporation (Federal Tax Authority, or FTA, Decision 3 of 2024). Registering late brings an AED 10,000 penalty under Cabinet Decision 75 of 2023 as amended, as of October 2026.
Things look different with corporate or foreign shareholders, or with a regulated activity such as finance, health, education, real estate, food or media. The same goes for trading in goods, a mix of mainland and free zone companies, or more than three visas. In any of those cases, the price shouldn't decide how you set up.
Checklist before choosing on price
Send these questions to every zone or seller you're considering, and keep the written answers with your contract. A written answer is the only thing you can hold a seller to.
- Which authority issues the licence, and what activity name will appear on it?
- How many visas are included, which desk are they tied to, and what does each extra visa cost?
- Which of the medical test, Emirates ID, establishment card and insurance are in the price?
- What will year two cost, and what does it cost to cancel?
- Does the activity need a permit, and who charges for it?
- What happens to my money if the activity is refused or the bank turns down the account?
A setup adviser can turn the answers into a price for what you really need. To record them, the packages guide has a ten-item template, and the cost overview shows where each cost belongs.
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More Company Setup Guides
Related Company Setup Guides
- Company formation cost in Dubai and the UAE, line by line
- Dubai free zone company setup cost and what packages skip
- Dubai trade licence cost and the fee lines behind it
- Dubai company setup packages and what they leave out
- RAKEZ free zone packages, visas and the Dual License wording
- Ajman Free Zone licence, visas, freelancer and cost
- IFZA FZCO company setup and what the zone publishes
- SHAMS freezone in Sharjah Media City, licence and visa
