Cost of Setting Up a Company in Dubai (2026 Breakdown)

The cheapest UAE setup quote you'll see online is "AED 5,750 — start your dream business today!" The honest answer is more like AED 22k–65k for year-1 all-in. Here's where that number comes from, line by line, with no upsell.

(Want to play with the numbers for your specific case? Use our setup cost calculator.)

The three cost buckets

1. The licence — one all-in price per jurisdiction, paperwork and bank intro included
2. Visa fees — investor visa, dependent visas, employee visas
3. Add-ons — accounting, VAT, mail handling, etc.

Every quote is a sum of these. When a competitor advertises AED 5,750, they're showing a stripped licence only — cheapest jurisdiction, zero visas, zero support.

Bucket 1 — the licence (one all-in number)

We quote one all-in price per jurisdiction. The price we quote is the price you pay — government costs pass through at cost (see our guarantee). Our 2026 prices, including VAT:

Jurisdiction	Year-1 licence, all-in (AED)	Notes
RAKEZ (free zone)	from 9,150 (0 visas) / from 15,150 (1 visa allocation)	Cheapest serious free zone.
IFZA (free zone, Dubai-issued)	from 16,575 (0 visas) / from 16,925 (1 visa allocation)	Broad activity list.
DMCC (free zone, Dubai)	roughly 25,000+ (market range)	Premium Dubai. Strong for trading + commodities. Quoted on the call.
DIFC SPV (Dubai financial)	from 23,090, plus annual management from 10,500/yr	Holding/SPV layer, not an operating licence.
ADGM (free zone, Abu Dhabi)	roughly 38,000+ (indicative)	Common-law equivalent to DIFC. Quoted on the call.
Mainland — Dubai (DED)	from 20,200	Required if trading inside the UAE.
Mainland — Abu Dhabi	roughly 18,000–22,000 (indicative)	Same logic. Quoted on the call.

"From" prices are our published anchors on the pricing page; the "roughly" rows are market ranges where we quote case by case. Fee schedules move each January — verify against our calculator for the current month's pricing.

Bucket 2 — visa fees

A standard 2-year residence visa in 2026 runs from AED 6,375 (RAKEZ) / 6,625 (IFZA) / 7,625 (mainland) per person, plus government pass-throughs of AED 360 for the medical and AED 370 for the Emirates ID. That covers:

• Entry permit
• Medical (chest x-ray, blood tests)
• Emirates ID
• Visa stamping
• The visa channel (some jurisdictions charge this separately)

The visa allocation (quota) is part of the licence you pick — RAKEZ with one allocation is from AED 15,150 versus AED 9,150 with none. The visa processing itself is then charged per person. Extra visas — for spouses, kids, employees — add on top.

A common scenario: founder + spouse + 2 kids. That's the founder visa plus 3 dependent visas from AED 6,375 each on RAKEZ = roughly AED 19,125 in extra visas, before the AED 730/person medical + Emirates ID pass-throughs.

Bucket 3 — add-ons (optional)

These are services you can layer in. Our 2026 prices:

• Accounting: Light AED 6,300/yr or Starter AED 11,550/yr — most founders start on one of these. Growth (AED 21,000/yr) and Scale (AED 37,800/yr) cover higher volumes.
• VAT registration: AED 2,100 (ongoing VAT filing: AED 3,675/yr)
• Corporate tax registration: AED 1,575 (ongoing CT filing: AED 2,625/yr)
• Establishment card: AED 3,050 new / AED 3,250 renewal
• Mail handling / virtual office: AED 1,200–3,500 annually (market range)
• PRO services / amendments: AED 500–2,000 per change (market range)

Most founders we work with skip the add-ons in year 1 and pick them up only when their business actually triggers them (e.g., crossing the VAT threshold).

Three real examples

Example 1 — solo founder, online services, RAKEZ

• RAKEZ licence with 1 visa allocation: from AED 15,150
• Standard 2-year visa: from AED 6,375 (+ AED 730 medical and Emirates ID pass-throughs)
• No extras
• Year-1 all-in: from roughly AED 22,300

This is roughly the cheapest viable setup with a residence visa. Don't need a visa at all? A 0-visa RAKEZ licence starts at AED 9,150.

Example 2 — founder + spouse, e-com, IFZA, bookkeeping

• IFZA licence with 1 visa allocation: from AED 16,925
• 2 visas (founder + spouse) from AED 6,625 each: AED 13,250 (+ AED 1,460 pass-throughs)
• Light accounting plan: AED 6,300
• Year-1 all-in: from roughly AED 38,000

Example 3 — HNW family, DIFC SPV + RAKEZ operating company

• DIFC SPV incorporation: from AED 23,090 (annual management from AED 10,500/yr thereafter)
• RAKEZ operating company with 1 visa allocation: from AED 15,150
• 2 visas from AED 6,375 each: AED 12,750 (+ AED 1,460 pass-throughs)
• Starter accounting across the structure: AED 11,550
• Year-1 all-in: from roughly AED 64,000

This is what a holding-layer structure looks like — premium, but cheap relative to the assets being structured.

Year 2 onwards is much cheaper

Year 1 carries the setup cost. Year 2+ is renewal only:

• Licence renewal: roughly the same as year 1, sometimes slightly less — renewal and multi-year pricing is quoted on the call
• No one-time setup work to repeat
• Visa renewals every 2 years (Emirates ID renews every 2 years too)
• Ongoing accounting if you opted in
• Corporate tax + VAT filings if applicable (AED 2,625/yr and AED 3,675/yr respectively)

Typical year-2 cost for Example 2 above: roughly half of year 1.

What's NOT in this breakdown

• Office lease — we don't include this because most free-zone packages use the flexi-desk / shared office that's included in the authority fee. Real office leases start at AED 25,000/year for a small private space and go up from there.
• Bank account — opening the account is included in our setup package (we do the intro letter + accompany you to the first meeting). The bank doesn't charge a setup fee in most cases.
• Sharia compliance / Islamic structure conversions — niche, costs depend.
• Cross-border tax planning — if you need treaty analysis for your home country, that's an extra advisory engagement.

Where it could go wrong

The cheap "AED 5,750 your business in days!" quotes you see online are real — but they usually mean:

• No visa (so you can't actually move to the UAE)
• Smallest free zone (Ajman, Fujairah) with minimal activity list
• Authority fee year 1 only, no renewal context
• No bookkeeping, no compliance, no support beyond the licence print

If that's what you want, that's fine — we can help you set up there too. Just know what you're paying for.

How to actually decide

Pick a setup type (free zone for online, mainland for UAE-trading, holding for assets). Plug the numbers into our setup cost calculator for an all-in. Then run the 5-min diagnostic and we'll email a real proposal with the firm number for your exact situation. No sales call required.