In short
- 22 zones compared: license fees run from AED 3,999 to AED 35,484 a year, and $12,000 in DIFC.
- Nine zones license a company for AED 3,999 to AED 6,000 a year. In Dubai a license with a desk starts at AED 12,500.
- A license with one visa starts at AED 9,999 in Fujairah, then about AED 12,000: Shams, RAKEZ, Umm Al Quwain.
- Tax is the same in every zone: 0% up to AED 375,000, 9% above, 0% on qualifying income.
In this guide
UAE free zones compared: fee, first visa and time to license
The comparison table lists the 22 free zones we set companies up in, the cheapest license first. The fee is the zone's own published price for a year, without a visa. The third column is what the zone asks for a license with the first residence visa.
| Free zone | License from, a year | With the first visa, from | License in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fujairah Creative City | AED 3,999 | AED 9,999 with the visa and the establishment card | 1 to 5 working days |
| Ajman NuVentures | AED 4,888 | AED 10,800, immigration steps inside | About 2 hours |
| Ajman Media City | AED 4,999 | AED 12,999, then AED 8,999 a year | Not published |
| JAFZA free zone, Dubai | AED 5,000, and AED 5,000 to register, with a leased unit | AED 14,653 in the zone's own lines, before rent | 3 to 14 working days |
| Umm Al Quwain Free Zone | AED 5,500 | AED 12,500, visa fees inside | 1 to 2 working days |
| Ajman Free Zone | AED 5,555 | AED 14,000 | 1 to 2 working days |
| SPC Free Zone, Sharjah | AED 5,750 | AED 13,175 | 1 day |
| Shams free zone, Sharjah | AED 5,760 | AED 11,760 to 14,760 | 1 to 3 working days |
| RAKEZ free zone, Ras Al Khaimah | AED 6,000 | AED 12,000 | 1 to 5 working days |
| Masdar City Free Zone, Abu Dhabi | AED 7,000, and a desk from AED 2,000 | AED 17,500 | Up to 10 working days |
| KEZAD, Abu Dhabi | AED 9,450 with a workstation, VAT included | AED 9,450: the package holds one visa place | 24 hours after the approvals |
| Hamriyah, Sharjah | AED 11,000, the zone's basic cost | Not published | 1 to 5 working days |
| Meydan, Dubai | AED 12,500 | AED 22,600 | 1 to 3 working days |
| IFZA free zone, Dubai | About AED 12,500 | About AED 14,900 | 5 to 7 working days |
| Dubai South Free Zone | AED 12,500 with a flexi-desk | AED 16,190 for an LLC, before the lease | 1 day after approval |
| DWTC Free Zone, Dubai | AED 12,525 with a business address, and AED 2,000 to register | AED 23,525 with an investor visa, a refundable deposit of AED 1,200 inside | 3 to 5 working days after initial approval |
| DAFZA, Dubai | AED 15,000, and AED 12,000 to register | By leased space | 14 to 21 working days |
| ADGM, Abu Dhabi | $5,500 in the first year, then $5,000 | 2 visas for each desk | 10 business days |
| DMCC free zone, Dubai | AED 35,484 with a flexi-desk | AED 43,780 | 7 to 14 working days |
| DIFC, Dubai | $12,000, and $8,000 to incorporate | By office | 2 to 4 weeks |
| SAIF Zone, Sharjah | Not published | An office with 3 visa places, rent by quote | 1 hour, by the zone's promise |
| Dubai CommerCity | Not published | Not published | Not published |
The two financial centres, ADGM and DIFC, price their licenses in dollars. Formation with us starts at $7,000 before VAT for the company and its license: the steps and the documents are on free zone company setup in Dubai and the UAE.
Which free zone is best in the UAE?
Each zone was built for a trade, so the best one follows what you sell and who buys it.
| Business | Zones that fit | The reason |
|---|---|---|
| A consultant, an agency, a software company | Meydan or IFZA; Fujairah Creative City, SPC or Shams for a lower fee | A flexi-desk counts as the office, and one license takes 3 activities or more |
| An online shop | Ajman Free Zone, SPC, Dubai South | E-commerce licenses from AED 5,555 and AED 5,750; Dubai South has an e-commerce district at its airport |
| An importer or re-exporter | Dubai South, DAFZA, Hamriyah, RAKEZ | An airport or a port at the gate, and warehouses to lease |
| A manufacturer | RAKEZ, Hamriyah, Umm Al Quwain | Three industrial zones in RAKEZ; plots from 2,500 sq m in the other two |
| A commodity trader, a crypto or gaming company | DMCC | A commodities authority with Crypto, Gaming and AI centres at AED 31,000 a package |
| A fund, a fintech, a family office | DIFC or ADGM | Common law, with their own courts and a financial regulator in each |
| A holding company with no staff | ADGM or DIFC | A special purpose vehicle for $1,900 in ADGM; a prescribed company for $1,100 in its first year in DIFC |
| Media, publishing, clean technology | Shams, SPC, Masdar City | Zones built around these sectors |
Within Dubai that means Meydan or IFZA for services, Dubai South or DAFZA for goods, DMCC for commodities and crypto, and DIFC for finance. A company whose customers are on the UAE mainland weighs a mainland license before any free zone.
Which is the cheapest free zone in the UAE?
Fujairah Creative City is the cheapest of the 22 zones: AED 3,999 a year for a license with no visa. Two Ajman zones follow: Ajman NuVentures at AED 4,888 and Ajman Media City at AED 4,999. Umm Al Quwain stands at AED 5,500, Ajman Free Zone at AED 5,555, SPC at AED 5,750, Shams at AED 5,760 and RAKEZ at AED 6,000. These five stand within AED 500 of each other, so the fee does not separate them. JAFZA's license fee is AED 5,000, and its company also leases a unit. In Dubai a license with a flexi-desk starts at AED 12,500, at Meydan, IFZA and Dubai South.
These licenses carry no visa. With the first visa the order changes, and the zones stop counting the same things:
- Fujairah Creative City: AED 9,999 for the Elite package, with the license, one residence visa and the establishment card.
- Shams: AED 11,760 to 14,760, the license plus the zone's estimate of AED 6,000–9,000 for a visa with its fees.
- RAKEZ: AED 12,000 for the Lite package with one visa. A company with an immigration file also registers in the zone's e-channel system: AED 2,200 once and a refundable deposit of AED 5,050.
- Umm Al Quwain: AED 12,500 with the visa, the medical test, the Emirates ID, medical insurance and the establishment card inside.
- SPC: from AED 13,175. Ajman Free Zone: from AED 14,000. IFZA: about AED 14,900.
- Meydan: from AED 22,600, line by line: license AED 12,500, visa place AED 1,850, establishment card AED 2,000, investor visa about AED 4,000, medical test and Emirates ID AED 2,250.
Ask each zone for the same list before you compare: license, desk, visa place, establishment card, visa, medical test and Emirates ID, for the first year and for the second. The lines of the Dubai zones are in what a Dubai free zone license costs.
IFZA, RAKEZ, Shams or Meydan: the four compared most often
| Zone | Fee and activities | Visas and time | Choose it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFZA, Dubai | About AED 12,500, with 3 activities | About AED 14,900 with one visa; 5 to 7 working days | A Dubai address with trading and services on one license |
| RAKEZ, Ras Al Khaimah | AED 6,000 with 1 activity; AED 14,000 with 10 | 1 visa in the Lite package, up to 4 in All-Inclusive; 1 to 5 working days | A low fee, with warehouses and plots to grow into |
| Shams, Sharjah | AED 5,760 for media; AED 6,885 for any 5 activities | Up to 50 visas on one license; 1 to 3 working days | A team that grows on one license |
| Meydan, Dubai | AED 12,500, with 3 activity groups | Up to 6 visas; 1 to 3 working days | A central Dubai address, signed for online |
Meydan publishes its tariff line by line and IFZA quotes by package, so an IFZA figure always carries an "about". RAKEZ and Shams sell a license with no visa for a founder who lives elsewhere, and add visas by package.
We do this for you Free zone company setup in Dubai and the UAE from $7,000
Visas: how many, and which free zone visa is the cheapest
The residence visa is the same in every zone: a federal visa for two years, and its holder lives in any emirate. With us it costs from AED 3,000 a visa. The zones differ in how many visas one license carries and in their own fees around the visa.
| Zone | Visas on a license or desk | The zone's own visa fee |
|---|---|---|
| Shams | Up to 50 on one license | AED 6,000–9,000 with all fees, by its estimate |
| SPC Free Zone | No cap on a flexi-desk | From AED 4,495 for an investor |
| Ajman Free Zone | Up to 15, by workspace | Inside the package |
| Meydan | Up to 6 | About AED 4,000 for an investor, and AED 1,850 for the place |
| RAKEZ | 1 in the Lite package, up to 4 in All-Inclusive | AED 4,000 for each visa after the first |
| Masdar City | 1 to 4, by desk | AED 3,850 with the medical test and Emirates ID |
| DMCC | 1 to 3 on a flexi-desk, then 1 for every 9 sq m | One visa inside the Jump Start package |
| ADGM | 2 for each desk, 1 for every 8 sq m of office | AED 3,237 to AED 4,150 |
The visa itself costs about the same everywhere. The cheapest way to hold one is the cheapest license that carries it. That is Fujairah Creative City at AED 9,999, then Shams from AED 11,760, RAKEZ at AED 12,000 or Umm Al Quwain at AED 12,500 with every visa fee inside.
Selling on the mainland from each zone
A free-zone company sells abroad and to other free-zone companies. For customers on the mainland each zone has its own route:
- Dubai zones: the Free Zone Mainland Operating Permit of Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism, AED 5,000 for six months, for consultancy, technology, design, professional services and trading.
- DAFZA: a dual license with the Dubai mainland and no second office.
- SPC Free Zone: a dual license with the Sharjah mainland.
- Masdar City: a dual license from the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, from AED 1,200 with 6 activities and no second office.
- Every zone: a mainland distributor, or a branch on the mainland.
When most of the revenue will come from the mainland, compare the routes first in free zone vs mainland.
What is the same in every zone: tax, ownership, the bank
Corporate tax does not depend on the zone. Every free-zone company pays 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above, and a Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP) pays 0% on qualifying income. That status belongs to the company: Meydan, DMCC, RAKEZ, Shams and Hamriyah say on their own sites that their companies can hold it. The conditions are in who counts as a Qualifying Free Zone Person.
A foreigner owns 100% of the company in each of the 22 zones. A bank opens the account in 2 to 4 weeks from a complete application. Banks know the Dubai zones IFZA and Meydan well and put fewer questions to a company with a physical office, as in DMCC, DIFC or ADGM. SPC lists ten partner banks, and Shams hosts bank representatives in its office.
How to choose: five things to settle, in this order
- Your customers. Buyers abroad or in free zones fit any zone. Buyers on the mainland point to a Dubai zone with the permit, a dual license or a mainland company.
- Goods. Stock needs a warehouse at a port or an airport: Dubai South, DAFZA, Hamriyah, RAKEZ.
- Regulation. Funds and payments belong in DIFC or ADGM. A company that trades crypto on its own account takes a DMCC license and the no-objection certificate of VARA, Dubai's virtual assets regulator.
- Visas in two years. A single visa fits the smallest desk in most zones. Ten or more point to Shams, SPC or an office.
- The address your clients and your bank expect. A Dubai address costs about AED 7,000 a year more than a license in the northern emirates.
We match the zone to your activity, your visas and your budget, and register your company in a UAE free zone.
