Company formation in Dubai: mainland or free zone, from $7,000

We set up your Dubai company in a free zone from $7,000, with the license in 1 to 5 working days, or on the mainland from $8,000, in 1 to 2 weeks.

Three ways to set up a company in the UAE

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A founder walks between office towers with a folder under her arm

Business setup in Dubai: mainland or a free zone

Choose by where your customers are.

Name	Mainland	Free zone
Customers	Anyone in the UAE, government bodies included	Abroad and inside the zone, and in mainland Dubai with a DET permit
License from	DET, which older texts still call DED	The zone's own authority
Foreign ownership	100% for more than 1,000 activities	100% for every activity
Office	A lease of 100 square feet or more, registered in Ejari	A flexi-desk in the zone
Residence visas	By floor space	By package, up to 6 at Meydan
License issued in	1 to 2 weeks	1 to 5 working days
Authority's fee, a year	AED 12,000–15,000	AED 12,500 at Meydan
Formation with us	from $8,000	from $7,000

What it costs to start a company in Dubai

Our prices are before VAT, and one quote carries the company, its license, the visas and the accounting. The two renewal lines are the authority's own fees.

Free-zone company with its license

from $7,000Get a quote

Mainland company with its license: from $8,000
Office with its lease in Ejari, for a mainland company: in your quote
Residence visa, each: from AED 3,000
Accounting with the tax returns, a month: from $350
Meydan license from the second year, the zone's fee: AED 12,500
Mainland license from the second year, DET's fee: AED 12,000–15,000
Bank account application: in your quote

All prices for a company in the UAE

What clients write about Legarithm

4.8 on Google from 26 reviews.

We had long been looking for someone to register a company in the UAE and help with the account. With Legarithm it went as it should: a clear process, help with the documents, no red tape.

Julia But Google review

Everything is well coordinated and clear. Half an hour of the first meeting was more useful than two weeks of trying to work it out myself.

Octavian Wellspring Google review

All 26 reviews on Google

The steps to form a company in Dubai, with times

day 1
Choose mainland or a free zone
You tell us who your customers are and how many visas you want. We name the route, the authority and the activities that go on the license.
day 1 or 2
Reserve the trade name
We check the name against the naming rules and reserve it. On the mainland DET, Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism, confirms a name in 10 minutes for AED 620.
2 to 4 days
Initial approval and memorandum
DET grants a mainland company its initial approval for AED 120 and issues the memorandum of association of an LLC. In a free zone you sign the memorandum and the desk lease online.
with step 3
Take an address
A mainland company leases an office and registers the lease in Ejari, Dubai's tenancy register. A free-zone company takes a flexi-desk, a shared desk rented from the zone.
1–5 days or 1–2 weeks
Receive the license
A free zone issues the license 1 to 5 working days after complete documents. DET issues a mainland license 1 to 2 weeks after we start.
1 to 4 weeks later
Visas, tax number, bank account
We file the establishment card, which is the company's immigration file, then the visas, the registration with the Federal Tax Authority and the bank application.

Company registration in Dubai: the legal form, the license and the activities

LLCA legal form with a license on top

A Dubai company is a legal form with a license on top. On the mainland the usual form is the limited liability company, the LLC, owned by one person or more. DET also registers sole establishments, civil companies and branches of foreign companies. A free zone registers an FZE for one shareholder and an FZCO for two or more.

2,000Activities a license can list

The license lists what the company sells. DET issues a commercial license for trade, a professional license for services and an industrial license for manufacturing. More than 2,000 activities are open, and a foreigner owns 100% of the company in more than 1,000 of them. An activity in health, transport or telecoms goes to its regulator for approval first, and we file that application.

1 numberFor every company, and no minimum share capital

Each licensed company in Dubai, mainland or free zone, receives 1 Dubai Unified License number: the identifier that banks and government offices use to look the company up. With it a free-zone company applies for a mainland operating permit on the Invest in Dubai platform. The mainland has no standard minimum share capital.

An activity that needs no outside approval qualifies for DET's Instant License: issued in five minutes, with a virtual address for the first year.

Dubai free zones: license cost and who each suits

Free zone	Zone's fee, a year	Suits
Meydan	AED 12,500, flexi-desk included	Consultants and online businesses
IFZA	about AED 12,500	Consulting, trading and holding companies
Dubai South	AED 12,500, flexi-desk included	Logistics and e-commerce by Al Maktoum airport
DWTC	AED 12,000, AED 525 for a business address and AED 2,000 to register	Consultants, event companies, family offices
DAFZA	from AED 15,000	Air freight: electronics, pharma, aviation
DMCC	AED 35,484, flexi-desk included	Commodity traders and crypto companies
DIFC	$12,000, and $8,000 to incorporate	Funds, fintech and holding companies

A first-year budget in Dubai, line by line

Take one founder who wants one residence visa and has the books kept from the first month. The table adds up our prices for the two routes.

First year	Free zone	Mainland
Company and its license	$7,000	$8,000
Address	flexi-desk, in the zone's fee	office rent, in your quote
Accounting, 12 months at $350	$4,200	$4,200
Total in dollars	$11,200	$12,200 and the rent
One residence visa, on top	from AED 3,000	from AED 3,000

from AED 2,000Establishment card for the first visa, at Meydan

Each figure is a starting price: a second activity, a larger office or more visas raise it, and the quote lists every line before you pay. For the first visa a free zone also bills the establishment card and the medical test with the Emirates ID, at Meydan from AED 2,000 and from AED 2,250. Each zone's own lines are in Dubai free zone license cost, fees by zone.

AED 620The authorities' own charges

The authorities publish their own charges. DET takes AED 620 for the trade name and AED 120 for the initial approval, then a license fee set by the activity, AED 12,000 to 15,000 a year. The Dubai Land Department registers a lease in Ejari for AED 220 at a trustee centre. Meydan charges AED 12,500 a year for a license with a flexi-desk.

Residence visas through your Dubai company

How owners, staff and family apply is on residence visas in the UAE, and ten years of residence with no sponsor on golden visa in the UAE.

Two years, renewable

A mainland or free-zone company sponsors residence visas for its owner and staff. Each permit runs for two years. The owner's visa comes 1 to 3 weeks after the license.

How many visas

On the mainland the number follows the office: more floor space, more visas. In a free zone the package sets it, and one Meydan license carries up to 6.

One trip to Dubai

You come once, for the medical test and the fingerprints for the Emirates ID. GDRFA, the residency authority of Dubai, then processes the permit within 48 hours.

Documents to start a business in Dubai

Documents

Each owner and manager

Passport copy
Photo on a white background
Proof of address from the last 3 months
UAE entry permit or residence visa, which DET asks of a mainland applicant

A company as shareholder

Certificate of incorporation and good standing
Memorandum and articles of association
Board resolution to open the Dubai company
Attestation by the UAE embassy and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with an Arabic translation

You send them in your account. We check each document the day it arrives and tell you what is missing.

See the platform

After the license: tax, bank and renewal

The company registers with the Federal Tax Authority within 3 months of incorporation and pays 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000, 9% above. The rules are in corporate tax in the UAE, and the books behind the return are kept by our accountants in Dubai and the UAE.

Questions about company formation in Dubai

How much does it cost to start a company in Dubai?

From $7,000 in a free zone and from $8,000 on the mainland, before VAT, for the company with its license. With a year of accounting a founder budgets $11,200 in a free zone, and each visa adds from AED 3,000.

Which is the best business to start in Dubai?

The one whose customers you already have. A consultancy or an online shop starts in a free zone with a flexi-desk. A shop, a restaurant or a building contractor needs a mainland license.

Can a foreigner own 100% of a company in Dubai?

Yes: in every free zone, and on the mainland for more than 1,000 commercial and industrial activities since 2021. A short list of strategic activities, defence and banking among them, follows its own rules.

Can a free-zone company sell in mainland Dubai?

Yes. A free-zone company with a Dubai Unified License applies on the Invest in Dubai platform for a mainland operating permit. The permit costs AED 5,000 for six months and covers consultancy, technology, design, professional services and trading. Revenue earned there is taxed at 9%. The other routes are in where a free-zone and a mainland company can sell.

How long does it take to register a company in Dubai?

1 to 5 working days for a free-zone license and 1 to 2 weeks on the mainland. Visas take 1 to 3 weeks more, the bank account 2 to 4.

Do I have to come to Dubai to open the company?

Not for a free-zone license, which is issued remotely. DET asks a mainland applicant for a UAE entry permit or visa, and for a residence visa you come once, for the medical test and the fingerprints.

What is a low-cost business setup in Dubai?

A free-zone company with no visa. Meydan and Dubai South charge AED 12,500 a year for the license with a flexi-desk, and we set the company up from $7,000 before VAT. Outside Dubai a license starts at AED 3,999 a year: the cheapest free zones in the UAE, with and without a visa.

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