PUBLISHED 2026 · SCENARIO COMPARISON · FORMENZO
What is the cheapest trade licence in the UAE?
Cheapest Trade Licence UAE 2026: AED 4,888.
Published 2026 scenario comparison. The figures below compare the selected licence and visa count. They are not an individual authority-fee schedule; final authority line items, eligibility and availability are confirmed in writing after review — before payment.
Every figure here is the real, published scenario 2026 price — government/authority fee, our setup service and the residence-visa block — confirmed in writing, with no sales call. See the full Cost Index or the open price dataset (CC-BY).
Build your exact price →Get a quote on WhatsApp →By the Formenzo Research Team · compare all 9 zones
How the cheapest licences stack up
Ajman NuVentures holds the bottom of the 2026 table at AED 4,888 for a zero-visa licence, but only just: Fujairah Creative City is AED 4,900 and SRTIP in Sharjah AED 5,500. Add one residence visa and the order barely moves — Ajman NuVentures stays cheapest at AED 10,800, with Fujairah Creative City and SRTIP level at AED 12,500. With a few hundred dirhams separating the leaders, activity fit should decide it: Fujairah Creative City leans towards media and freelance work, Ajman NuVentures towards trading and general services.
Who picks this option
The budget tier suits freelancers formalising their income for the first time, e-commerce resellers who invoice internationally and hold stock elsewhere, and relocating solo founders who need exactly one visa with nothing decorative added to the bill.
Two things founders ask
Does the cheapest zone cap growth later? Not meaningfully — Ajman NuVentures scales to AED 16,200 with two visas and AED 20,700 with three, still below most rivals at each step.
Is a general trading activity available at these prices? Trading activities exist in all the budget zones, though broad general-trading classifications can carry a higher activity fee — see the general trading licence guide.
