We analysed the real all-in setup cost of nine UAE free zones — what it actually costs to register a company, ranked, by emirate, and with the residence-visa premium laid bare.
Cheapest to most expensive, zero-visa, all-in. The Northern Emirates dominate the value end; Dubai's flexible zones sit at the top of the mainstream range.
📌 DMCC (Dubai) sits in a premium tier of its own at AED 35,484 — a bundled licence + workspace + visa allowance — so it's charted apart from the mainstream range above.
| Free zone | Emirate | All-in (0 visas) |
|---|---|---|
| Ajman NuVentures Centre | Ajman | AED 4,888 |
| Fujairah Creative City | Fujairah | AED 4,900 |
| SRTIP | Sharjah | AED 5,500 |
| SPC Free Zone | Sharjah | AED 5,750 |
| RAKEZ | Ras Al Khaimah | AED 6,000 |
| Masdar City | Abu Dhabi | AED 7,000 |
| Meydan Free Zone | Dubai | AED 12,500 |
| IFZA | Dubai | AED 12,900 |
| DMCC | Dubai | AED 35,484 |
If location matters, here's the lowest all-in entry point per emirate in 2026:
The takeaway: a Dubai address costs roughly 2.5× the cheapest Northern-Emirates licence — AED 12,500 vs AED 4,888 — for what is, on paper, the same 100%-owned free-zone company.
The licence is only half the story. Most founders need at least one residence visa — and that's where totals jump. Across the zones, a first visa adds an average of about AED 7,900, but the spread is wide:
| Measure | Amount (first visa) |
|---|---|
| Lowest visa premium | ~AED 4,715 (IFZA) |
| Average visa premium | ~AED 7,900 |
| Highest visa premium | ~AED 11,950 (Meydan) |
| Cheapest all-in 1-visa company | ~AED 10,800 (Ajman) |
So while Ajman wins on the licence alone, the gap narrows once visas are added — which is exactly why an all-in calculation by visa count matters more than the headline licence price.
Pick your free zone and visas, get the real total in seconds, and start online — no sales call.
Open the cost calculator →Ajman NuVentures Centre, at AED 4,888 all-in — followed by Fujairah Creative City (AED 4,900) and SRTIP in Sharjah (AED 5,500).
The median zero-visa licence across the nine zones is AED 6,000, ranging from AED 4,888 to AED 35,484. Eight of the nine cost under AED 13,000.
About AED 7,900 on average for the first visa, from ~AED 4,715 (IFZA) to ~AED 11,950 (Meydan). The cheapest all-in one-visa company is ~AED 10,800 at Ajman.
