Cost of Business Setup in the UAE (2026)

The cost of business setup in the UAE is lower than most people expect in government fees and higher than most people budget once the office, visas and first-year compliance are added. Licence fees start at a few hundred dirhams on some mainlands and around AED 4,000 to AED 6,000 in the cheapest free zone packages, while a staffed company with an office can run to tens of thousands.

The hard part is that no two quotes are built the same way. One agent quotes a licence only, another bundles a desk and a visa, and a third leaves out the establishment card, medicals and audit. Each emirate and free zone sets its own fees too.

This is where we come in. We form UAE companies ourselves and quote every government fee up front, so the emirate, the licence, the office and the bank file all run through one team. You get one clear price, from €1,899, and a company in about a week.

Ready to see your real number? Our team forms mainland, free zone and offshore companies across the UAE.

How the Cost of Business Setup in the UAE Breaks Down

Every UAE budget has the same five parts. The licence is usually the smallest of them.

Why Quotes Differ

A low headline price usually means a licence with a shared desk and no visa. Always ask what is included, what renews each year and what each extra person costs. A fair comparison uses the full first year and the second-year renewal, not the setup price alone.

Quotes also mix government fees with service fees. The government part is fixed by the emirate or free zone and is the same whoever files it. The service part is what an agent charges for the work, and it is where most of the difference between two quotes sits. Ask for the two to be shown on separate lines.

UAE Company Formation Cost at a Glance

The table below gives the realistic range for each route in the first year, using published fees. It is a starting point for the cost of business setup in the UAE, before you pick a specific zone or emirate.

The UAE company formation cost for a single founder is therefore driven far more by the choice between a desk and a lease than by the licence itself. For a team, the number of visas takes over.

Our Price

Our service starts from €1,899 and covers the formation and the KYC file for the bank, so the UAE company formation cost you see from us is never a licence-only number. Government, office and visa fees are passed through at cost and listed in the quote. Trusts, foundations and regulated structures are quoted separately.

UAE Company Registration Cost on the Mainland

This is the UAE company registration cost on the mainland in each emirate, using published government fees. A mainland company can trade anywhere in the country, but it needs a registered office and usually pays more lines than a free zone company.

Dubai

Dubai's base fees are low, but the licence bill carries other lines. The Department of Economy and Tourism's 2026 relief package named some of them when it deferred them: premium trade name fees, licence amendment fees, newspaper announcement fees, local service fees, accommodation fees, waste management fees and service improvement fees. A general trading licence costs AED 15,000. Read about the cost of business setup in Dubai and the trade licence in Dubai.

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi has some of the lowest government fees. The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department notarises an LLC memorandum for AED 50, online in about a working day, and ADRA's base licence starts at AED 790 for Tajer, Instant and Virtual licences. Read about the trade licence in Abu Dhabi.

Sharjah and the Northern Emirates

Sharjah ties its licence fee to the lease, and publishes its amendment fees: AED 300 to add an activity and AED 500 to add or remove a partner. Its Finance Department's PayFlex scheme lets businesses pay government fees in up to six monthly instalments with no interest. Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah publish itemised fees on their government portals. Read about mainland company formation in the UAE.

UAE Free Zone Company Formation Cost

The UAE free zone company formation cost bundles the licence and a desk or office into one annual price. These are official published packages.

IFZA, SHAMS, Ajman Free Zone and SPC publish no full package prices on their official pages, although SPC's calculator starts from AED 5,750. Our guide to the best free zones in the UAE for company formation compares them, and you can read about free zone company formation in the UAE.

Multi-Year Discounts

Several zones discount longer terms, which lowers the UAE free zone company formation cost per year. KEZAD's one-visa package costs AED 9,450 for one year, AED 17,800 for two and AED 22,575 for three, and DMCC's flexi desk package costs AED 81,881 for two years.

What Packages Leave Out

Packages rarely include everything: the establishment card, visa fees, medicals, Emirates ID, insurance and the audit are usually extra. Visa numbers are tied to the desk or office you rent. Read about free zone visa quota and costs.

Offshore Company Costs

Offshore companies cost the least to register but cannot trade in the UAE. RAK ICC charges AED 3,250 to incorporate and AED 3,950 to renew, and JAFZA charges AED 10,000 to register and AED 2,500 to renew, through a registered agent. Read about offshore company formation in the UAE.

Visa Costs Per Person

Visas are where most budgets grow. The company needs an establishment card first, then each person adds an entry permit, medical, Emirates ID and insurance.

Establishment Card

In Dubai, GDRFA charges AED 200 plus VAT, AED 20 in Knowledge and Innovation fees and a AED 50 service fee, with AED 100 to renew. In the other emirates, ICP charges AED 100 to apply, AED 100 a year and AED 100 in smart fees, plus a AED 2,000 subscription to its electronic system. Free zones charge their own all-in prices: DMCC renews its card for AED 1,805, and Masdar City charges AED 1,600.

A Free Zone Visa Example

DMCC publishes its visa tariff. A new two-year employment visa for someone outside the UAE costs AED 2,972.50, or AED 3,407.50 from inside the UAE, plus employee protection insurance of AED 85 to AED 310 depending on salary and AED 451.40 for Emirates ID typing. Meydan says a first investor visa adds about AED 7,850, and SPC's calculator lists an employment visa at AED 3,700.

Medical, Emirates ID and Insurance

• Medical: the federal health service charges AED 260 in the northern emirates; Dubai's Smart Salem centre charges AED 700.
• Emirates ID: ICP charges AED 100 a year plus AED 100.
• Health insurance: mandatory before residence is issued; the basic federal plan starts from AED 320 a year, and Daman's Abu Dhabi Basic plan from AED 750.
• Work permit: MOHRE charges AED 250, AED 1,200 or AED 3,450 per two-year permit depending on the company's category.
• Unemployment insurance: AED 5 or AED 10 a month plus VAT for employees; company-owner investors are exempt.

Renewing and Cancelling Visas

Visas are not a one-off cost. DMCC charges AED 2,200 to renew a one-year visa and AED 2,790 for two years, and AED 438 to cancel a visa for someone inside the UAE or AED 580 for someone outside it. Adding room for more people also costs money: DMCC charges AED 500 per extra visa on the quota, refunded if declined, plus a AED 250 application fee. Ajman Free Zone adds AED 265 for worker insurance at each renewal.

Staff visas also bring unemployment insurance. Employees earning up to AED 16,000 a month pay AED 5 a month plus VAT, and those above pay AED 10, with a AED 400 fine for not subscribing. Owners of the company they work at are exempt, so a founder on an investor visa does not pay it.

Longer Visas

A green visa for investors needs a cash contribution of at least AED 1 million to the company, and a golden visa starts from AED 2 million. Read about the UAE investor visa.

Office Costs

The office is often the largest line for a mainland company.

Mainland Rents

Savills put average Dubai office rents at AED 238 per square foot in the second quarter of 2026, and reported that two thirds of leases were for units under 500 square feet. CBRE reported Dubai office rents up 13% and Abu Dhabi up nearly 16% on the year, and JLL put Dubai's Grade A rents up 26.2%, with citywide vacancy at 6.1%. Space is tight in the capital: JLL reported prime availability in Abu Dhabi as low as 0.1%, and ValuStrat recorded asking rents in its main office districts up 27.3% on the year.

There is some relief for tenants in Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre froze rent increases on residential and commercial renewals and new contracts from 2 June 2026, replacing the previous 5% cap. In Dubai, Savills described the second quarter as the first without rental growth since 2021.

Beyond the rent itself, a mainland lease brings its own lines: Ejari registration in Dubai, Tawtheeq in Abu Dhabi, a security deposit, agency fees and utilities. These rarely appear in a licence quote but belong in the business setup budget.

Cheaper Routes

Free zone desks, Dubai's first-year virtual site under the Instant Licence and Abu Dhabi's Tajer licence, with no lease for three years, all cut the office cost in year one. Read about opening a virtual office in the UAE and Ejari and the office requirement for a mainland licence.

UAE Business Setup Cost After Year One

The UAE business setup cost does not stop at incorporation. Plan for these every year.

Licence and Package Renewal

Dubai charges AED 600 to renew a standard licence and AED 3,000 for general trading, and fines late renewal at AED 200 a month. DMCC renews at AED 20,265, and KEZAD at AED 5,000 after two years. Sharjah caps the cost of clearing an expired licence at AED 3,000.

Audit and Accounting

An LLC must appoint an auditor each year under the Commercial Companies Law, and a Qualifying Free Zone Person needs audited accounts to claim the 0% rate. Businesses under AED 3 million in revenue can use cash-basis accounting.

Tax Registration

Corporate tax registration is free but due within 3 months of incorporation, with a AED 10,000 penalty for late registration. VAT registration is mandatory above AED 375,000 of taxable supplies. Read about UAE corporate tax for companies and UAE VAT registration for new companies.

Late Fees to Avoid

Most of the avoidable spending in year two comes from missed deadlines. The fines are published and add up quickly.

A renewal calendar kept from day one avoids almost all of them.

Changing or Closing the Company Later

It is worth knowing the exit costs before you start, because they are part of the full cost of business setup in the UAE. Sharjah charges AED 300 to add an activity, AED 500 to add or remove a partner and AED 350 for a cancellation declaration, and clearing an expired licence costs up to AED 3,000. DMCC charges AED 2,000 to terminate a licence and AED 20,265 a year for an extra licence in another activity division. Ajman Free Zone charges AED 2,500 to cancel a licence and AED 2,500 to change a manager.

The establishment card and every visa must be cancelled before the licence can be closed, and each carries its own cancellation fee. A company that plans to move emirate or change legal form later will usually pay less if the right structure is chosen at the start.

Banking Costs

UAE bank packages usually set a minimum monthly average balance: AED 10,000 at FAB Business Basic, AED 25,000 at RAKBANK Business Current, AED 50,000 at Emirates NBD's Proprietor and Prime and AED 100,000 at Commercial Bank of Dubai's Essential. Packages with no minimum charge a monthly fee instead, such as Wio Essential at AED 99 and Emirates NBD Connect at AED 249. Our partners have no minimum balance. Read about opening a business bank account in the UAE.

Sample First-Year Budgets

These estimates add up published fees. Rent, insurance and professional fees vary, so treat them as a structure, not a quote.

A Solo Consultant, No Visa

A package such as Umm Al Quwain's LYTE at AED 5,500 or Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone's Starter at AED 6,000, plus an audit if the zone requires one. Total government and zone cost starts around AED 6,000.

A Founder With One Visa in a Low-Cost Zone

KEZAD's one-visa package at AED 9,450, or Fujairah Creative City's Elite at AED 9,999, plus medical, Emirates ID and insurance. Expect roughly AED 11,000 to AED 13,000 before the audit.

A Dubai Free Zone Company With an Investor Visa

Meydan's AED 12,500 licence plus about AED 7,850 for the first investor visa and about AED 2,250 for medical and Emirates ID comes to roughly AED 22,600.

A DMCC Company With One Employee

DMCC's flexi desk package at AED 43,780 plus a two-year visa, insurance and Emirates ID typing comes to about AED 48,000.

A Trading Company on the Dubai Mainland

The AED 600 licence, AED 15,000 for general trading, registration fees, an Ejari-registered office, the establishment card and visas. The office decides most of the total. At Savills' average of AED 238 per square foot, even a 200 square foot unit runs to about AED 47,600 a year before service charges, which is why many small traders start in a free zone instead.

Comparing the Budgets

The gap between the cheapest and the most expensive of these budgets is roughly tenfold, and almost none of it is the licence. It comes from the office, the number of visas and the prestige of the address. The UAE business setup cost that matters is the one that fits your customers and your team, not the lowest number on a price list.

Relief and Payment Options in 2026

Governments have eased the cost of business setup in the UAE this year. Dubai approved AED 2.5 billion in two relief packages from April and May 2026, deferring some Department of Economy and Tourism fees and fully exempting some hard-hit sectors from market and accommodation fees. Abu Dhabi waived late renewal fines from 15 May to 15 August 2026. MOHRE now lets businesses pay its fees and fines over 4 to 12 months through Tabby, up to AED 20,000 per transaction, and cards from eight banks allow 0% instalments for up to 12 months. Sharjah's PayFlex spreads government fees over up to six months with no interest, and Ajman Free Zone accepts package fees in instalments over up to six months.

Some free zones added their own measures. Dubai Healthcare City waived late renewal penalties for licences renewed between April and June 2026, and Dubai South offered exemptions from late renewal fines. The Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development extended memberships expiring in 2026 by two years. Most of these measures are time-limited, so check the current terms before you rely on them.

How to Keep the Cost Down

A few decisions made early have more effect on the cost of business setup in the UAE than any discount.

Choose the Emirate by Total Cost

Compare the office, visas and renewal, not the licence fee alone.

Bundle Activities

Most licences include several activities in the base fee. Plan them together.

Match the Office to Your Visa Needs

A flexi desk is cheapest, but it limits visas. Pay for more space only when you hire.

Take a Multi-Year Term

Zones such as KEZAD and DMCC price two and three years below the annual rate.

Avoid Setting Up Twice

Choosing the wrong lane often means forming a second company later. Our guide to the types of companies in the UAE helps you choose once.

Common Budgeting Mistakes

Budgeting the Licence Only

The licence is often the smallest line, and the UAE company registration cost on its own says little about the total. The office and visas decide the total.

Forgetting the Establishment Card

No visa can be issued until the company has one, and ICP adds a AED 2,000 system subscription outside Dubai.

Ignoring Renewal

Year two repeats the licence, office, card and audit, so the UAE business setup cost in the second year is often close to the first, minus the one-off registration lines.

Skipping Tax Registration

The AED 10,000 late registration penalty is avoidable.

Bottom Line

The cost of business setup in the UAE starts with low government fees, from a few hundred dirhams on some mainlands and around AED 4,000 to AED 6,000 in the cheapest free zones, and grows with the office, visas and compliance. A founder with one visa in a low-cost zone can start for about AED 11,000 to AED 13,000, while a DMCC company with one employee costs about AED 48,000. Compare total first-year and renewal costs, not headline prices, and the cost of business setup in the UAE becomes easy to plan.

We form UAE companies from €1,899 and quote every fee up front.