Cost calculator
Business setup cost calculator
Our Dubai business setup cost calculator: six questions, one indicative range, broken down so you can see what drives it.
This Dubai business setup cost calculator gives an indicative AED range for your company, built from published fee bands for the licence, the visa allocation and the office or flexi-desk. It is not a fixed quote, so once you have a range we confirm an itemised figure for your exact activity.
The Dubai business setup cost calculator gives an indicative all-in AED range for your company, built from published fee bands for the licence, the visa allocation and the office or flexi-desk. It covers the mainland, where a licence from the Department of Economy and Tourism adds an Ejari office, and the free zones, where a packaged licence from a zone such as IFZA, Meydan or SPC bundles a desk and visas from a few thousand dirhams.
Three things move the total: the jurisdiction, the number of residence visas, and the workspace. A flexi-desk keeps the entry cost down; a private office raises it but carries more visas. A value zone like SPC in Sharjah publishes packages from AED 5,750, while a Dubai address in DMCC costs more for the recognition it carries. The calculator ranges these honestly rather than quoting a single headline number.
It is an estimate, not a fixed quote, because the exact figure depends on your activity, the specific zone and any regulated approval. Once you have a range, we confirm an itemised total for your exact case, with the government fees shown separately from our fee, so nothing is added at renewal that you did not plan for.
Context
What actually drives your setup cost
Most people assume the licence fee is the big number. It usually is not. Across the setups we handle, office and visas together account for more of the first year cost than the licence itself, which is why two companies with the same licence type can pay very different amounts.
- Jurisdiction. Free zone packages bundle the desk and keep entry low. Mainland requires a leased office with Ejari.
- Visas. Each residence visa adds medical, Emirates ID, stamping and, in a free zone, often a higher package tier.
- Activity. Regulated activities such as industrial, tourism, healthcare and finance need a second regulator, which adds fees and time.
- Premises. A flexi desk costs a fraction of a warehouse. This is usually the single largest variable.
- Renewals. Year two costs less than year one in most cases, because incorporation fees are not repeated.
Frequently asked questions
-
How much does it cost to set up a company in Dubai?
It depends on the jurisdiction, the licence type, how many visas you need and whether you take a flexi-desk or an office. UAE free zone packages start from around AED 4,888 all in and Dubai mainland from around AED 12,000. The calculator gives an indicative range; we then confirm a fixed quote.
-
What does the cost calculator include?
It estimates the licence fee, the visa allocation, the office or flexi-desk, and the government charges for your chosen jurisdiction, broken down line by line so you can see what drives the total.
-
Is the calculator result a fixed quote?
No. It is an indicative range built from published fee bands. Your exact activity, visa count and office choice change the final figure, which is why we follow up with a fixed, itemised quote.