Visa count
Each residence visa adds roughly AED 4,000–5,000 once medical, Emirates ID and stamping are counted. Sizing this wrongly is the most common budget miss.
UAE Business Setup Cost Calculator
Estimate your UAE business setup cost before you commit — mainland, free zone or offshore — with an itemised breakdown you can plan around.
Government fees includedItemised breakdownNo email requiredUpdated for 2026
Cost calculator
Estimate your UAE business setup cost
Move the controls to see an indicative year-one range. These are planning figures, not a quotation — but they are built from the same numbers we quote from.
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1
Indicative year-one total
AED 12,500 – AED 16,500
Range includes government fees and our professional fee. Authority fees change without notice and this estimate is not a binding offer. Request a written quotation for a firm figure.
Get an Exact Quotation Side by side
What the same business costs in each jurisdiction
A two-visa setup with one activity and a flexi-desk, priced across all three structures. The cheapest option is rarely the right one — the third column is what matters.
| Structure | Indicative year 1 | Corporate tax position | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free zone | AED 20,900 – 27,600 | Potential 0% on qualifying income, conditions apply | Your customers are outside the UAE |
| Mainland (DET) | AED 26,900 – 35,500 | 9% above AED 375,000, no free zone relief | You sell to UAE businesses or government |
| Offshore | AED 14,000 – 18,500 | Outside the standard regime, no UAE residency | Holding, asset protection, international trade |
Figures are indicative planning ranges observed across recent AONE BIZ engagements, current as at August 2026. Authority fee schedules are revised without notice. Nothing on this page is a binding offer.
Read the small print
What the estimate covers — and what it does not
Most surprise invoices come from the right-hand column. Here it is up front.
Included in the estimate
- Trade licence and registration fees
- Trade name reservation and initial approval
- MOA drafting and notarisation, where applicable
- Registered address at the tier you select
- Establishment card and immigration file
- Visa allocation costs at the count you set
- Our professional fee for the formation itself
Charged separately
- Medical fitness testing and Emirates ID fees
- Document attestation and legal translation
- External regulator approvals — health, education, food, finance
- Office rent above the selected package tier, and Ejari
- Share capital where a jurisdiction requires a deposit
- Corporate bank account application support
- Year-one accounting, VAT and audit fees
What moves the number
Six things that change your cost more than the licence fee
Founders tend to compare licence prices. These are what actually decide the total.
Office tier
A flexi-desk is bundled; a private office can add AED 15,000 or more. Your visa quota is tied to this, so the two decisions must be made together.
Activity count
The first activity is included. Each additional one adds roughly AED 1,200 — and some combinations are not permitted on a single licence at all.
External approvals
Healthcare, education, transport, food and financial activities need a regulator sign-off. That adds both fees and two to six weeks.
Audit obligation
Several free zones require audited accounts every year for renewal. That is a year-two cost most comparisons quietly leave out.
Shareholder profile
Corporate shareholders and certain nationalities require additional attestation and extend the banking timeline, which has a real cost.
Questions
About this calculator
It is built from the same base figures we quote from, so it lands close for a straightforward setup. What it cannot know is your exact activity list, whether your activity triggers an external approval, or what a specific free zone is charging this quarter. Treat the output as a planning range and request a written quotation before you budget.
Yes. The range covers authority and government charges plus our professional fee. When we issue a formal quotation those two are itemised separately, and government charges are passed through at cost with no margin added.
Because two businesses with identical inputs can still differ by thousands of dirhams — different free zones price the same package differently, some activities need an external regulator approval, and office costs vary by building. The lower figure is a clean, straightforward setup; the upper figure allows for the common variables.
Medical fitness testing and Emirates ID fees, document attestation and legal translation, external regulator approval charges, office rent beyond the package tier, share capital where a zone requires it to be deposited, and your ongoing accounting, VAT and audit fees from year one onward.
Offshore entities — RAK ICC and JAFZA Offshore — do not carry a UAE residence visa allocation. They are holding, asset-protection and international trading structures. If you need residency, you need a mainland or free zone entity, and we will say so on the call.
No. This is a year-one estimate. Year two is usually lower because incorporation costs do not repeat, but it adds licence renewal, visa renewals, and — in most free zones — a mandatory audit. We show you years one through three in a written quotation, because the cheap first year is where most agencies hide the real cost.
Yes. Send us your inputs through the form below and we will reply with an itemised written quotation, the document checklist for your specific case, and a realistic timeline — usually within one business hour.
Want the real number instead of a range?
Send us your activity, customer base and visa requirement. We reply with an itemised written quotation — government fees separated from our fee — usually within one business hour.
Talk to us
Send us your inputs and we will price it properly
Tell us what you selected in the calculator and anything it could not capture — your activity, where your customers are, and how many visas you need.
- One business hour response during working days.
- Fixed, itemised quotations — government fees shown separately from our fee.
- One named consultant from first call through to licence, visa and first filing.
- No obligation. If the UAE is not right for you yet, we will say so.
Request your free consultation
Takes under a minute. No obligation, no sales script.