UAE Business Setup Cost Calculator: 2026 Guide
Anyone who searches for a business setup cost calculator dubai is usually hoping for one clean number: type in a business idea, get back a single fee. The reality on the ground is different. Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, the UAE’s federal identity and visa authority, the Federal Tax Authority, and each individual free zone all publish or operate their own fee schedules and calculators, and none of them hands over one figure that covers every jurisdiction, activity, and visa combination at once. Understanding how these official tools actually work, and what inputs move the number the most, is the difference between a realistic budget and a guess borrowed from a random blog post.
The most important distinction to grasp early is that mainland, free zone, and offshore structures are licensed by entirely different authorities under different rules, so a mainland business setup cost calculator dubai search and a free zone equivalent will never return comparable figures. Dubai’s DET regulates mainland licensing directly and openly states that fees differ by licence type; free zone authorities such as Meydan and RAKEZ publish standing package prices, while others such as JAFZA and NIP only release a number once you have entered your specific details into their own calculators. Offshore registries like RAK ICC do not publish prices at all, because incorporation runs through independent registered agents rather than the authority itself.
This guide works through eight practical questions covering how official cost calculators function, what mainland and free zone licensing actually costs according to the authorities themselves, what offshore incorporation involves, how visa and tax obligations add to your budget, and what a calculator typically leaves out. Every fee, threshold, and figure below is sourced exclusively from official UAE government, federal authority, and free zone authority publications, with the specific source named at the point each figure is stated.
What Does a UAE Business Setup Cost Calculator Actually Calculate?
How Official Cost Calculators Work
Dubai’s DET operates its own cost estimation tool at eservices.dubaided.gov.ae, and its published help documentation explains the mechanics directly: the tool takes your chosen activity group, legal type and number of owners, characteristics of your proposed business name, and the yearly rent of your licensed premises as inputs, then returns three separate cost components, the trade name reservation cost, the initial approval cost, and the licence issuance cost, along with a combined total (Source: Dubai DET eServices Help, eservices.dubaided.gov.ae). This is the model every serious official calculator follows: it does not store one fixed price behind the scenes, it recalculates a figure from the variables you supply.
Free zone calculators run on the same logic. When a tool asks for your intended activity, number of visas, and office type before showing you anything, that is because the underlying authority’s own fee schedule genuinely changes with those variables, not because the tool is deliberately withholding a simple number that exists elsewhere.
The Inputs That Move Your Number Most
Across every official source reviewed for this guide, four inputs consistently move the final figure the most: your business activity (a general trading licence, an investment activity, and a business centre activity are priced completely differently by Dubai DET), your legal form and number of owners (each owner or shareholder can add separate registration steps and fees), the number of visas you need, and whether you are choosing mainland, a package-priced free zone, or a calculator-gated free zone. DET’s own fee schedule illustrates the activity effect clearly: general trading and investment activity licences are charged at AED 15,000, a business centre activity is charged at AED 25,000, and building contracting activities are charged at AED 10,000 (Source: Dubai DET, dubaided.gov.ae).
Office rent is the other major lever. DET’s calculator explicitly asks for your yearly rent figure as an input, which confirms that office cost feeds directly into your licence-fee calculation on the mainland rather than sitting outside it as a separate, unrelated expense (Source: Dubai DET eServices Help, eservices.dubaided.gov.ae).
Why No Calculator Gives One Universal Figure
It is worth stating this plainly, because it is the single most common misconception behind searches like business setup cost calculator dubai: no official UAE source, federal or emirate-level, publishes one all-in total that applies across mainland, free zone, and offshore structures. Dubai DET’s own FAQ addresses this directly, stating that there are no constant fees and that fees differ according to the different types of licences (Source: Dubai DET FAQ, dubaided.gov.ae). Any single number you see quoted as “the cost of setting up in Dubai” on a blog or consultancy website is, at best, an estimate built from a specific scenario, not a government-published figure that applies to your situation.
How Much Does a Mainland Business Setup Cost in Dubai?
DET’s Licence Fee Components
A Dubai mainland licence is built from several separate government fees rather than one issuance charge. Dubai DET’s published service pages list a trade name reservation fee of AED 620 and an initial approval fee of AED 120 (Source: Dubai DET FAQ, dubaided.gov.ae), a licence register fee for a new licence of AED 600, a trade name advertisement fee of AED 350, and a service request form fee of AED 50 (Source: Dubai DET new licence service page, dubaided.gov.ae). A foreign-language trade name attracts its own fee, ranging from AED 1,000 to AED 3,000 depending on the name chosen. Two small statutory charges, the Knowledge Dirham and Innovation Dirham, are added at AED 10 each, and both are charged per transaction rather than once a year, a point covered in more detail later in this guide.
Because these fees are itemised rather than bundled, the real cost of “getting a trade name and initial approval” before you have even chosen a specific activity typically sits in the low hundreds of AED, well before the activity-based licence fee itself is added.
How Fees Change by Activity
The activity-based portion of a mainland licence is where the biggest swings happen. Dubai DET’s fee schedule sets general trading activities and investment activities at AED 15,000, a business centre activity at AED 25,000, and building contracting activities at AED 10,000 (Source: Dubai DET, dubaided.gov.ae). Renewal fees for the same activities are typically lower than new-issue fees; DET’s renewal service page lists, for example, a general trading renewal at AED 3,000 and a business centre renewal at AED 5,000 (Source: Dubai DET renewal service page, dubaided.gov.ae).
This is the exact pattern DET itself describes when it states plainly that there are no constant fees, since the amount charged is a function of which activity or activities you select, not a single rate applied to every mainland company (Source: Dubai DET FAQ, dubaided.gov.ae).
Using the Official DET Cost Estimation Tool
Rather than relying on a third-party estimate, the most reliable business setup cost calculator dubai founders have access to for mainland pricing is DET’s own tool at eservices.dubaided.gov.ae. Enter your specific activity group, legal type, number of owners, proposed trade name characteristics, and yearly office rent, and the tool returns the trade name reservation, initial approval, and licence issuance components separately, along with a combined total (Source: Dubai DET eServices Help, eservices.dubaided.gov.ae). Because the tool is run directly by the licensing authority, the figure it returns reflects current government fees rather than a historical or generic estimate.
| Fee | Amount (AED) | Source |
| Trade Name Reservation | 620 | Dubai DET, dubaided.gov.ae |
| Initial Approval | 120 | Dubai DET, dubaided.gov.ae |
| Licence Register Fee (new licence) | 600 | Dubai DET, dubaided.gov.ae |
| Trade Name Advertisement | 350 | Dubai DET, dubaided.gov.ae |
| Service Request Form | 50 | Dubai DET, dubaided.gov.ae |
| Foreign Trade Name Fee | 1,000 – 3,000 | Dubai DET, dubaided.gov.ae |
| Knowledge Dirham (per transaction) | 10 | u.ae Government Fees page |
| Innovation Dirham (per transaction) | 10 | u.ae Government Fees page |
| General Trading / Investment Activity Fee | 15,000 | Dubai DET, dubaided.gov.ae |
| Business Centre Activity Fee | 25,000 | Dubai DET, dubaided.gov.ae |
| Building Contracting Activity Fee | 10,000 | Dubai DET, dubaided.gov.ae |
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How Much Does a Free Zone Business Setup Cost?
Free Zones With Published Package Prices
Some free zone authorities publish standing package prices directly on their own websites. Meydan Free Zone lists a Regular Digital Trade Licence at AED 12,500, which includes flexi-desk access and up to three business activities, and a Fawri Instant Licence, issued in under 60 minutes, at AED 15,000; add-ons are priced separately, with an additional activity at AED 1,000, an additional shareholder at AED 2,000, an investor visa from AED 4,000, and an employee visa from AED 3,500 (Source: meydanfz.ae). RAKEZ runs promotional packages rather than a single standard price list, with a Biz Starter Package and an Instant Licence Basic offer both listed at AED 6,000, an Instant Licence Lite offer at AED 12,000, and an All-Inclusive SME Package at AED 14,000 per year (Source: rakez.com).
It is worth flagging that RAKEZ’s AED 6,000 figure appears on two separate promotional pages with slightly different described inclusions, so this should be treated as two related offers rather than one perfectly uniform product until confirmed directly with RAKEZ for your specific activity.
Free Zones With Calculator-Only Pricing
Other major free zones do not publish a static AED figure anywhere on their sites. JAFZA operates an interactive tool at jafza.ae/cost-calculator, and National Industries Park operates its own at nip.ae/cost-calculator; both require you to enter your activity, facility type, and shareholder details before any figure is shown, because neither authority has published a baseline number publicly. DMCC’s pricing information sits behind a similarly interactive, JavaScript-rendered page rather than a static fee schedule.
If you see a specific AED figure quoted online for JAFZA, NIP, or DMCC without a link to the authority’s own calculator output, treat it as an estimate rather than an official number, since these authorities have not published one.
Comparing the Two Pricing Models
The practical takeaway is that free zones split into two pricing models: package-priced zones where you can compare a published figure directly, and calculator-gated zones where the only trustworthy number is the one the official tool returns for your exact inputs. Before comparing free zones on cost, check which model applies, since comparing a RAKEZ promotional price against an unofficial “typical JAFZA cost” figure found on a third-party site is not a like-for-like comparison. Treat any figure a business setup cost calculator dubai website shows you as authoritative only when it comes directly from that authority’s own page or tool.
| Free Zone | Pricing Model | Published Figures | Official Source |
| Meydan Free Zone | Published packages | AED 12,500 (Regular Digital Trade Licence); AED 15,000 (Fawri Instant Licence) | meydanfz.ae |
| RAKEZ | Published promotional packages | AED 6,000 (Biz Starter / Instant Licence Basic); AED 12,000 (Instant Licence Lite); AED 14,000/yr (SME Package) | rakez.com |
| JAFZA | Interactive calculator only | No static figure published | jafza.ae/cost-calculator |
| National Industries Park | Interactive calculator only | No static figure published | nip.ae/cost-calculator |
| DMCC | Interactive calculator (JS-rendered site) | Not independently verifiable in this review | dmcc.ae |
How Much Does an Offshore Company Setup Cost in the UAE?
The RAK ICC Registered Agent Model
RAK International Corporate Centre, one of the UAE’s main offshore registries, publishes no AED figures anywhere on its own website. Incorporation runs through a Registered Agent model, meaning a licensed agent, rather than RAK ICC itself, handles the application and sets the fee charged to the client. What RAK ICC does confirm directly are process and structural facts: a one-day incorporation process once documents are ready, 100 per cent foreign ownership, the ability to appoint a corporate director, and roughly 40,000 incorporations to date (Source: rakicc.com).
JAFZA Offshore Considerations
JAFZA also offers an offshore formation option, selectable as a formation type within its own gated cost calculator, but like its free zone licences, no static offshore figure is published on jafza.ae. Anyone comparing JAFZA offshore against RAK ICC needs to request figures from each directly, since neither authority’s website states a number outright.
Why Offshore Pricing Isn’t Published
The registered agent structure is the reason offshore pricing behaves differently from mainland and free zone licensing. Because the registry does not sell incorporation services directly to the public, there is no single authority-set price to publish in the first place, in contrast to DET or a free zone authority, which set and publish their own licence fees. Any fixed offshore price quoted online should be understood as one agent’s rate, not a government figure, and rates can differ between registered agents for the same registry. This is also why no business setup cost calculator dubai residents or foreign investors can find online will ever return an offshore figure without a registered agent’s involvement.
Compare Free Zone and Offshore Options Side by Side
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How Much Do UAE Visas Add to Your Setup Cost?
Standard Residency Visa Fee Components
The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, known as ICP, publishes an itemised fee table for standard residency visas rather than one bundled visa price. Its published components include an application fee of AED 100, a smart service fee of AED 100, and a residence permit issuance fee of AED 100 per year of validity, alongside a status adjustment fee of AED 500, an overstay fine of AED 50 per day, an investor family financial guarantee of AED 3,000 per family member (capped at AED 15,000), and a domestic worker recruitment guarantee of AED 2,000 (Source: icp.gov.ae). Visa costs are a detail that a typical business setup cost calculator dubai tool leaves out entirely, since ICP, not DET or a free zone authority, sets and collects these fees.
Emirates ID is priced separately from the visa itself: issuance is AED 100 per year of visa validity, renewal is AED 100 per year plus a AED 100 smart application fee, late renewal carries a fine of AED 20 per day capped at AED 1,000, and an urgent service option costs AED 150 (Source: icp.gov.ae, corroborated on u.ae’s Emirates ID page). Dubai residency applicants also typically need a medical fitness test through the Dubai Health Authority, priced at AED 250 for the regular service, AED 700 for the six-hour express service, and AED 1,020 for the two-hour VIP service (Source: Dubai Health Authority Medical Fitness Centres Service Catalogue, dha.gov.ae).
Golden Visa and Green Visa Costs
The Golden Visa is a long-term, renewable residency programme available to investors, entrepreneurs, and specialised talents who meet category-specific criteria published on u.ae, including a minimum investment threshold for the investor category (Source: u.ae Golden Visa page). Because visa issuance follows ICP’s standard per-year rate of AED 100, the issuance-fee component scales with the visa’s validity period, on top of the same AED 100 application fee and AED 100 smart service fee that apply to any standard residency visa; u.ae does not publish this as one bundled all-in total, so treat it as a component-based calculation rather than a single quoted price (Source: icp.gov.ae, u.ae).
The Green Visa is a separate, five-year self-sponsored residency category introduced under Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 and Cabinet Resolution No. 65 of 2022. ICP’s Green Residency page confirms three eligible categories: skilled workers with a minimum bachelor’s degree and a minimum salary of AED 15,000 per month, freelancers and self-employed professionals with a minimum of AED 360,000 in annual income over two years, and investors or business partners (Source: icp.gov.ae). The same AED 100 per-year issuance rate applies, so a five-year Green Visa’s issuance-fee component works out to roughly AED 500, plus the standard application and smart-service fees.
Dubai-Specific GDRFA Fees
Dubai adds its own emirate-level fee layer through the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs. Its published Status Amendment fee is AED 500, plus a AED 10 Knowledge Dirham charge, a AED 10 Innovation Dirham charge, and a file fee of AED 15 for an individual applicant or AED 50 for an establishment (Source: gdrfad.gov.ae). This sits alongside, rather than in conflict with, ICP’s federal fee table, since Dubai runs GDRFA as its own emirate-level authority for residency processing within Dubai specifically.
| Visa / Service | Fee Component | Amount (AED) | Source |
| Standard Residency Visa | Application fee | 100 | icp.gov.ae |
| Standard Residency Visa | Smart service fee | 100 | icp.gov.ae |
| Standard Residency Visa | Issuance, per year of validity | 100 | icp.gov.ae |
| Status Adjustment | Change of status | 500 | icp.gov.ae |
| Emirates ID | Issuance, per year of visa validity | 100 | icp.gov.ae |
| Medical Fitness Test (Dubai) | Regular / Express / VIP | 250 / 700 / 1,020 | dha.gov.ae |
| Dubai Status Amendment (GDRFA) | Base fee + Knowledge/Innovation Dirham + file fee | 500 + 10 + 10 + 15–50 | gdrfad.gov.ae |
| Green Visa | Issuance, per year (5-year total) | 100/yr | icp.gov.ae |
What Tax Costs Should You Budget for After Setup?
Corporate Tax Thresholds and Small Business Relief
UAE corporate tax applies at 0 per cent on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9 per cent above that threshold, as confirmed on u.ae’s Corporate Tax page (Source: u.ae, sourced to the Ministry of Finance). Many newly formed businesses also qualify for Small Business Relief, which the Federal Tax Authority makes available where revenue is at or below AED 3,000,000 in the current tax period and all prior tax periods, treating the business as having no taxable income for that period. Small Business Relief is not available to Qualifying Free Zone Persons or to members of multinational groups with consolidated group revenue above AED 3.15 billion (Source: Federal Tax Authority, tax.gov.ae).
VAT Registration Thresholds and Penalties
VAT registration becomes mandatory once a business’s taxable turnover reaches AED 375,000, and voluntary registration is available from AED 187,500, per the Federal Tax Authority’s published VAT registration criteria (Source: tax.gov.ae). The late VAT registration penalty is AED 10,000, a figure confirmed as still current in the Ministry of Finance’s most recent consolidated text of Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 and its subsequent amendments (Source: mof.gov.ae). New businesses should budget for this compliance step even before it becomes mandatory, since crossing the threshold without registering promptly triggers the penalty regardless of how the delay occurred. This is another line item that a business setup cost calculator dubai tool will not surface automatically, since tax compliance sits with the Federal Tax Authority rather than the licensing authority.
Knowledge and Innovation Dirham Fees Explained
Knowledge Dirham and Innovation Dirham are each AED 10, and u.ae’s Government Fees page confirms both are levied on every relevant government transaction, not as a flat yearly charge (Source: u.ae Government Fees page). This is worth stating clearly because the flat-annual-fee version of this claim circulates widely online: a business that completes several licensing or renewal transactions in a year pays the AED 10 charge each time a relevant transaction occurs, not once per year regardless of activity.
| Item | Threshold / Rate | Source |
| Corporate Tax Rate | 0% up to AED 375,000 taxable income; 9% above | u.ae, tax.gov.ae |
| Small Business Relief | Available if revenue is AED 3,000,000 or below (current and all prior periods) | tax.gov.ae |
| VAT Mandatory Registration | AED 375,000 annual turnover | tax.gov.ae |
| VAT Voluntary Registration | AED 187,500 annual turnover | tax.gov.ae |
| Late VAT Registration Penalty | AED 10,000 | mof.gov.ae, Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 as amended |
| Knowledge Dirham | AED 10 per government transaction | u.ae Government Fees page |
| Innovation Dirham | AED 10 per government transaction | u.ae Government Fees page |
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What Other Costs Do Business Setup Cost Calculators Often Miss?
Office and Workspace Costs
No official source reviewed for this guide publishes a numeric flexi-desk-versus-physical-office price schedule. Meydan Free Zone’s own cost calculator FAQ states directly that office or physical workspace costs are not included in the calculator and directs applicants to speak with a Meydan Free Zone consultant instead (Source: meydanfz.ae/cost-calculator). RAKEZ publishes a facility tier hierarchy, ranging from coworking space through serviced offices, standard offices, executive offices, shell and core units, warehouses, land, and staff accommodation, confirming that tiers exist by design, but without AED figures attached to any tier (Source: rakez.com). SHAMS bundles a flexi-desk and lease agreement into its packages as a standard inclusion, again without a separate published figure (Source: shamsfz.ae).
On the mainland, DET’s own cost calculator treats yearly office rent as a variable input to your licence-fee calculation rather than a fixed line item, which is further evidence that office cost is genuinely calculator-dependent across the UAE rather than something a static table could responsibly summarise (Source: eservices.dubaided.gov.ae).
Bank Account Compliance Requirements
Business bank account requirements are governed by the Central Bank of the UAE’s customer due diligence and know-your-customer rules, and these rules affect timeline and documentation far more than they affect a stated fee. The Central Bank’s Rulebook requires banks to identify any individual holding 25 per cent or more controlling ownership in a business before an account can be opened, and requires standard corporate documents such as a certificate of incorporation, a government-registry extract, or a government-issued corporate ID (Source: rulebook.centralbank.ae). Certain transaction sizes also trigger enhanced due diligence, including occasional transactions of AED 55,000 or more and wire transfers of AED 3,500 or more, with a minimum five-year record retention requirement for banks (Source: rulebook.centralbank.ae).
No AED cost figure for opening or maintaining a business bank account is published by the Central Bank, since this is a compliance and documentation process rather than a government fee, which is exactly why a cost calculator will not surface it.
Ownership Structure and Its Cost Implications
100 per cent foreign ownership has been the standard position for most commercial and industrial activities since Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020 took effect, a change confirmed on u.ae’s Full Foreign Ownership page and consolidated by Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 (Source: u.ae, uaelegislation.gov.ae). The same page lists a defined set of activities still subject to additional restrictions, including security and defence, telecommunications, banking, insurance and currency production, commercial agencies, organising Hajj and Umrah trips, Quran-recitation institutes, and fish, pearl, and marine catching. Businesses in these restricted categories may still require a different ownership structure or a local service agent, which can add cost and process steps that a general cost calculator will not account for.
How Can You Build an Accurate UAE Business Setup Cost Estimate?
A Step-by-Step Approach Using Official Tools
Start by confirming your legal form and jurisdiction using u.ae’s own process pages: the mainland route is a nine-step process that includes reference to the Basher digital service for faster setup (Source: u.ae Steps to Start a Business on the Mainland), while the free zone route is a four-step process typically completed in around 14 working days (Source: u.ae Starting a Business in a Free Zone). Next, run the relevant official calculator, either DET’s tool at eservices.dubaided.gov.ae for mainland, or the specific free zone’s own calculator, using your real activity, legal form, shareholder count, and rent inputs rather than placeholder figures.
From there, add visa costs per person using ICP’s fee table, factor in your likely corporate tax and VAT position once you have a revenue forecast, and request office or workspace quotes separately, since no official source publishes a fixed office price tier. Following these steps in order is, in effect, how you build your own business setup cost calculator dubai founders can trust, using only official inputs rather than a single number copied from elsewhere.
Common Estimating Mistakes to Avoid
The most frequent mistake is treating Knowledge Dirham and Innovation Dirham as an annual fee instead of a per-transaction charge, which understates costs for any business completing multiple government transactions in a year. A second common mistake is assuming one number, often something like “AED 10,000 to 15,000,” covers every mainland licence type, when DET states clearly that fees differ by activity. A third is forgetting that free zones split into published-package and calculator-only pricing models, so comparing a RAKEZ figure against an unofficial JAFZA estimate is not a fair comparison. A fourth is omitting visa, medical test, and Emirates ID costs from an initial mainland or free zone estimate entirely. A fifth is assuming a fixed offshore price exists somewhere official, when RAK ICC and JAFZA both leave offshore pricing to registered agents.
When to Get a Personalised Quote
Official calculators are the right starting point for a realistic range, but once you have a rough figure, a licensed consultant or a free zone’s own sales team can confirm the exact number for your specific combination of activity, ownership structure, and visa count, and can surface bundled options that a generic calculator will not show, such as combined licence-and-visa packages. That confirmation step matters most once your business activity falls into a restricted category, involves multiple shareholders, or needs more visas than a standard package includes.
Turn Your Estimate Into a Confirmed Quote
Official calculators give you a range. BusinessSetupHQ can confirm the exact figure for your activity, ownership structure, and visa needs across mainland, free zone, and offshore options.
Practical tips for estimating UAE business setup costs
- Before trusting any number you see online, verify it against the official calculator or fee page for that specific authority. Dubai DET states directly that there are no constant fees, so a generic “average cost” figure found on a business-setup blog is an estimate, not a government-published fee, and a genuine business setup cost calculator dubai authorities operate will always ask for your specific details first (Source: dubaided.gov.ae).
- Run the DET cost estimation tool at eservices.dubaided.gov.ae with your actual activity group and legal form before committing to a mainland structure, since general trading, business centre, and industrial activities carry materially different licence fees under DET’s own schedule.
- Separate package-priced free zones such as Meydan and RAKEZ from calculator-only free zones such as JAFZA, NIP, and DMCC early in your research. If a free zone’s own website shows no static AED figure, a number quoted elsewhere for that zone did not come from the authority itself.
- Budget visa costs per person, not per company. ICP’s fee table charges the application fee, smart service fee, and per-year issuance fee separately for every visa holder, so a three-person team multiplies each of those components by three.
- Add tax compliance to your first-year budget even if you expect no corporate tax liability under the AED 375,000 threshold or under Small Business Relief. VAT registration becomes mandatory once turnover reaches AED 375,000, and the AED 10,000 late-registration penalty applies regardless of how small the oversight was.
How can BusinessSetupHQ help with your UAE business setup cost estimate?
Building an accurate cost estimate means checking DET’s mainland fee schedule, the specific free zone’s own calculator or package prices, ICP’s visa fee table, and the Federal Tax Authority’s current thresholds, all separately, and knowing which figures are official and which are consultancy estimates. That is time-consuming to do properly, and it is easy to end up budgeting against a generic number that does not reflect your actual activity, ownership structure, or visa needs, which is exactly the gap a proper business setup cost calculator dubai research process needs to close.
BusinessSetupHQ’s team brings more than 22 years of combined experience helping UAE-based and international founders choose the right structure and price it accurately, tracking fee changes across DET, individual free zone authorities, and federal regulators such as ICP and the Federal Tax Authority as they happen. Rather than working from a single generic estimate, the team runs your specific activity, ownership, and visa combination through the current official fee schedules and calculators on your behalf.
Contact BusinessSetupHQ at businesssetuphq.com for a free consultation and a cost estimate built from current official sources rather than a generic online figure.
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Frequently asked questions about UAE business setup cost calculators
No single tool covers every jurisdiction. The Dubai DET calculator at eservices.dubaided.gov.ae is built specifically for mainland licences, and each free zone authority, such as Meydan, JAFZA, or National Industries Park, operates its own separate calculator for its own fee structure. Because mainland, free zone, and offshore entities are licensed by different authorities under different rules, no single government-run calculator spans all three, so a single business setup cost calculator dubai search will not surface one universal tool covering every structure. (Source: dubaided.gov.ae, meydanfz.ae, jafza.ae, nip.ae)
Free zones such as JAFZA and National Industries Park gate their calculators behind form inputs, including activity, facility type, and shareholder count, because their fee schedules genuinely change with those variables. There is no static baseline figure hidden behind the tool, since neither authority has published one publicly. (Source: jafza.ae/cost-calculator, nip.ae/cost-calculator)
Dubai DET states there is no constant fee, since costs differ by licence type, so it is not possible to quote one accurate minimum without knowing your specific activity, legal form, and office arrangement. Using the official DET cost estimation tool with your real details is the most reliable way to get a figure that reflects current government fees. (Source: dubaided.gov.ae)
No. Both are AED 10 charges applied per government transaction, not once-a-year charges, according to u.ae’s Government Fees page. They apply every time a relevant licensing or renewal transaction takes place, so a business completing several transactions in a year pays the AED 10 charge each time. (Source: u.ae Government Fees page)
Not automatically. Visa costs are charged separately by ICP or, in Dubai, by GDRFA, using their own fee tables covering application, smart service, issuance, and category-specific charges. Some free zone packages bundle a set number of visas into the licence price, so check whether visas are included before adding them separately. (Source: icp.gov.ae, gdrfad.gov.ae)
It depends on revenue. If taxable income stays at or below AED 375,000, or revenue qualifies for Small Business Relief at or below AED 3,000,000, a business may owe no corporate tax in that period. VAT registration only becomes mandatory once turnover reaches AED 375,000, though voluntary registration is available from AED 187,500. (Source: tax.gov.ae)
It is the standard position for most commercial and industrial activities following Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020, but a defined list of strategic activities, including security, telecommunications, and banking, remains subject to additional restrictions. Check the specific activity against u.ae’s Full Foreign Ownership page before assuming full ownership applies. (Source: u.ae)
Offshore registries such as RAK ICC operate on a registered agent model, where the registry itself does not sell incorporation directly to the public or publish a price list; a licensed registered agent sets and charges the fee. This is why no AED figure appears on RAK ICC’s own website. (Source: rakicc.com)
