Guide · updated 16.10.2026 · 12 min read · Lucent Legal team

UAE free zones compared: 14 zones at official prices

The UAE has more than 40 free zones. We picked 14 that founders most often consider for trading, services and holding companies, and compared them on what each zone publishes on its own website. We checked prices on 16 October 2026. Where a zone publishes no price, the table says "on request". You will find no agent estimates here.

If you only want the lowest price, start with the cheapest free zone in the UAE. If you have not decided whether you need a free zone at all, read free zone or mainland first.

Table as of 16 October 2026

We converted dollars at the fixed peg of 1 USD = 3.6725 AED. Row details follow, and the sources list links to each zone's page. The company cost calculator uses the same data in machine-readable form.

What sits behind each number

Fujairah Creative City. The Media Package at AED 3,999 covers up to 10 shareholders, 10 activities and a flexi-desk, with no visa. Elite at AED 9,999 adds one visa, the establishment card and e-channel registration. Elite+ with two visas costs AED 18,500.

UAQ FTZ. UAQ LYTE at AED 5,500 gives you a licence and coworking with no visa. UAQ START at AED 12,500 includes the investor visa, Emirates ID, medical test and basic insurance. It is the only package in the table where the zone says outright that you pay nothing extra for the visa. The prices sit on the zone's promotion page and blog.

Ajman Free Zone. The zone prices only its e-commerce licence, from AED 5,555, in an article on its own site. You get every other package through a calculator behind a contact form.

JAFZA. AED 5,000 is the licence fee for a trading, service or industrial licence with one group of up to 7 activities. Each extra activity costs AED 500, general trading AED 15,000, a holding licence AED 30,000. You pay separately for the office or warehouse lease and for visas, and JAFZA publishes no prices for those.

KEZAD. A one-year package with one visa costs AED 9,450 including VAT, with two visas 11,150, with three 12,850. The page does not say whether "visa" means the issued visa or the quota.

DMCC. Basic Biz at AED 35,484 makes you eligible for one visa, but the visa itself costs extra, and the package is for individual shareholders only. Jump Start with a visa costs AED 43,780 on a flexi-desk.

DIFC and ADGM are financial free zones running on English common law. They cost a lot for an operating business with staff and little for a holding company that owns shares in other companies. A DIFC SPV (Prescribed Company) pays USD 100 to apply and USD 1,000 for the annual licence. ADGM charges USD 1,900 in year one (name reservation, registration, licence) and USD 1,400 to renew. An SPV has no staff and no visas, and you need a corporate service provider.

0% tax: QFZP conditions are the same in every zone

A free zone company pays 0% corporate tax only as a Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP). Otherwise it pays 9% on profit above AED 375,000. The conditions come from Article 18 of the corporate tax law, Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023 and Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, which replaced Decision No. 265 of 2023:

• real presence in the zone, with assets, staff and costs that match the business;
• qualifying income from qualifying activities;
• non-qualifying revenue of no more than 5% of total revenue or AED 5 million, whichever is lower;
• audited financial statements;
• transfer pricing compliance and no election for the standard rate.

Break the de minimis limit and you lose the status for that year and the next four. Income from mainland customers counts as qualifying only for some activities; the rest goes into the 5% limit. So a flexi-desk in a cheap zone plus revenue from UAE clients rarely keeps you at 0%.

Working on the Dubai mainland: ECR 11/2025

Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025 lets Dubai free zone companies work on the Dubai mainland. You can open a branch in the emirate, take a licence for a branch operating out of the free zone (AED 10,000 a year), or get a temporary permit for specific activities (AED 5,000, up to 6 months). You apply through Invest in Dubai, and you need a Dubai Unified Licence. Mainland revenue is taxed at 9%, and you keep separate accounts for it.

Limits:

• Dubai zones only: companies in Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Abu Dhabi zones cannot use this permit;
• the resolution excludes DIFC financial firms;
• JAFZA tells its companies they need a physical office in the zone: a flexi-desk or virtual office does not qualify.

How to choose a zone

1. Where your clients are. Foreign clients: any zone works. Dubai mainland clients: a Dubai zone with a DET permit, or mainland from the start.
2. How many visas. One or two: a flexi-desk or coworking is enough. A team: you need an office, because zones tie the visa quota to floor space.
3. Your activity. Regulated activities (finance, crypto, healthcare, education) need their own regulator, and not every zone licenses them.
4. The bank. The bank opens the account, not the zone. Presence and source-of-funds requirements: corporate bank account in the UAE.
5. Year two. Count the renewal: DMCC renews its visa package at AED 35,564, RAKEZ keeps the SME package at the first-year price.

Topic: Doing Business in the UAE

Get a lawyer's help: Company formation in the UAE

This material is for information only and is not legal advice. UAE law changes — a lawyer will assess how it applies to your situation.