Most quoted "from" prices leave out half the cost. Here is the complete 2026 breakdown — licence, visas, insurance, office and the fees that appear after you have paid.
Ask five consultants what a Dubai company costs and you will get five different numbers, all technically true and all incomplete. The "from AED 5,500" headline is real — for a specific licence, with no visa, in a specific zone. It is rarely what you end up paying. Here is the full picture for 2026, including the parts that usually appear after the deposit. The three routes and what they cost Free zone The cheapest and fastest route for most businesses. 100% foreign ownership, no local partner, and no physical office required for most activities. RAKEZ packages currently run from 3,500 AED (zero visa) to 45,000 AED (eight visas). Expect 12,000–35,000 AED across the broader UAE free zone market for a licence with one visa and a flexi-desk. Mainland A DED/DET licence lets you trade anywhere in the UAE and bid for government work. Budget 15,000–50,000 AED and up, and note that office rent is additional and mandatory — which is the cost that catches people out. Mainland looks cheaper on the licence line and rarely is once Ejari and office costs land. Offshore A holding and international trading vehicle only. No visas, no office, no UAE-facing trade. Cheap to run, but it solves a narrow problem — do not choose it because the number is small. The costs that get left out This is where "from" pricing breaks down. Per visa, on top of the package, you should budget: Health insurance — 500 AED per visa, mandatory. Workers Protection Insurance (WPI) — 250 AED per visa on employment visas. Visa typing — 150 AED per visa. Medical fitness test and Emirates ID — bundled into most visa packages, but confirm it That is roughly 900 AED per visa before anyone has flown anywhere. On a four-visa setup, that is 3,600 AED that never appeared in the original quote. The post-licence costs nobody mentions Corporate tax registration — mandatory even if you owe nothing. VAT registration — required once turnover exceeds 375,000 AED. Accounting and bookkeeping — required for corporate tax compliance. Annual audit — mandatory in some zones (DMCC, for example). Licence renewal — annual, and not discounted the way year one often is. Activity amendments — 1,000–2,500 AED per activity if you pick wrong at the start How to actually compare quotes Ask every consultant the same four questions: What is the total, including insurance, WPI and typing, for my exact visa count?. What is the year-two renewal cost, not the year-one promotional price?. Is the flexi-desk included, and for how long?. What is not in this number? That last question is the one that separates honest quotes from headline-grabbing ones. If the answer is vague, the number is not real. What we would actually recommend For most founders — consultants, e-commerce sellers, traders, agencies — a RAKEZ free zone licence with the visa allocation you genuinely need is the best value in the UAE right now. It is not the flashiest address, and if you need a Dubai licence address or mainland trade, we will tell you to go elsewhere. But on cost-per-outcome it is very hard to beat. Use our cost calculator for an itemised figure matched to your activity, visas and licence duration.