Free Zone Company Setup in Dubai: What It Costs and How Long It Takes

The short answer

A free zone company in Dubai starts from AED 5,750 with Entityz, and the licence itself is the fast part. Name approval and licence issue run in working days once your passport copy and application are in. Visas and the corporate bank account are what stretch the calendar, so plan the full setup in weeks, not days. Only four things move the price: which free zone, how many activities, how many visas, and whether you take a flexi desk or a physical office.

This page answers price and timing. If you want the order of the steps instead, read how to open a free zone company step by step.

What is a free zone company?

A free zone company is a company licensed by a free zone authority rather than by the mainland economic department. The zone issues your trade licence, holds your company register, and sponsors your residency visas. You will see the name written both ways, free zone and freezone. They are the same thing, and neither spelling changes the licence or the price.

Three things come with the structure: full foreign ownership, a single licensing authority instead of several counters, and a defined trading scope. That third one is the part people skip, and it is covered further down under mainland trading.

If you are still deciding between a free zone and a mainland licence, read mainland versus freezone in the UAE first. Choosing the jurisdiction before choosing the zone saves the most money.

What does a free zone company actually cost?

Entityz publishes the starting price of the package, not a guessed government fee. Zone fees move, and a stale number on a blog is worse than no number.

What actually moves your number, in order of impact:

• The free zone itself. Each zone sets its own licence fee and its own address packages. This is the single largest swing.
• The number of activities on the licence. Most zones include a set number, then charge for each extra one. Adding activities you do not trade under is the most common wasted spend.
• The visa quota. Each visa carries an entry permit, a medical, an Emirates ID and stamping. Buy the quota you will use this year, not the quota you might use in three years.
• The address type. A flexi desk is the cheapest compliant address. A physical office costs more and unlocks a larger visa quota.
• Extras. Establishment card, document attestation, notary, and any regulator approval your activity triggers.

One question saves most of the overspend: what is included in this price, and what will I be invoiced for later? Get the answer in writing before you pay a deposit.

How long does free zone setup take?

There is no single number, because the process has three speeds. Here is the honest breakdown.

Two habits compress the timeline more than any package upgrade. First, have your documents complete before you file, because a resubmission costs more days than the filing itself. Second, start the bank conversation the week your licence is issued rather than after your visa is stamped.

Ask your consultant for the current turnaround at your chosen zone on the day you apply. Zones adjust their processing windows, and a number quoted last quarter is not a promise for this one.

Which free zone should you pick?

Pick by activity first, visa quota second, price third. A zone that does not licence your activity is not a bargain, it is unusable, and you will discover it after payment.

Entityz publishes the licensed activity lists for the major UAE zones so you can check before you compare packages, not after:

• IFZA activity list, general trading, consulting and services
• Meydan activity list, a Dubai address with a broad activity range
• SPC Sharjah activity list, publishing, media and general business
• Dubai South activity list, logistics, aviation and light industry
• RAK Innovation City activity list, technology, gaming and digital assets
• ADGM activity list, financial and professional services in Abu Dhabi

Or search all of them at once in the Entityz business activity finder. If your activity appears in several zones, then and only then does price become the deciding factor.

What documents do you need?

• Passport copy with clear remaining validity
• Passport size photograph on a plain background
• Proof of your residential address, such as a recent utility bill or bank statement
• Two or three trade name options, in order of preference
• Your chosen business activities
• A no objection certificate from your current sponsor, if you already live in the UAE on another visa
• Extra regulator approvals, if your activity is a regulated one

Trade names have rules. No religious references, no abbreviations of your own name, no names already registered. Bringing three options instead of one is the cheapest way to avoid a resubmission.

Can a free zone company trade on the mainland?

Not directly. A free zone licence covers business inside your free zone, business outside the UAE, and business with other free zone companies. Selling directly to customers in the wider UAE market normally requires a mainland distributor, a mainland agent, or a mainland branch of your company.

This one line decides the jurisdiction for most founders. If your buyers are UAE consumers, UAE retailers, or UAE government bodies, price the mainland route before you commit. If your buyers are international, or other companies inside the free zones, the free zone route is usually the cheaper and faster answer.

Selling online adds a layer. If you plan to sell to UAE shoppers through your own store or a marketplace, read the Entityz e-commerce licence page before you choose.

What about visas and the bank account?

Visas. Your visa quota is attached to your address package, not to your licence alone. A flexi desk carries a small allowance, a physical office carries a larger one. Each visa runs the same path: entry permit, medical fitness test, Emirates ID biometrics, then stamping.

Banking. The corporate account is the stage nobody can compress by paying more. Banks run their own compliance review on the shareholders, the activity and the expected flow of funds. Prepare a clear description of what your company sells, to whom, and from where. Vague answers are the most common reason a file stalls.

Once you are trading, your next two compliance questions are VAT and corporate tax. Work out what you would charge a customer with the free UAE VAT calculator, check whether your turnover obliges you to register for VAT, and read what UAE corporate tax means for your business before your first financial year closes.

Your next step

Do this in order, and you will not pay for the wrong licence:

1. Confirm your activity is licensed, in the activity finder.
2. Decide free zone or mainland, using the comparison guide.
3. Count the visas you need this year, not in three years.
4. Ask Entityz for a written quote that separates our fee from the zone fee.

When you are ready, talk to Entityz. We tell you which zone fits your activity, what the current government fee is, and what the timeline looks like this month, before you commit to anything.