Fourteen authorities, six emirates, filed directly
We are an appointed channel partner of every authority on this page, which means we submit to them ourselves rather than through an intermediary — and means we can tell you when the one you were about to choose is wrong for what you do.
Why the number of appointments matters more than the names
Most firms that set up UAE companies hold one or two free zone appointments. That is not a criticism of them — it is an economic fact about how the authorities distribute their partnerships. But it has a consequence you should understand before you take anyone’s advice, including ours.
A firm with one appointment recommends that zone to everybody who walks in, because it is the only thing it can file. From the outside, that recommendation is indistinguishable from a considered one. You get told a zone is perfect for your business and you have no way to know whether the alternatives were even looked at.
We hold fourteen appointments across six emirates — Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain — which is the only reason our recommendation carries information. RAKEZ sits with our sister company, Bareq Almas Businessmen Services, rather than with Almas Financial Services; the file and the team are the same, and we would rather say so than let you assume otherwise. When we send you to a cost-led zone in Sharjah instead of a Dubai one, we are giving up the larger fee. When we tell you a business needs an airport-side licence rather than the cheap option, the cheap option was available to us and we did not take it.
It also changes what happens after you sign. Filing directly means the authority’s questions come back to us in a channel we can answer on, rather than travelling through a third party who marks up the fee and adds a day to every exchange.
A page for each of the fourteen authorities
Each one says what the zone is built for and, in a column most of this industry leaves out, who it does not suit.
IFZA
Dubai
International Free Zone Authority
The International Free Zone Authority is the zone most first-time Dubai companies end up in, and the one most often sold badly. Here is what it is, what it is good at, and where it is the wrong answer.
Opens at our published starting price
DAFZA
Dubai
Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority
Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority is a logistics zone that happens to issue company licences. If your business moves physical goods through Dubai, its geography is the entire argument.
Quoted in writing, per case
DWTC
Dubai
Dubai World Trade Centre Free Zone
The Dubai World Trade Centre free zone is the one that licenses the things other zones do not: events, family offices and virtual assets, from an address on Sheikh Zayed Road.
Quoted in writing, per case
Meydan
Dubai
Meydan Free Zone
Meydan is the zone for the company that wants a central Dubai licence, a wide choice of activities and as little counter-visiting as possible.
Opens at our published starting price
Dubai South
Dubai
Dubai South Free Zone
Dubai South is a city built around an airport and a port, and its free zone is the one to be in if your business needs room to move things at scale.
Quoted in writing, per case
DMCC
Dubai
Dubai Multi Commodities Centre
The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre is the zone banks recognise on sight and the one that asks the most of you in return. If you trade physical commodities, that trade is worth making. If you are a consultant with a laptop, it usually is not.
Quoted in writing, per case
SHAMS
Sharjah
Sharjah Media City
Sharjah Media City was built for creative businesses and grew into something broader. It is the zone to look at when a Dubai address is not doing any work for you.
Opens at our published starting price
SPC
Sharjah
Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone
Sharjah Publishing City was created as the world's first free zone dedicated to print and publishing. It now licenses a great deal more than books — including, unusually, a dual free zone and mainland structure.
Opens at our published starting price
ANC
Ajman
Ajman NuVentures Centre Free Zone
Ajman NuVentures Centre is one of the newer UAE free zones and one of the most digital. It is a serious option for a small company, and an easy one to be oversold.
Opens at our published starting price
AFZ
Ajman
Ajman Free Zone
Ajman Free Zone is the emirate's own authority, sitting beside Ajman Port with warehouses, industrial land and a trading licence — a different proposition from the small digital zones it gets confused with.
Opens at our published starting price
Masdar
Abu Dhabi
Masdar City Free Zone
Masdar City is Abu Dhabi's cleantech cluster, and its free zone is the only one on this list where the sector you are in is the point rather than a detail.
Quoted in writing, per case
RAKEZ
Ras Al Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone
Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone is the authority to look at first if your business needs industrial space, warehousing or land — and it is the one that can issue you a licence either inside or outside the free zone.
Opens at our published starting price
Innovation City
Ras Al Khaimah
Innovation City, Ras Al Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah's technology free zone, formerly RAK Digital Assets Oasis. It is built for a narrow set of businesses and it is the wrong answer for most companies — including some that are told otherwise.
Quoted in writing, per case
UAQ FTZ
Umm Al Quwain
Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone
Umm Al Quwain's free trade zone sits on the E311 about half an hour north of Dubai, which is the fact that decides almost everything about who it is right for.
Opens at our published starting price
All fourteen, side by side
No cost column, deliberately. Six of these are quoted per case, and a single figure across all fourteen would be wrong more often than right.
| Authority | Emirate | Built for | How it is priced |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFZA | Dubai | Broad activity list, no on-site premises required | Opens at our published starting price |
| DAFZA | Dubai | Air cargo, pharma, electronics and high-value goods | Quoted in writing, per case |
| DWTC | Dubai | Events, family offices and regulated virtual assets | Quoted in writing, per case |
| Meydan | Dubai | Broad activity list, digital licensing, central address | Opens at our published starting price |
| Dubai South | Dubai | Logistics, aviation and e-commerce fulfilment | Quoted in writing, per case |
| DMCC | Dubai | Commodities, precious metals, diamonds and trading | Quoted in writing, per case |
| SHAMS | Sharjah | Media and creative origins, now a wide activity list | Opens at our published starting price |
| SPC | Sharjah | Publishing and print origins; dual licence option | Opens at our published starting price |
| ANC | Ajman | Digital-first registration, broad activity list | Opens at our published starting price |
| AFZ | Ajman | Warehousing, industrial land and trading licences | Opens at our published starting price |
| Masdar | Abu Dhabi | Clean energy, sustainability and R&D | Quoted in writing, per case |
| RAKEZ | Ras Al Khaimah | Industrial land and warehousing, free zone and non-free-zone licensing | Opens at our published starting price |
| Innovation City | Ras Al Khaimah | AI, Web3, gaming, robotics and health tech licensing | Quoted in writing, per case |
| UAQ FTZ | Umm Al Quwain | Warehousing, long-lease industrial land, low cost base | Opens at our published starting price |
What it costs
from AED 4,888
Free zone company setup
Visa, Emirates ID and medical not included
This is where our free zone setup starts. It is not a licence fee for any one authority on this page, and it does not reach the premium zones — we say so on each of their pages rather than letting the number travel where it does not belong.
“An appointed channel partner submits to the authority itself.”
Tell us what you need and we will tell you what it takes
We reply on WhatsApp. We will say plainly if a route does not fit — including when the answer is the cheaper one.