Ask three consultants what it costs to set up a company in Dubai and you will get three different numbers, all of them technically true and none of them complete. The gap is almost never dishonesty. It is that "setup" means different things to different people, and the cheapest quote is usually the one that excludes the most.
Here is the whole picture, itemised, with nothing left for later.
There are two routes, and the difference is what is bundled in
At Almas there are two ways to do this, and choosing between them is mostly a question of whether you want the residency package folded into the price or handled separately.
Option one: free zone setup, from AED 4,888 — visa, Emirates ID and medical not included
This covers the company formation itself — the licence and the incorporation. It is the lowest entry point, and it is the right choice if you already hold UAE residency through another route, or if you are setting up an entity that does not immediately need a visa attached to it.
What is not included at this price: the visa, the Emirates ID and the medical. Those are real costs and they are charged per person, not per company. If a quote of this size is presented to you as "everything", ask which of the three it covers.
Option two: the all in package, from AED 10,799
This one covers any business activity, and it includes the licence, the MOA, the visa, the Emirates ID and the medical together. It is a larger number on the page, and for most founders arriving without existing residency it is the smaller number in practice, because the things it includes are things they were going to pay for anyway.
What each line actually is
| Line | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Trade licence | Your legal permission to carry out a specific activity. Annual, and renewable. |
| MOA | The memorandum of association — the constitutional document of the company. |
| Establishment card | Registers the company as an employer, which is what makes visas possible. |
| Investor visa | Your own residency, tied to your ownership of the company. |
| Medical and Emirates ID | Required to complete the visa. Charged per person. |
| Bank account assistance | Preparing the file and taking it to the right bank. Not a government fee. |
The costs people forget
- Visas are per person. A quote covering one visa is not a quote for a team of four. If you are bringing family or staff, multiply before you budget.
- Renewal is annual. A licence is not a one-off purchase. Year two is a real number and it belongs in your plan from the start.
- Activity changes cost money. Adding an activity to your licence later can mean amendment fees. It is worth being slightly generous about scope at the outset.
- The bank account is part of the setup, not a step after it. A licence with no operating account cannot invoice or be paid, and this is where more setups stall than at the formation itself.
What about the bank account?
The licence is not the finish line. A company with no operating account cannot invoice, cannot be paid, and cannot pay salaries. This is where a surprising number of setups stall — the formation goes smoothly and then the banking sits unresolved for weeks.
Account opening is quoted against your file rather than published as a figure, because the work depends on your profile and on which banks will consider it. Budget for it as a real line rather than an afterthought, and settle which bank you are going to before you incorporate — the licence you choose affects who will look at you.
How to read any quote you are given
Whoever you use, three questions will tell you whether a number is real:
- Does this include the visa, the Emirates ID and the medical? If the answer is anything other than a plain yes, it does not.
- How many people does this cover? Per-person costs are the single most common gap between a quote and an invoice.
- What does year two look like? A cheap year one with an expensive renewal is a payment plan, not a discount.
The short version
Free zone setup starts at AED 4,888, and at that tier the visa, Emirates ID and medical are separate. The all in package starts at AED 10,799 and covers them together, for any activity. The bank account is quoted against your file.
If you want the full sheet for your specific activity and headcount, message "COST" on WhatsApp to +971 52 733 8749 and we will send it through.
Tell us what you are trying to do and we will tell you what it takes
No obligation, and we will say plainly if a route does not fit — including when the answer is the cheaper one.
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