Cheap Free Zone Licence: What Is Included in the Six Cheapest UAE Packages

If you are pricing a cheap free zone licence, what is included matters more than the headline figure. Six UAE free zones publish an official starter package between AED 4,999 and AED 6,600 — a spread of AED 1,601 from end to end — and they buy materially different things.

One includes a visa allowance of zero and one publishes a sibling package with unlimited visas for AED 1,125 more. Here is what each of the six actually contains, taken from the zones' own published package descriptions.

What do you actually get for AED 5,000 to 7,000?

| Zone | Price (AED) | Visas | Activities | Workspace | Also included | |---|---:|---|---|---|---| | Ajman Media City | 4,999 | 0 | Up to 10 | Co-working | Run-your-business-virtually model | | SRTIP | 5,500 | 0 | 5 | Office / co-working | Free lease agreement, multiple shareholders, free business consultation | | SPC Free Zone | 5,750 | Not stated at this tier | Choice from 2,000+ | Virtual office / flexi-desk | Residency issued in 5 working days, 100% foreign ownership | | RAKEZ | 6,000 | Not stated | Up to 10 | Co-working membership | Up to 50 shareholders, bank account eligibility support, VAT/accounting compliance support, setup within 24 hours | | Shams | 6,500 | Not stated | E-commerce plus general trading | Co-working | Two activity sets under one licence | | Innovation City | 6,600 | 0 | Not stated | Shared desk | Refreshments and event space access |

All six figures are official, taken from each authority's own website, with the observation date recorded against that zone in the directory.

Ajman Media City — AED 4,999

In: the Business Club package. A licence, co-working space access, up to 10 activities, and an explicitly virtual operating model.

Out: visas. Zero, at this tier. Ajman Media City publishes its ladder clearly — Visionary at AED 12,999 for one visa, Pioneer at AED 17,999 for two, Innovator at AED 22,999 for three — so the cost of adding residency is knowable before you commit. Add-on visa packages are referenced up to 10 visas for shareholders.

Suits: someone who already holds UAE residency, or is running a media or content business from outside the country and needs a licensed vehicle rather than a visa.

Don't pick this if you need a residence visa in the first year. The AED 8,000 step-up to Visionary wipes out the price advantage.

SRTIP — AED 5,500

In: the Zero Visa company licence package. 100% ownership, five business activities across trading, services and e-commerce, a free lease agreement, multiple shareholders permitted, and a free business consultation.

Out: visas, again zero. The official 1 Visa All-Inclusive package is AED 13,990, an AED 8,490 step-up.

Suits: a research, technology or services founder who wants a Sharjah innovation-park address and does not need residency from this entity. The free lease agreement is a real inclusion — it is the document a bank will ask for.

Don't pick this if your activity list is long. Five activities is the tightest allowance of the six. See the SRTIP profile for the full package structure.

SPC Free Zone — AED 5,750

In: the e-commerce, trading and media starter, marketed as an instant business licence. 100% foreign ownership, choice from more than 2,000 activities, and residency issued in five working days.

Out: a stated visa count at this price. SPC's more interesting number sits AED 1,125 higher: a second official package at AED 6,875 that carries unlimited visas on a flexi-desk model, with up to five activities, up to 100 shareholders and zero paid-up share capital. If visas are the constraint, that is the package to price, not this one.

Suits: e-commerce and trading businesses that want breadth of activity choice and a fast residency route.

Don't pick this if you want a single clean fixed annual cost — the pay-as-you-go visa model means your real spend scales with headcount.

RAKEZ — AED 6,000

In: the Biz Starter package. A commercial licence, up to 10 business activities, up to 50 shareholders, co-working centre membership, bank account eligibility support, VAT and accounting compliance support, and setup within 24 hours.

Out: a published visa allowance. RAKEZ publishes no numeric quota rules at all — its SME and all-inclusive packages state that visas are included but give no visa-per-facility ratio.

The caveat that matters: RAKEZ describes Biz Starter as aimed at UAE-based aspiring entrepreneurs. If you are applying from abroad, confirm eligibility in writing before you budget on this figure.

Suits: a founder already living in the UAE who wants the widest activity allowance at the low end.

Shams — AED 6,500

In: the official Trader Package, combining e-commerce and general trading — import, export and online sales — under a single licence.

Out: a stated visa count. Shams publishes no numeric quota table. A trading or service licence described as having no quota on visas is referenced at AED 11,000 in Shams' own blog content — Shams' own material, not a consultancy's — but the visa numbers there were not confirmed as a package specification, so we do not present them as one. The AED 6,500 Trader Package remains the only Shams figure we carry.

Suits: a genuine trader who wants both import/export and online retail on one licence rather than paying for two.

Note on the price: a "from AED 5,750" figure for Shams circulates widely on consultancy sites. That is exactly SPC Free Zone's official price, and it does not appear on any official Shams pricing page. AED 6,500 is the official Shams figure.

Innovation City (RAK DAO) — AED 6,600

In: the Idea package. Shared desk access, refreshments, and event space access.

Out: visas, capped at zero. The published ladder is Seed at AED 13,200 for one visa (capped at one), Startup at AED 15,400 and Growth at AED 22,550, both capped at four.

Suits: an early-stage digital or Web3 founder who wants the RAK DAO ecosystem and community access more than a workspace.

Don't pick this if you plan to hire past four people on this licence. The published cap is four visas even on the AED 22,550 tier.

Which of the six is best value?

It depends entirely on one question: do you need a visa?

No visa needed — Ajman Media City at AED 4,999 is the cheapest licence in the country and gives you 10 activities. Nothing beats it on price.

One visa needed — none of the six is the answer. Masdar City's Start-Lite at AED 7,000 includes one visa and beats every first-visa step-up in this group. It is AED 400 more than Innovation City's zero-visa tier.

Several visas needed — SPC Free Zone's AED 6,875 unlimited-visa package on a flexi-desk model is the outlier of the whole market, and it costs AED 1,125 more than the entry price in the table above.

Widest activity list — SPC Free Zone at 2,000-plus, then Ajman Media City and RAKEZ at up to 10 each.

What none of the six includes

None of these prices is a total cost of entry. Sitting outside every one of them:

• Visa costs, where visas are not bundled. Meydan Free Zone is one of the few zones publishing add-on visa pricing — investor visa from AED 4,000, employee visa from AED 3,500 — which gives you an order of magnitude even if it is a different zone's tariff.
• Medical testing and Emirates ID, which are federal immigration steps, not free zone charges.
• Establishment card and E-channel registration, needed before you can sponsor anyone.
• Bank account opening, which several of these packages assist with but none of them guarantees.

UAQ FTZ is the useful contrast here. Its UAQ Start package at AED 12,500 bundles up to 10 activities, a residence visa, Emirates ID, co-working space, medical test, basic insurance, bank account opening assistance, establishment card and E-channel access. It is two and a half times the Ajman Media City headline and it is not obviously worse value once you total up what the cheaper package leaves you to buy separately.

The next step

Take the two or three packages that match your activity, and ask each zone in writing for a first-year total that includes every visa you actually need, the establishment card, and the E-channel fee. That number is comparable. The headline is not.

If workspace type is what is driving your choice, the visa rules attached to desk-only tiers vary more than the prices do — we map that in flexi-desk vs office. The full ranked price list is in the cheapest UAE free zone licences.