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Ajman Free Zone has been quietly cheaper than every Dubai and Sharjah alternative for years. It sits about 45 minutes north of Dubai, the authority (AFZA, at afz.gov.ae) runs its own cost calculator, and unlike many competitors it offers an installment plan — two, three, or six payments on the full setup fee. That installment option alone is worth a few thousand dirhams in cash-flow terms for a bootstrapped founder.
One thing to clarify before you read any headline price elsewhere. “Ajman Free Zone” (AFZA) is the main authority. “Ajman NuVentures” and “Ajman Media City” are separate, newer zones inside the emirate with their own pricing. The famous AED 4,888 headline you will see on some consultancy pages belongs to Ajman NuVentures, not AFZA, and we flagged this same distinction in our full AFZA overview guide. When you compare, make sure you are comparing the right zone — everything below refers to AFZA proper.
This is the absolute floor for a UAE free zone trade license that lets you invoice clients, open a business bank account, and operate legally. No residence visa for you, no employees, no physical desk beyond a shared virtual address.
| Line item | AED |
|---|---|
| AFZA trade license (1 activity) | 5,500 |
| Establishment card | 1,200 |
| Virtual flexi-address (non-visa tier) | 1,500 |
| Bottom-line total | ~8,200 |
Who this works for: a founder already on a spouse visa, a golden visa holder, or someone testing a side business before committing to full residency. If you do not need UAE residency through the company, this is genuinely the lowest legal path to a UAE business license.
The trap: you cannot open most business bank accounts without a residence visa attached to the signatory. If you are a non-resident hoping to bank remotely, budget extra weeks for the account to be approved — some banks will decline outright.
Don’t want to figure this out alone? Sarmat is a KHDA-certified training provider and registered typing centre in Deira, Dubai. Message us on WhatsApp — we answer questions like this every day.
This is the most common setup for a freelance consultant, marketing specialist, IT professional, or small service business — one visa for the owner, licensed to issue invoices for services, modest flexi-desk footprint.
| Line item | AED |
|---|---|
| AFZA professional/service license | 5,500 |
| Establishment card | 1,200 |
| Immigration file opening | 2,000 |
| Employment/investor visa (1) | 3,500 |
| Medical test (1) | 450 |
| Emirates ID (1) | 370 |
| Flexi-desk allocation (bundled Freelance tier) | 1,500 |
| Bottom-line total (line-item retail) | ~14,500 |
Two totals matter here. AFZA’s bundled 1-Visa Trading package lands around AED 13,100–13,400 because AFZA discounts individual line items when you buy them as a package. If you instead purchase each component separately — through Sarmat or another setup agency — the retail line-item sum comes in closer to AED 14,500. The AED 1,500 flexi-desk line above reflects AFZA’s bundled Freelance allocation; if you buy a standalone physical flexi-desk (visa-eligible shared workstation) separately, expect AED 3,000–6,000 per year.
This is the “ajman free zone license with visa cost” number that most competitors refuse to sum. If a site tells you “1-visa AFZA setup starts from AED 5,500,” they are quoting the license line only — and that is the core complaint that drove you to search for an honest breakdown in the first place.
Renewal in year two drops by roughly AED 2,500–3,000 because the immigration file opening and establishment card issuance are one-time fees. Budget around AED 11,500 for annual renewal of this package.
A small trading or commercial company with the owner plus two employees. Typical use cases: import-export, e-commerce fulfilment, a small agency with a couple of staff.
| Line item | AED |
|---|---|
| AFZA commercial license (up to 3 activities) | 7,500 |
| Establishment card | 1,200 |
| Immigration file opening | 2,000 |
| Employment visas (3 × AED 3,500) | 10,500 |
| Medical tests (3 × AED 450) | 1,350 |
| Emirates IDs (3 × AED 370) | 1,110 |
| Smart office (minimum tier) | 8,500 |
| Bottom-line total | ~32,000 |
The smart office line is what bumps the total so far above Package B. AED 8,500 is the minimum smart-office tier on published AFZA ranges — upgrade tiers reach AED 15,000 or more depending on size and location inside the zone. Call it out plainly: 3-visa packages push total setup into the AED 30,000–34,000 range regardless of which free zone you pick. AFZA still wins here on a like-for-like comparison, but the marginal cost of each additional visa plus a private office is where most founders underestimate. If you are genuinely three people on day one, run the numbers at 32K before you sign anything.
Emiratisation note: MOHRE’s Emiratisation quotas already apply to mainland companies with 20–49 employees since 2024 (a fixed-hire target — at least one UAE citizen in 2024 and two by 2025 across 14 covered sectors), and higher percentage quotas kick in at 50+. Free zone entities are generally exempt, but that rule shifts as policy evolves and it is worth checking the current position before you hire. For a deeper look at overall Dubai costs across both mainland and free zone, our Dubai-specific business setup cost breakdown runs the numbers side by side.
Same assumptions for all four — 1 owner visa, 1 license, flexi-desk — each zone quoted at its published 1-visa bundled rate. Pricing verified April 2026.
| Zone | Published 1-visa bundled rate |
|---|---|
| AFZA (Ajman) — corroborated by Al Arabiya 1-Visa Trading package | ~AED 13,100 |
| IFZA (Dubai) — zero-visa license AED 12,900 + visa bundle | ~AED 19,000 |
| SHAMS (Sharjah) — top of published 1-visa range; media-specific licenses can go as low as AED 7,350 | ~AED 13,420 |
| RAKEZ (Ras Al Khaimah) — official 1-visa all-inclusive rate | ~AED 14,000 |
AFZA wins by roughly AED 300–6,000 on a like-for-like 1-visa setup, with the biggest gap against IFZA Dubai and a narrower margin against SHAMS and RAKEZ. The gap widens further on 3-visa packages because AFZA’s per-visa quota is more generous on smaller desks.
If a Dubai mailing address is non-negotiable — clients will not take you seriously without one, or your industry expects it — IFZA is the cheapest Dubai free zone for most founders at roughly AED 19,000 all-in for 1 visa. That is still about 45% more than AFZA. Before you commit, check the Dubai-specific breakdown linked above to see whether the premium genuinely translates into more revenue for your business. For a lot of consultants and e-commerce founders, it does not.
Yes — and this is the differentiator most comparison articles skip. AFZA lets you split the setup fee across 2, 3, or 6 installments depending on the package you choose. On Package B that means rather than writing a single AED 13,100 cheque, you can pay roughly AED 6,550 now and AED 6,550 in 90 days, or stretch to six monthly payments of around AED 2,200. For a founder pre-revenue, that cash-flow cushion is real money.
Beyond the package price itself, budget for: a business bank account set-up fee (AED 1,500–5,000 depending on bank), optional professional indemnity or commercial insurance (AED 1,000–3,000/year), notarisation of shareholder agreements if you have partners (around AED 500 per document), and MOHRE labour contracts if you are hiring staff. None of these sit inside the AFZA headline price, but they are real spend in your first 90 days.
Lowest total cost, generous visa quotas, installment plan. Wins for bootstrapped founders, consultants, small traders, and e-commerce operators who do not need a Dubai postcode.
Dubai address, premium pricing. Wins when your clients are Dubai-centric and the location itself is a sales asset.
Geared toward media, creative, and broadcasting activities with sector-specific licences. Wins for content creators and agencies.
Industrial and warehousing-friendly with larger land allocations. Wins for light-manufacturing and logistics.
You can read every pricing page on every free zone website, run the calculator five times, and still arrive at day one of trading holding the wrong licence category for your actual activity. That is the single most expensive mistake a cost-focused founder makes — paying for a professional license when commercial was needed, or the other way round, and then paying to amend it six weeks later.
Sarmat has helped 5,000+ clients including founders set up in the UAE across 12+ years, with a KHDA-certified team that handles the AFZA application, visa processing, and bank introduction in one sitting. If you would rather spend three days learning the entire process yourself — license categories, visa stamping, Emirates ID, MOHRE contracts, tax registration — our 100-Step Business Accelerator walks you through it with live mentorship from someone who has run 100+ company setups.
Ready to move? Send your activity and visa headcount to our team via business setup consultation or WhatsApp us at wa.me/971506395245 for a same-day itemized quote. No “from” pricing — just the number you will actually pay.
Ajman Free Zone (AFZA) is the cheapest UAE free zone for most founders in 2026. A zero-visa basic trader package lands around AED 8,200 all-in, a 1-visa professional or service setup is roughly AED 13,100 at AFZA’s bundled package rate (or AED 14,500 if you buy the line items separately), and a 3-visa commercial package comes in near AED 32,000. Those totals already include the license, establishment card, immigration file, visa, medical test, Emirates ID, and desk or office — not a “from” headline number.
A 1-visa AFZA professional or service setup comes in around AED 13,100 at AFZA’s bundled package rate, or roughly AED 14,500 if you buy the components separately in 2026. The retail line-item sum is AED 5,500 license, AED 1,200 establishment card, AED 2,000 immigration file opening, AED 3,500 investor or employment visa, AED 450 medical test, AED 370 Emirates ID, and AED 1,500 bundled flexi-address (standalone physical flexi-desks run AED 3,000–6,000 per year). Year-two renewal drops meaningfully because the immigration file and establishment card issuance are one-time fees.
Yes. On a like-for-like 1-visa setup with a flexi-desk, AFZA totals around AED 13,100 against roughly AED 19,000 for IFZA in Dubai, AED 13,420 for SHAMS in Sharjah (top of the published 1-visa range; SHAMS media-specific licenses go lower), and AED 14,000 for RAKEZ in Ras Al Khaimah (official all-inclusive). AFZA wins by AED 300 to AED 6,000 on identical assumptions, with the biggest gap against IFZA Dubai and a narrower margin against SHAMS and RAKEZ.
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