Dubai free zone company setup: a guide for tech founders

Weighing up a Dubai free zone company as a tech founder, freelancer or small software team means a run of choices: free zone or mainland, FZCO or FZE, and IFZA, DMCC, Meydan Free Zone or Dubai Silicon Oasis. Each is explained below, along with which licence activities fit software and IT consulting, visas, banking, corporate tax and filings, and a step-by-step checklist at the end.

I founded NoDowntime Technologies in March 2022. It is now a free zone company (FZCO) licensed by IFZA, and I live and work in Dubai. I am not a lawyer or a tax adviser, so every rule and price below comes from an official page, checked on 11 November 2026.

Mainland or free zone

Both routes now allow full foreign ownership for most activities. Since Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020 took effect in 2021, mainland companies can be up to 100% foreign-owned, although the Cabinet can set licensing conditions, including ownership limits, for activities it classes as having “strategic impact”. Free zone companies can be fully owned by foreign investors.

The real difference is who you can sell to. The UAE government portal says free zone companies can trade freely within their free zone and internationally, but access to the UAE mainland market is regulated, and direct sales in the mainland are generally not permitted without the required mainland licences or approvals. Dubai’s Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025 regulates how free zone establishments operate in the emirate, so ask your free zone how it applies to your activity.

	Free zone company	Mainland company
Ownership	Can be fully foreign-owned	Up to 100% foreign-owned for most activities
Who you can serve	Clients in the free zone and abroad; the mainland only with approvals	Clients anywhere in the UAE and abroad
Corporate tax	Possible 0% on qualifying income (see below)	Standard rates

IFZA also points out an office difference: mainland companies need a physical office of at least 200 sq ft, while some free zone companies can use virtual workplaces.

For a tech founder whose clients are mostly abroad, a free zone company usually fits. If your main customers will be UAE mainland businesses or government bodies, price the mainland route as well.

What an FZCO and an FZE are

An FZCO (free zone company) is a limited liability company incorporated in a free zone. Dubai Silicon Oasis, which follows the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZA) Regulations 2023, defines it as a company with its own legal personality, whose shareholders’ liability is limited to their share capital, and which may only carry out the activities stated on its licence.

An FZE (free zone establishment) was the older single-shareholder form. Under the DIEZA Regulations 2023, existing FZEs are treated as FZCOs, and Dubai Silicon Oasis lists the FZE as no longer in use. IFZA incorporates companies as FZCOs. Other zones use their own labels: Meydan Free Zone sells its packages as an “LLC-FZ” licence. The label matters less than three things: limited liability, who the shareholders are, and which activities the licence lists.

If you already own a company abroad, a branch is another option. IFZA says a branch’s activity must be consistent with the parent company’s, and Dubai Silicon Oasis notes that a branch has no separate legal personality, so the parent stays fully liable.

IFZA and three comparable free zones

Prices below come from each free zone’s own pages. Where a zone does not publish a price, I say so.

IFZA

IFZA is based in Dubai Silicon Oasis and works through a network of Professional Partners. Its website does not publish licence or package prices, so a quote has to come from IFZA or one of its partners. From IFZA’s own pages:

• Companies are incorporated as FZCOs, or registered as branches of foreign companies.
• A standard licence covers up to three business activities, with the option to apply for more, and professional and commercial activities can be combined on one licence.
• IFZA requires no paid-up capital.
• Incorporation can be done remotely. Medical tests and Emirates ID biometrics need you in person.
• There is no mandatory office requirement under a four-visa allocation.
• IFZA does not publicly disclose the shareholders of licensed companies.

IFZA’s IT Consultancy licence page lists activities including IT consultants, network services, internet consultancy and IT infrastructure. Network services and internet consultancy carry a minimum qualification: a bachelor’s degree in computer science or information technology plus three years of experience.

DMCC

DMCC publishes a full schedule of charges. Its standard company setup pricing:

Item	Price	How often
Application	AED 1,035	Once
Registration	AED 9,020	Once
Articles of Association	AED 2,020	Once
Licence	AED 20,285	Every year
Establishment card	AED 1,825	Every year

DMCC adds an AED 20 Knowledge and Innovation Dirham fee to its charges and says fees can change without notice. Workspace is not in this list; DMCC prices it under its leasing services.

DMCC also sells bundles. The one-year Basic Biz package is AED 35,484. The one-year Jump Start package is AED 43,780 with a standard flexi desk or AED 49,941 with co-working space. Basic Biz and the flexi desk Jump Start are listed as inclusive of VAT and the Knowledge and Innovation Dirham. Jump Start includes one UAE residency visa, and its flexi desk or co-working space is eligible for three visas.

Meydan Free Zone

Meydan publishes package prices on its business setup pages. Its ICT category includes computer programming, computer consultancy and facilities management, and data processing and hosting. The packages:

Package	Price	Includes
0 visa	AED 12,500	LLC-FZ licence, 3 business activity groups, lease agreement, flexi-desk
1 visa	AED 14,350	The same, with a 1-visa allocation
3 visa	AED 18,050	The same, with a 3-visa allocation

Listed add-ons: establishment card AED 2,000, medical and Emirates ID AED 2,250, investor visa AED 4,000, and change of status AED 1,500 if you are already in the UAE. Ask for the year-two renewal price in writing before you commit.

Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO)

Dubai Silicon Oasis is a member of the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority. It offers service, trade and industrial licences, and applications go through the DSOA customer portal. Its setup process page lists a minimum start-up capital of AED 100,000 for an FZCO, in shares of multiples of AED 10,000, and says the licence and lease agreement are issued within two days of receiving all legal documents and payment. The document checklist includes a letter of intent, passport copies, a bank statement or reference letter, the application form and a business plan.

DSO’s co-working plans are priced annually, but licence and workspace prices are not published officially on the pages I checked. Ask DSO for a written quote.

Side by side

Zone	Published price (Checked on 11 November 2026)	Worth knowing for a tech founder
IFZA	Not published officially	Up to 3 activities, no paid-up capital, no office required under a 4-visa allocation
DMCC	Basic Biz AED 35,484; Jump Start from AED 43,780	Full schedule of charges published; Jump Start includes one visa
Meydan	From AED 12,500 (0 visa)	Flexi-desk included; ICT activities listed separately
DSO	Not published officially	AED 100,000 minimum start-up capital for an FZCO

Licence activities for software and IT consulting

Your licence lists the activities you may carry out, and your invoices should match them. Before you apply:

• List every service you will bill for in the first two years: development, consulting, managed hosting, training or software resale.
• Map each one to the zone’s activity names. IFZA groups IT work under its IT Consultancy licence. Meydan lists computer programming, computer consultancy and data processing and hosting as separate ICT activities.
• Check the conditions. Some activities carry qualification requirements, as with IFZA’s network services, and IFZA notes that some activities need third-party approvals from Dubai or federal authorities.
• Stay within the activity count. IFZA’s standard licence and Meydan’s packages both cover up to three activities or activity groups.

Visa allocation and the establishment card

A visa allocation is the number of UAE residence visas your licence can sponsor, and it is set by the package you buy. IFZA’s terms say that more visas mean upgrading your licence category, and that higher visa numbers may require a physical office in IFZA. Meydan’s packages come with zero, one or three visas; DMCC’s flexi desk is eligible for three.

Before the company can sponsor anyone, including you, it needs an establishment card. IFZA’s terms define it as the identity card issued for your business through the Emirate of Dubai that lets it obtain visas, utilities and bank accounts. It is charged separately and renewed every year: DMCC lists it at AED 1,825 a year and Meydan at AED 2,000.

IFZA’s terms also make three points worth planning around:

• Approval of your company does not mean a visa will be approved for any particular person.
• Visa policy is set by the free zone and the UAE immigration authorities, and it changes.
• If you let the licence lapse, visas issued under it can be cancelled.

Opening a business bank account

A free zone licence and a bank account are separate decisions. The bank makes its own call, and the UAE’s anti-money-laundering regulations require financial institutions to identify the natural persons who ultimately own or control a company, starting with anyone who holds 25% or more.

Plan for it:

• Have the paperwork ready: licence, memorandum and articles, establishment card, and shareholder passports and Emirates IDs.
• Explain the business in one page: who your clients are, which countries pay you and the monthly volumes you expect.
• Show real activity: signed contracts, invoices and a website that matches your licence activities.
• Ask the free zone what help it offers. IFZA lists corporate banking assistance in its ecosystem, DMCC offers instalment plans through Wio Bank, and Dubai Founders HQ’s SME in a Box includes offers on banking.

If most of your income arrives in foreign currencies, compare how each bank prices inbound transfers and conversion. I’ve covered those costs in international payments and forex fees. If you are weighing a US company as well, Mercury vs Brex compares the two main startup banks for one.

UAE corporate tax for a free zone company

Free zone companies are within the scope of UAE corporate tax, which applies to financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023.

Standard rates

Taxable income up to AED 375,000 is taxed at 0%, and taxable income above AED 375,000 at 9%.

The Qualifying Free Zone Person regime

A free zone company can pay 0% on its qualifying income if it is a Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP). Its other taxable income is taxed at 9%, and a QFZP does not get the 0% band on the first AED 375,000. To qualify, the company must:

• maintain adequate substance in a free zone;
• derive qualifying income;
• not elect to be taxed under the standard rules;
• follow the arm’s length principle with related parties and keep transfer pricing documentation;
• keep audited financial statements; and
• keep non-qualifying revenue within the de minimis limit: the lower of 5% of total revenue or AED 5 million.

A company that fails any condition loses QFZP status from the start of that tax period and for the following four tax periods.

The catch for tech founders is what counts as qualifying income: transactions with other free zone persons that are the beneficial recipients (and not in excluded activities), income from qualifying activities, income from qualifying intellectual property, and other income within the de minimis limit. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 sets the qualifying activities as a closed list: manufacturing, processing, trading qualifying commodities, holding shares and securities, ships, reinsurance, fund management, wealth and investment management, headquarter services to related parties, treasury and financing, aircraft financing and leasing, distribution in or from a designated zone, logistics, and activities ancillary to those. Software development and IT consulting are not on it. Transactions with natural persons are an excluded activity.

In practice, a consultancy that bills companies abroad or on the mainland should not assume 0%. Model your tax at the standard rates and ask an adviser whether any of your income qualifies.

Small Business Relief

A resident business with revenue of AED 3 million or less, in the current tax period and every earlier one, can elect Small Business Relief, which treats it as having no taxable income for that period. A QFZP cannot elect it, and neither can a member of a multinational group with consolidated revenue above AED 3.15 billion. The election is made for each tax period. Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 extended the relief to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029.

Registration and deadlines

• Register within three months of incorporation. Under FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024, a resident juridical person incorporated on or after 1 March 2024, including a free zone person, must apply within three months.
• Use EmaraTax, signed in with UAE Pass. Registration is free, and the FTA estimates 20 business days to process an application.
• Late registration costs AED 10,000. The FTA says the penalty can be waived if the first tax return is filed within seven months of the end of the first tax period.
• File and pay within nine months of the end of each tax period.
• Keep records for seven years after the end of the tax period they relate to.

VAT is separate. Registration becomes mandatory once taxable supplies and imports exceed AED 375,000 over the past 12 months, voluntary registration is open above AED 187,500, and you must apply within 30 days of becoming required to register.

ESR and UBO filings

Economic substance reporting no longer applies to recent years. The Ministry of Finance cancelled economic substance notifications and reports for financial years ending after 31 December 2022, under Cabinet Decision No. 98 of 2024, though obligations for earlier years still stand. Substance itself still matters: it is one of the corporate tax conditions for a QFZP.

Beneficial ownership is still required. Your free zone collects ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) details at application; IFZA’s licence application form includes them, and its terms oblige you to report changes. Under Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025, companies must keep beneficial owner information current and update it within 15 working days of any change. A beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls 25% or more of the company, or who controls it by other means.

Dubai Founders HQ

Dubai Founders HQ is a joint initiative of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism and the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, launched in October 2025. Its campus is in the 25Hours Hotel at One Central, Dubai World Trade Centre. It offers acceleration programmes, mentorship, investor access, networking events, business setup and licensing support, and a learning library. Founders apply to join; members get access to The Campus, private events and member-only offers. Its SME in a Box programme collects offers on business services from banking to logistics. The official pages I checked do not mention a membership fee.

I have been a member since April 2026. Once your company exists, it is a practical way into Dubai’s founder community. For other discounts worth claiming early, see startup perks and credits for 2026.

Step-by-step checklist

1. Choose free zone or mainland based on where your paying clients are.
2. List your services and map them to licence activities, checking qualification and approval requirements.
3. Shortlist two or three zones and get written quotes covering year one, the year-two renewal, the establishment card, each visa and any office your visa count requires.
4. Prepare documents: passport copy, photo, Emirates ID and visa copy if you are a UAE resident, beneficial owner details and, for some zones, a business plan and bank reference.
5. Apply and pass the security check, then sign the incorporation documents and the memorandum and articles.
6. Get the establishment card, then process your residence visa, with the medical test and Emirates ID biometrics in person.
7. Open the bank account with a one-page business summary and evidence of real clients.
8. Register for corporate tax on EmaraTax within three months of incorporation, and diary your first return deadline.
9. Watch the VAT threshold of AED 375,000 in taxable supplies and imports.
10. Run the annual cycle: renew the licence and establishment card, update UBO details within 15 working days of any change, keep records for seven years, and arrange audited accounts if you intend to claim QFZP status.
11. Join the founder community, such as Dubai Founders HQ, once the company is live.

If you are moving from freelancing to a company, my guide to Fiverr Top Rated and Fiverr Pro covers the client side of that path.