Abu Dhabi Free Zone License Cost: Every Zone Compared

Abu Dhabi has five licensing free zones that appear on both official government lists: Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD), Masdar City Free Zone, Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone (ADAFZ) and twofour54, whose licences are now issued by the Creative Media Authority. They do not price the same thing. Some sell a package with a desk and a visa, one charges government fees in US dollars, and one waives its licence fee for two years. This page lists what each zone publishes about the cost of a licence, as checked on their own websites on 27 September 2026, and what each leaves out.

Abu Dhabi free zone licence cost at a glance

Every figure is the zone’s own. The entry prices are not the same product, so the third column matters as much as the second.

The Department of Economic Development lists a sixth zone, the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi, but it does not appear on the UAE Government Portal list and publishes no licence price, so it is not compared here.

Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone (ADAFZ)

ADAFZ is owned by ADQ and operated by Abu Dhabi Airports, with sites at Zayed International, Al Bateen Executive and Al Ain International airports. It lists more than 900 activities and states that several can be combined under one licence. It publishes four annual packages under the line “Transparent Pricing, No Hidden Fees”:

Every package includes registration and licence fees. On top, ADAFZ lists AED 1,500 per two-year employee visa, excluding medical, Emirates ID and health insurance, a refundable deposit of AED 2,500 per visa, AED 1,000 for the establishment card, valid three years, and AED 2,500 to activate the online immigration system for a new company, renewed at AED 1,500 a year. ADAFZ does not say whether the package prices include VAT, and publishes no separate renewal fee.

Masdar City Free Zone

Masdar City Free Zone issues licences under its own Business Licensing Regulations 2026, as a free zone company or a branch, and lists over 1,000 activities from clean technology and ICT to trading and regional headquarters. Companies can also opt into ADGM’s common law framework. Its packages, in dirhams and subject to 5% VAT:

Extra activities cost AED 2,500 each for a general activity and AED 5,000 for a special one, and a special name adds AED 1,000. An office is required whichever package you take: a virtual desk costs AED 6,000 a year and a flexi desk AED 10,000, with a refundable deposit of two months’ rent on flexi desk leases. Visa costs, including VAT: establishment card AED 1,600 once, e-channels registration AED 2,600 once, employment visa deposit AED 2,500, refundable, a two-year employment visa AED 3,050 excluding the medical test and Emirates ID, medical AED 350 and Emirates ID AED 450 for two years. Masdar does not publish its renewal fees; its regulations renew a licence for one year at a time, with the application due at least three months before expiry.

KEZAD (Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi)

KEZAD Group, part of AD Ports Group, runs twelve economic zones across Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra, of which 100 square kilometres are free zone, aimed at startups, wholesale distributors, re-exporters and companies that need warehousing. It issues industrial, trading, general trading and service licences, to a limited liability company or a branch. It publishes start-up packages by number of visas and length of term, with VAT included:

On a three-year term the one-visa package works out at AED 7,525 a year, which is our arithmetic, not a KEZAD figure. KEZAD lists the free zone licence, shared workstations or dedicated offices, no security deposits on start-up packages and no visa deposits among the features, but the table does not say which workspace or which visa fees each price covers. Its tariff sets licence renewal after two years at AED 5,000 for industrial, trading and service licences and AED 15,000 for general trading, a new establishment card at AED 1,000 and licence cancellation at AED 2,500. The same tariff shows “0” for new licences and registration, marked with an asterisk it does not explain, so we do not read that as a free licence.

ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market)

ADGM is a financial free zone on Al Maryah and Al Reem Islands with its own courts under English common law. Its fees are government fees in US dollars: a non-financial company pays USD 5,800 in the first year and USD 5,300 a year after, a retail-only company USD 2,800 and USD 2,300, and a financial company USD 17,000 and USD 16,500, each including the USD 300 data protection fee. An eligible tech startup pays USD 1,500 a year for three years plus the data protection fee. Every entity must keep a registered office in ADGM, and visas are priced separately in dirhams. The full fee list, the two regulators and the steps are in our ADGM company formation cost guide.

twofour54 and the Creative Media Authority

twofour54 is Abu Dhabi’s media free zone, with 100% foreign ownership and no minimum capital, and its licences are issued by the Creative Media Authority for general media, gaming and eSports, and broadcast and publishing activities. The Authority currently waives licence and registration fees for two years from the date of issue, with terms and conditions applying, and gives an estimated timeline of 14 working days. The office is not waived: its cost calculator prices a Co-Lab office, for one digital activity, one owner and one residency visa, at AED 10,000 plus VAT, and a Co-Create office, for two activities and two visas, at AED 20,000 plus VAT, without stating the period. For freelancers the calculator shows a licence cost of AED 3,500 for one year next to the same two-year waiver, and a one-year residency visa at AED 3,433.50 including VAT. The fee a company pays after the two waived years is not on the current pages; a twofour54 article from March 2023 put the normal cost at AED 15,000 in licence fees and AED 3,500 in registration fees.

What a first year really costs

None of the zones publishes a single all-in first-year figure for a company with an office and one visa, except where a package bundles them. Where a package does, it is the most reliable number to budget from:

• ADAFZ Startup Pro: AED 12,000 a year with one visa, stamping and Emirates ID included.
• Masdar City Business One: AED 17,500 plus VAT with one visa, the establishment card, e-channel fees, medical and Emirates ID included.
• KEZAD one-visa package: AED 9,450 including VAT for one year, with the caveat that the table does not itemise what it covers.

For zones that price separately, add the pieces yourself. As our own arithmetic, not a published bundle: Masdar’s Startup licence at AED 7,000 plus a virtual desk at AED 6,000 comes to AED 13,000 before VAT, with no visa. ADGM’s USD 5,800 is about AED 21,300 at ADGM’s rate of 3.6725, before any office or visa.

Opening a business bank account

A bank account does not come with an Abu Dhabi free zone licence: the bank opens it separately, after its own review of the company, its owners and the expected transactions. For a new small company, two common starting points are the Wio Bank business account, which costs AED 99 a month on the Essential plan, with no minimum balance, and ADCB SmartStart, which costs AED 131.25 a month including VAT, with no minimum balance, for UAE nationals and residents (banks’ own fee schedules, checked October 2026). In Abu Dhabi, FAB Business Basic asks for an AED 10,000 average balance. Compare all of them on our UAE business banks page.

Working on the Abu Dhabi mainland: the dual licence

A free zone licence covers activity inside the zone. To serve clients on the Abu Dhabi mainland without a second office, Abu Dhabi offers a dual licence. Under a 2017 agreement between ADGM and the Department of Economic Development, an entity on Al Maryah Island can hold both licences from one office if it meets both sets of requirements. KEZAD states the same option for its free zone companies. The TAMM service for dual licences, open to companies in any Abu Dhabi free zone, lists an Abu Dhabi Chamber membership fee of AED 50, a licence issuance fee of AED 10 and an organisational entities fee of AED 790, and also notes that costs can vary as incurred.

Which zone fits which business

• Financial services, funds, holding structures, common law contracts: ADGM.
• Industrial, warehousing, trading and re-export: KEZAD, which also runs a mainland economic zone next to its free zone.
• Clean technology, ICT, consultancy and regional headquarters: Masdar City Free Zone.
• E-commerce, logistics, aerospace and airport-linked businesses: ADAFZ.
• Media, gaming, eSports, publishing and freelancers in those fields: twofour54.

What the zones do not publish

• Renewal fees: Masdar and ADAFZ publish none, and twofour54 has no published company fee after its waiver.
• KEZAD’s tariff shows “0” for new licences with an unexplained asterisk, and its packages do not itemise the workspace or visa fees.
• ADGM’s office lease and lease registration are not in its fee schedule, and its visa quota is assessed case by case.
• Whether ADAFZ package prices include VAT.

For the same comparison across the whole country, see the UAE free zone company setup cost census and the free zone comparison table. Whether a free zone is right at all is covered in mainland, free zone or offshore.