ADGM Company Formation Cost

The cost of forming a company in ADGM is not one number, and the reasons are specific to ADGM. Abu Dhabi Global Market is a financial free zone on Al Maryah and Al Reem Islands, it runs its own courts under English common law, and it splits registration between two bodies that charge separately. Its registration and licence fees are fixed and published to the dollar by category, while the office and the visas come on top. This page sets out what ADGM publishes, what it does not, and how ADGM company formation compares on price with the other Abu Dhabi free zones, which are set out zone by zone in Abu Dhabi free zone licence cost. Every figure re-checked against the ADGM fees rules and schedules on 27 September 2026.

ADGM company formation cost, item by item

Every amount below is from the ADGM Registration Authority schedule of fees for 2025 and the Commercial Licensing Regulations (Fees) Rules 2025, in US dollars. ADGM converts at USD 1 = AED 3.6725.

ADGM announced the 2025 levels as USD 5,500 to register and USD 5,000 to renew for a non-financial company, and USD 2,500 and USD 2,000 for retail; those figures leave out the USD 300 data protection fee, which is charged on top at registration and every year. The typical non-financial company therefore pays USD 5,800 in the first year and USD 5,300 a year after, about AED 21,300 and AED 19,464 at the ADGM rate.

Visas and the immigration file are priced separately, in dirhams including VAT, in the ADGM government services schedule:

Two cautions on that table. Incorporation fees are non refundable if an application is withdrawn or rejected, so the name reservation and registration money is spent whether or not the entity comes into being. And the fee cut was tied to the end of the Al Reem Island transition period on 31 December 2024, so any ADGM cost you read that predates 2025 is describing the old schedule and roughly doubles the true figure for a non-financial company.

Two bodies, two queues

The Registration Authority incorporates companies and issues commercial licences. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority authorises anything that counts as a financial service. ADGM states the order plainly: a company that wants to be a financial service provider contacts the FSRA first to start the application, and only then registers with the Registration Authority. Getting this the wrong way round is the single most common cause of a stalled ADGM application, because the second body will not start until the first has finished. For everything else, professional services and retail, you deal with the Registration Authority alone.

ADGM company formation step by step

1. ADGM company formation starts with the activity list, because your activities decide the fee category: financial, non-financial or retail. Decide this before you budget anything.
2. If the activity is a financial service, approach the FSRA first. Company formation in ADGM runs second in that case, and the Registration Authority will not proceed until FSRA authorisation is under way.
3. Reserve the company name for USD 200. It holds for 30 calendar days and can be extended twice at USD 200 a time before the Registrar has to consent.
4. Choose the entity: private company limited by shares, private company limited by guarantee, public company limited by shares, a branch of a foreign company, or a foundation.
5. Prepare the resolution for incorporation. Every ADGM company set up needs one, branches included, signed by all shareholders. ADGM publishes templates for a sole individual shareholder, several individual shareholders and a corporate shareholder. Documents must be delivered in English, and dual language English filings are accepted.
6. Submit and pay the registration fees through the online registry, and register for data protection. ADGM expects to approve a complete application within 10 business days.
7. Take the office space, then open the establishment card and e-channels account and run the visa for each employee, at the ADGM services fees shown above.

The entity you pick, and the obligations that follow it

ADGM registers private companies limited by shares, private companies limited by guarantee, public companies limited by shares, branches of foreign companies, and foundations. A company secretary is mandatory only for a public company limited by shares; private companies limited by shares or by guarantee do not need one. Foundations sit apart entirely: they have no shareholders, they exist as a legal entity in their own right, and each must keep a registered office inside ADGM, either directly or through a registered agent.

The Tech Startup Licence, its condition and its unusual privilege

ADGM runs a discounted commercial licence for technology startups. Under the fees rules for 2025 it costs USD 1,500 for registration and for each of the next two renewals, plus the USD 300 data protection fee; after that a startup with only non-financial activities moves to the standard non-financial fees, and a fintech startup to the financial ones. Before applying, a startup needs an eligibility letter from Hub71, which also runs a separate subsidy programme. Processing averages five working days with complete documentation. The condition people miss is physical: office space on Al Maryah Island is required, with at least one dedicated desk, and there is no virtual version of this licence. ADGM allows three visas for each dedicated desk.

The privilege people miss is larger. Under a 2017 agreement between ADGM and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, an entity on Al Maryah Island can hold an ADGM commercial licence and a DED trade licence and serve mainland clients from the same office, provided it meets the licensing requirements of both. The ADGM Tech Start-up page lists eligibility for this dual licence among the startup benefits, subject to criteria. For a free zone company, mainland access without a second premises is genuinely unusual, and it is the strongest reason to look at ADGM rather than a cheaper Abu Dhabi zone.

What an ADGM licence does not give you

• An ADGM licence does not by itself let you trade on the Abu Dhabi mainland. That needs a separate DED licence, through the dual licence route above or a mainland company; it is not the default. Our mainland, free zone and offshore comparison sets out the alternatives.
• An ADGM licence does not come with a bank account. The bank decides separately, on its own criteria, after the entity exists.
• ADGM company formation does not change your federal tax position. English common law governs your contracts and your disputes, not your corporate tax registration.
• The registration fees do not include the office lease, the visas or FSRA authorisation, which are charged separately.
• Registration fees are not refundable if the application is withdrawn or rejected.

Opening a business bank account

A bank account does not come with an ADGM 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 Mashreq’s NeoBiz account, which starts at AED 99 plus VAT a month on the Pro plan, with no minimum balance, and RAKBANK’s RAKstarter account, which costs AED 103.95 a month plus a required RAKvalue package from AED 51.45, with no minimum balance (banks’ own fee schedules, checked October 2026). For an Abu Dhabi company, First Abu Dhabi Bank starts at an AED 10,000 average balance on Business Basic. Compare all of them on our UAE business banks page.

ADGM against the other Abu Dhabi free zones

Abu Dhabi free zones publish in different currencies and sell different things, so the table compares what the entry price actually buys rather than converting one into the other. DIFC is included because it is the other financial free zone in the country and the comparison people usually mean.

ADGM sells jurisdiction, not a package: its fees are government fees, and the office and each visa come on top at the rates in its services schedule. Masdar City, ADAFZ and KEZAD bundle the licence with a desk and, on some tiers, a visa, and Masdar Business One is the only published price that itemises the immigration steps inside it. Every Abu Dhabi zone is compared in Abu Dhabi free zone licence cost. Choose ADGM for the common law jurisdiction, the courts and the dual licence route; choose a general Abu Dhabi free zone when what you need is a licence, a desk and a visa at a price you can read off a page.

What this page does not tell you

It does not cover FSRA authorisation fees, which are a separate schedule, or the office lease, which depends on the space you take and is not in the Registration Authority schedule. And it does not tell you whether ADGM is the right jurisdiction for you, which is a question about your customers and your bank rather than about a fee table. For the service itself, see free zone company formation.

Other Abu Dhabi free zones we cover: twofour54.