SPC Free Zone: Packages, Costs and the Dual License

An SPC Free Zone setup starts at AED 5,750 for a zero-visa package and AED 6,875 with one visa. Both include a business licence with up to five activities. Those are the two figures SPC (Sharjah Publishing City) publishes today, and they are lower than what most articles in this search result still quote. Everything on this page was checked on SPC’s own pages, first on 8 August 2026 and again on 14 August 2026, and where SPC publishes nothing, this page says so instead of guessing.

Source: SPC Free Zone, UAE business setup packages, checked 14 August 2026. The e-commerce, publishing and media licence is quoted “from AED 5,750” on the SPC homepage, checked the same day.

If you saw different SPC prices elsewhere

SPC consolidated its pricing pages in 2026. Earlier SPC pages quoted a licence-plus-one-visa bundle at around AED 13,165 and itemised registration, medical and investor-visa fees separately; those pages are gone, and the packages above are what the zone publishes now. An article quoting SPC component fees without an August 2026 date is describing the old structure. This page was rebuilt on the current one.

SPC free zone setup, step by step

SPC describes the route in outline rather than as a numbered procedure, so this is that outline put in order, from the zone’s own pages checked on 14 August 2026.

1. SPC free zone setup starts with the trade name. SPC runs a name check tool that lets you check and reserve a preferred trade name before anything else is filed.
2. Pick the activities, up to five on one licence. They may be mixed across sectors, drawn from a catalogue SPC states runs to more than 2,000 activities.
3. Choose the package by visa count, not by licence type. Zero visa from AED 5,750, one visa from AED 6,875, multi-visa up to six on request; the licence itself is the same.
4. Submit the licence application. SPC advertises an instant licence, so this step is where the published timings stop being useful and a written quotation starts being necessary.
5. Add premises if the visa count needs them. Office or warehouse space is secured separately and is not part of the headline package price.
6. Process the visas. SPC advertises UAE residency in five working days, which covers the visa stage rather than the whole setup.
7. Open the bank account. SPC advertises a guaranteed bank account with the licence; treat that as a commitment to introduce, and get the bank named in writing.

Activities and the dual licence

Source: SPC Free Zone, trade licence activities list, checked 8 August 2026. Five mixed activities on one licence is more than Meydan includes (three groups), and the dual licence is the feature that lets an SPC company serve Sharjah mainland clients without a second licence.

What SPC does not publish

A first-year price without a renewal price is half a decision. Get the renewal figure and the full visa arithmetic in writing before paying, and get the package contents in writing too, since the published pages describe them in one line each.

What an SPC free zone licence does not give you

• An SPC free zone licence does not give you a Dubai address. The company is registered in Sharjah, and that is what the lower price reflects.
• An SPC free zone licence does not include unlimited mainland trading. The dual licence covers Sharjah mainland; other emirates are a separate arrangement.
• The headline package does not include premises or a sixth activity. Office and warehouse space is priced separately and unpublished, and five activities is the ceiling on one licence however they are mixed.
• It does not come with a published renewal price. Year two is unquoted until you ask, which is the most important number missing from every SPC comparison online, including this one.
• An advertised bank account is not an opened bank account. Approval remains the bank’s decision, not the zone’s.

SPC against its neighbours, on published figures only

SPC against SHAMS is the comparison that matters: both sit in Sharjah and both open at roughly AED 5,750. The difference is what sits on top. SHAMS publishes a one-time e-channel registration of around AED 7,150, which more than doubles a first-year bill, while SPC does not itemise its equivalent at all. Both are roughly half of Meydan on entry price, which buys a Dubai address instead. SHAMS figures are indicative, from our own SHAMS cost guide; none of the three publishes a renewal, so three-year cost is a quotation exercise. Wider market: IFZA, RAKEZ, DMCC, cheapest free zones.

How many consultants here work with SPC

From the Emirae directory, measured 8 August 2026.

SPC is a thinner bench than Meydan or DMCC in this directory: six firms against seventeen for DMCC. A founder choosing SPC has fewer independent advisers to compare, which is a reason to ask several of them for the same scope. Free zone company formation is the service this sits under.