RAKEZ publishes its own prices. On its own pages, read on 22 October 2026: AED 6,000 for the Basic package, AED 12,000 for the Lite package, and AED 14,000 a year for the all-inclusive package with one UAE residence visa, which RAKEZ says renews at the same price. A RAKEZ licence through SwiftHub starts at AED 6,000.
RAKEZ sits in Ras Al Khaimah, not Dubai, and it is the one free zone on this site that can give you a warehouse or a plot of land rather than only a desk.
That is usually the deciding factor. If you need to store, assemble or distribute anything physical, RAKEZ is a serious option and the Dubai zones are not. If you only need an address and an invoice, you are choosing on price and location instead.
What RAKEZ costs
RAKEZ publishes its own rates, which is unusual and useful. Its instant-licence page offers two packages, issued online: Basic at AED 6,000, which its FAQ describes as one shareholder, one business activity and access to a co-working facility, and Lite at AED 12,000. Its SME page offers the all-inclusive package at AED 14,000 a year: the licence and one UAE residence visa, up to ten activities, up to 50 shareholders, co-working access, and the same price at renewal. Checked on rakez.com on 22 October 2026.
| Source | Figure |
|---|---|
| RAKEZ published: Basic package | AED 6,000 |
| RAKEZ published: All-inclusive package with one residence visa | AED 14,000 a year, renews at AED 14,000 |
| RAKEZ published: Lite package | AED 12,000 |
| RAKEZ published: each extra residence visa on the all-inclusive package (up to three) | AED 4,000 |
| RAKEZ published: premium upgrade (VIP visa support, banking assistance, corporate tax registration and filing) | AED 2,500 |
| RAKEZ published: e-commerce package | From AED 6,000 |
| RAKEZ published: freelancer permit | From AED 6,100 |
| Through SwiftHub, entry package | From AED 6,000 |
What sits on top of the licence
On the Basic and Lite packages, and for anyone beyond the first visa on the all-inclusive one, these are extra:
- Establishment card, required before immigration will process any visa
- E-channel or immigration portal registration
- Residence visa per person: entry permit, status change, medical and Emirates ID
- Facility rent, if you take an office, warehouse or land rather than a flexi desk
- Corporate tax registration, required whether or not you make a profit
- VAT registration, once turnover crosses the threshold
RAKEZ visa costs
The all-inclusive package carries one UAE residence visa. RAKEZ prices up to three more on the same package at AED 4,000 each and takes 20% off dependants' visas. Its page does not say whether the extra-visa price repeats at renewal, so get that in writing before you add people.
Neither the Basic nor the Lite package lists a visa on RAKEZ's instant-licence page. If you need one, compare the all-inclusive figure with other zones' visa packages, not AED 6,000: the cheap licence and the licence with a visa are different products.
Facilities, which is the real reason to pick RAKEZ
RAKEZ lists the full range on its own site, and the ladder matters because you can move up it without changing zone:
- Flexi facilities for a licence with no fixed desk
- Standard and executive offices when you need a registered workspace
- Shell and core offices for a fit-out of your own
- Warehouses for storage, light assembly and distribution
- Land for development, if you are building
RAKEZ states it covers over 50 sectors and more than 3,000 activities. The practical value of that breadth is that a trading company which later adds light manufacturing usually does not have to start again somewhere else.
Licence types RAKEZ issues
The activity you choose decides the licence, not the other way round. RAKEZ's own list: commercial, educational, e-commerce, general trading, individual or professional, industrial, media and service licences, plus a freelancer permit for individuals. Industrial work is where the warehouses and land come in; the rest usually start on a co-working desk.
The RAKEZ e-commerce licence
RAKEZ's e-commerce set-up package starts from AED 6,000, with co-working membership and access to Amazon's seller services (registration tools, training and support), according to its e-commerce page. Selling online also needs a no-objection certificate for the e-activity, which RAKEZ says takes two working days and costs nothing. If you will hold or resell physical stock, compare it with a general trading licence; our e-commerce licence guide sets the zones side by side.
RAKEZ freelance visa and permit
RAKEZ's freelancer permit starts from AED 6,100 and is eligible for a UAE residence visa. It is for media and education professionals, in one- and two-year packages, and RAKEZ's own conditions are strict: you trade in your own name with one activity, you cannot open a corporate bank account, hire staff or add visas under the permit, and you are personally liable for its debts. UAE residents can take it without RAKEZ's visa if their current sponsor gives a no-objection certificate.
If you expect to hire or to bank as a company, a company licence is the right shape even at a higher price. The UAE freelance permit guide compares the routes.
How the setup runs
- Activity and legal form. FZE, FZC or a branch, and the activity list that matches what you actually do.
- Name reservation and initial approval.
- Facility choice. Flexi desk, office, warehouse or land. This changes both cost and timeline more than anything else.
- Licence issuance and incorporation documents.
- Establishment card, before any visa can move.
- Visas, in order: entry permit, status change, medical, Emirates ID.
- Corporate tax registration.
RAKEZ's instant-licence page now says a licence can be issued online in five minutes, with no paperwork and no visit. Treat that as the licence step only. Visas and a physical facility run on their own clocks, and we give you a realistic date range for the whole thing at quote stage.
What we need from you
- Passport copy for every shareholder and visa applicant
- Passport-style photograph against a white background
- Your intended activities, described plainly
- Three trade name options in order of preference
- For a warehouse or land: your storage volume, power needs and whether you handle anything regulated
When RAKEZ is the right choice, and when it is not
Pick RAKEZ if you need physical space, if your budget matters more than a Dubai address, or if you expect to grow from a desk into a warehouse without re-registering. Light industry, trading, storage and distribution all sit well here.
Look elsewhere in these three cases:
- Your clients care that you are in Dubai. A Ras Al Khaimah address is on your licence, your invoices and your bank forms. If that costs you work, a Dubai zone is worth the difference.
- You need to sell into the UAE mainland market directly. No free zone licence does that. That is a mainland setup.
- You are purely digital and want the lowest possible number. SPC Free Zone and SHAMS in Sharjah publish lower entry prices, and you would not be using RAKEZ's facilities anyway.
What separates the AED 6,000 and AED 14,000 packages
AED 8,000 separates RAKEZ's Basic and all-inclusive packages, and RAKEZ's own pages say what it buys: one UAE residence visa, up to ten activities instead of one, up to 50 shareholders instead of one, and a renewal price held at the same figure. The Lite package at AED 12,000 sits between them, and its page does not list what it adds, so ask before choosing it.
Whatever a package is called, these have to be paid by someone. Get each one confirmed in writing as included or extra:
- The establishment card: no visa can be issued before it exists
- Immigration portal registration, without which no file can be opened at all
- Each residence visa, which is four separate steps per person: entry permit, status change, medical, Emirates ID
- Corporate tax registration, required whether or not you profit
- The renewal figure, which is a different number from the setup figure on most packages
A quote that answers all five is comparable to another quote that answers all five. A headline price that answers none is not comparable to anything, which is precisely why entry prices across zones look so similar and final invoices do not.
Year two, and why RAKEZ renewals get asked about
RAKEZ guarantees the same renewal price on its all-inclusive package, AED 14,000 a year, which is rarer than it should be. For the Basic and Lite packages its instant-licence page says only that the renewal fee varies with the type of entity, so get that figure before you pay for year one. We are not going to invent it.
What we can tell you is the shape of it. The one-off formation work does not repeat: name reservation, incorporation and issuing the establishment card happen once. What recurs is the licence, the immigration portal, each visa on its own cycle, and your facility, which on this zone is the part most likely to have changed: outgrowing a desk into a warehouse moves your renewal more than anything else on the list. You get your renewal number with your original quote, and you can model alternatives on the cost calculator.
Opening the bank account
Worth raising early on this zone in particular. The free zone does not open your bank account and neither do we: a UAE bank runs its own compliance review and decides on its own terms. RAKEZ companies with genuine physical operations in Ras Al Khaimah (a warehouse, staff, local invoices) are describing exactly the UAE substance banks ask about, which is a real advantage over a desk-only licence anywhere.
Our fee for preparing and introducing the file is AED 1,000 for a low-risk activity and AED 2,000 where the activity is treated as higher risk, since risk follows the activity you licensed. See bank account opening.
Tax, honestly
A RAKEZ licence is not a tax exemption. UAE corporate tax is 9% on taxable profit above AED 375,000 and registration is required regardless of profit. A qualifying free zone person can access 0% on qualifying income, but that is a test you must meet and evidence. VAT becomes mandatory above AED 375,000 turnover and is voluntary from AED 187,500. Thresholds are the Federal Tax Authority's, at tax.gov.ae. Verified August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
No. RAKEZ is in Ras Al Khaimah, about an hour and a half up the coast from Dubai. Some consultancies market it as a cheap Dubai option; the emirate on your licence is Ras Al Khaimah and that is what your bank and your customers see.
On RAKEZ's own pages in October 2026: AED 6,000 for the Basic package, AED 12,000 for the Lite package and AED 14,000 a year for the all-inclusive package with one residence visa. None of them is a first-year total if you need more visas, dependants or an office.
RAKEZ's instant-licence page says five minutes, online, with no paperwork or visit, and the licence step genuinely can be that fast when documents are clean. It does not cover visas or a physical facility, which take longer and depend on approvals nobody controls.
Yes, and land as well. That is the main reason to choose it over a Dubai flexi-desk zone. If you are storing stock, assembling, or distributing, this is the practical difference between RAKEZ and the alternatives on this site.
The AED 6,000 Basic package is one shareholder, one activity and co-working access, by RAKEZ's FAQ. The AED 14,000 all-inclusive package adds one UAE residence visa, up to ten activities and up to 50 shareholders, and renews at the same price. Neither covers extra visas (AED 4,000 each on the all-inclusive package) or an office.
One residence visa comes with the AED 14,000 all-inclusive package, and RAKEZ prices up to three more at AED 4,000 each, with 20% off dependants' visas. The Basic and Lite packages do not list a visa.
RAKEZ's freelancer permit starts from AED 6,100 and is eligible for a residence visa. It is for media and education professionals, one activity in your own name, with no corporate bank account, no staff and no extra visas.
Yes. Its e-commerce package starts from AED 6,000 with co-working membership and access to Amazon's seller services, and RAKEZ says the e-activity no-objection certificate is free and takes two working days.
Nobody can promise one: not the free zone, not us. The bank decides on its own compliance review. RAKEZ does have an advantage here if you genuinely operate from Ras Al Khaimah: a warehouse, staff and local invoices are the substance banks ask about. A desk-only licence with everything offshore is the harder file, in any emirate.
Not directly. Onshore selling needs a mainland licence, a distributor or a branch. If most of your revenue will come from UAE customers, starting in a free zone is the expensive way round.
On the all-inclusive package, the same as year one: RAKEZ guarantees AED 14,000 a year. On the other packages RAKEZ says the fee varies with the type of entity, so ask for the renewal figure before you commit. A cheap first year followed by a surprising second year is the most common complaint in this market.
Next step
Tell us what you need to store or do, and how many visas. You get a written figure covering the licence, the facility, the establishment card and the visa steps together, plus the renewal number.
Related
- Company setup cost calculator
- Bank account opening assistance
- Compare UAE free zones
- IFZA, the Dubai alternative
- Mainland business setup
- Cheapest free zone licence in Dubai
- RAKEZ official site
Sources
- RAKEZ instant licence: the Basic and Lite packages, the licence types and the renewal wording. Read 22 October 2026.
- RAKEZ SME business set-up: the all-inclusive package, extra visas, the upgrade and the renewal guarantee. Read 22 October 2026.
- RAKEZ e-commerce: the e-commerce package and the e-activity no-objection certificate. Read 22 October 2026.
- RAKEZ freelancer permit: the permit's price and conditions. Read 22 October 2026.
- Federal Tax Authority: the corporate tax and VAT thresholds.