A RAKEZ licence through SwiftHub starts at AED 6,000. Unlike most UAE free zones, RAKEZ publishes its own rates, and the two figures it advertises are AED 6,000 for company setup in 24 hours and AED 14,000 for an all-inclusive package.
The gap between those two numbers is the whole question on this page. It is not a discount and it is not a better deal. They buy different things, and picking the wrong one is how a cheap setup turns into an expensive year.
What separates AED 6,000 from AED 14,000
RAKEZ describes the lower figure as company setup in 24 hours and the higher one as all-inclusive. In practice the difference is visas and facility. The entry package gets you a licence quickly; the all-inclusive package bundles the things a company with staff needs and that the entry package leaves you to buy separately.
Our side, itemised
| Line | Cost |
|---|---|
| RAKEZ licence through SwiftHub | From AED 6,000 |
| Corporate tax and VAT registration | AED 600 |
| Bank account assistance, standard activity | AED 1,000 |
| Residence visa, our fees per person | From AED 200 typing plus the rest below |
The per-person visa fees are AED 200 typing, AED 300 unemployment insurance, AED 300 portal access and health cover from AED 500. Those are ours. The entry permit, status change, medical and Emirates ID are government charges billed at cost on top.
The reason people choose RAKEZ, and it is not price
Facilities. RAKEZ has warehouses, land and light industrial units alongside the licence, in a way the Sharjah and Ajman media zones do not. If your business needs to store, assemble or ship something physical, that changes the comparison entirely: a cheaper licence somewhere with no warehousing is not cheaper once you are renting a unit off-zone.
RAKEZ also covers more than 50 sectors and thousands of activities, which matters if your activity is unusual. The zones that start cheaper have narrower activity lists, and an activity your zone does not license is not a price problem, it is a wrong-zone problem. IFZA's licence cost is the Dubai comparison if a Dubai address matters more to you than warehousing.
Where it costs you
- Distance. Ras Al Khaimah is roughly an hour and a half from Dubai. If your clients expect meetings in Dubai, factor that in rather than discovering it.
- Perception. Some corporate clients and some banks are more comfortable with Dubai-registered counterparties. It is not a rule anywhere, it is just what happens.
- Mainland sales. Like any free zone company, selling directly to mainland UAE customers needs a distributor or a second licence. See mainland business setup.
Renewal
The licence renews annually and visas run on a separate two-year cycle. RAKEZ publishes setup rates but not a renewal schedule, so get the renewal figure in writing before year one, from us or from anybody else. Among the zones we work with, Ajman Media City is the one that publishes renewal prices next to setup prices.
How it compares
| Zone | Through SwiftHub, from | What the zone publishes |
|---|---|---|
| Ajman Media City | AED 4,499 | Four tiers by visa count, with renewals |
| SPC Free Zone | AED 4,999 | From AED 5,750, no visa cap |
| SHAMS | AED 5,750 | From AED 5,750; Trader AED 6,500 |
| RAKEZ | AED 6,000 | AED 6,000 and AED 14,000 |
| IFZA, Dubai | AED 12,900 | Nothing published |
The free zone comparison puts the five side by side on visas and premises as well as price, and the cheapest free zone licences takes the price question alone.
Is there a RAKEZ office in Dubai?
No. RAKEZ is Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone and its offices, business centres and facilities are in Ras Al Khaimah. Its own site describes Al Hamra Industrial Zone as accessible from Dubai, which is about proximity rather than a Dubai location.
This gets searched often enough that it is worth answering plainly, because two different questions hide inside it:
- "Can I set up with RAKEZ without travelling to Ras Al Khaimah?" Largely yes. Most of the process is handled remotely or by us, and you do not need to be in RAK to hold a RAKEZ licence.
- "Can I have a Dubai address on a RAKEZ licence?" No. The licence is registered in Ras Al Khaimah and that is the address it carries. If a Dubai address is what you need, IFZA is the zone in our range that gives you one.
Living and working in Dubai on a RAKEZ licence is normal and common. What you cannot do is present the company as Dubai-registered, or sell directly into the mainland market, and the second constraint applies to every free zone rather than to RAKEZ specifically.
RAKEZ cost questions
That is RAKEZ's own published figure for its 24-hour company setup package, and our licence price starts at AED 6,000. Neither includes visas, the establishment card or the government immigration charges, so it is a licence price rather than a first-year cost.
RAKEZ describes it as all-inclusive against the entry package's licence-only scope. The practical difference is visas and facility. Ask for both quoted against your actual headcount before deciding which is cheaper for you.
Yes, and it is the main reason to choose it. Warehouses, land and light industrial units sit alongside the licence, which the Sharjah and Ajman media zones do not offer in the same way.
RAKEZ publishes setup rates but not renewal rates. Get the figure in writing before year one. A consultancy that will not put a renewal number in writing has told you something useful.
You can live wherever you like; the licence is registered in Ras Al Khaimah. What you cannot do is sell directly into the mainland market without a distributor or a mainland licence, and that is a jurisdiction question rather than a commuting one.
Prices last reviewed 29 August 2026. SwiftHub figures are indicative rather than an offer and your quote is confirmed in writing before anything is filed. RAKEZ's published rates were checked at rakez.com and are attributed to RAKEZ rather than presented as ours.
