Ajman Free Zone Company Setup Cost 2026: Real Figures

The Ajman free zone company setup cost in 2026 starts at about AED 5,565 for a licence with no visa and a flexi-desk, and about AED 13,141 with one residence visa, according to package figures published by Dubai advisory firm Avyanco in September 2026. Ajman Free Zone (AFZ) itself publishes no package price list: it quotes through an online calculator. Budget separately for professional fees, banking, accounting and any office beyond a flexi-desk.

This guide is for founders, consultants and family businesses, many of them Indian, who are weighing Ajman as a low-cost UAE base. It separates the fees AFZ itself publishes from figures quoted by service providers, prices a realistic first and second year, explains the tax position after 2026, and covers how an Indian company or resident individual funds the company. For the wider question of entering the UAE with a services business, see our India to UAE services corridor.

What does Ajman Free Zone officially publish about cost?

Very little. The AFZ cost calculator asks for your business activity, number of shareholders, number of visas and whether you need an office, then emails an estimate. It advertises more than 3,500 licensed activities but displays no prices on the page. Most "Ajman Free Zone price lists" online are therefore consultancy packages, which bundle AFZ's government fees with their own margin or service fee.

The figures that do come from AFZ itself are administrative fees in its FAQ, compiled by businessdubai.ae in its 2026 review of the zone:

Ask any provider to show AFZ's government fees as separate lines from its own professional fee. If it cannot, you are comparing bundles, not prices.

How much does an Ajman Free Zone licence cost with visas?

Avyanco's Ajman Free Zone cost page (updated September 2026) gives the following figures, which match the range other UAE providers quote:

USD figures use the UAE dirham's fixed peg of AED 3.6725 to USD 1 set by the Central Bank of the UAE. The jump from zero to one visa is the largest step because the first visa carries the establishment card, entry permit, medical and Emirates ID costs. DhanGuard's 2026 guide quotes physical office packages in AFZ's Al Jurf area from about AED 21,760 to AED 35,510 and above, depending on size and visa allocation.

What costs do Ajman packages leave out?

Avyanco lists what its package prices exclude, and the list applies to almost every Ajman quote you will see:

• the provider's professional or service fee
• office space beyond a flexi-desk
• external approvals for regulated activities
• opening and maintaining a corporate bank account
• VAT and corporate tax registration
• bookkeeping and, where needed, audit
• dependent visas for a spouse or children

Add the E-Channel fee if the package does not already include it, health insurance for visa holders, and the cost of attestation and translation for documents such as an Indian company's board resolution or certificate of incorporation. None of these appear in a headline price.

Worked example: an Indian consultant with one visa

Take a Mumbai-based management consultant who wants a UAE company to contract with Gulf clients and a residence visa for themself. They choose a flexi-desk and one visa.

So the defensible starting budget is about AED 14,241 (roughly USD 3,878) before professional, insurance, banking and accounting costs. In year two the licence and E-Channel renew, but the visa is not issued again, so renewal is usually cheaper than year one. AFZ does not publish renewal prices, so get the renewal figure in writing before you sign: a low year one with a high renewal is the most common pricing trap in budget free zones.

Ajman Free Zone or Ajman Media City: which price list are you looking at?

Ajman has two free zones, and their prices are often mixed up. Ajman Media City Free Zone (AMC) publishes a full tier list on amc.gov.ae, which businessdubai.ae recorded in September 2026:

The headline numbers look similar, but the zones are not interchangeable. AFZ is on the Federal Tax Authority's list of VAT Designated Zones; AMC is not. That matters if you will move physical goods, because supplies of goods within and between Designated Zones can fall outside UAE VAT under specific conditions. For a pure services business the difference is smaller. AFZ also offers warehouses, industrial licences and land next to Ajman port, which AMC does not.

Which licence, entity and facility will you need?

AFZ issues three licence types: a business (commercial) licence, an industrial licence and a sole professional licence. Its legal forms are the Free Zone Establishment (FZE), the Free Zone Company (FZC), and a branch of a local or foreign company. Facilities run from business centres and the Freelancer and Pioneers Hub to offices, executive offices, an e-commerce hub, warehouses and leased land.

Choosing between a branch and a subsidiary is a structuring question, not a pricing one. A branch is legally part of the Indian company, so its UAE activities sit inside the Indian entity. Our guide to setting up a UAE subsidiary of an Indian company compares both.

What tax will an Ajman Free Zone company pay?

A licence in a free zone does not mean no tax. According to the UAE government portal, corporate tax is 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it, and it applies to free zone businesses. The Ministry of Finance confirms that all taxable persons, including free zone persons, must register for corporate tax.

• Qualifying Free Zone Person. The Ministry of Finance states that a free zone person meeting the conditions can pay 0% on its qualifying income. Income that does not qualify is taxed at 9%, and under Article 18 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 a company that fails the conditions loses the 0% rate for that tax period and the following four. Our guide to corporate tax for free zone companies explains the conditions.
• Small Business Relief ends with 2026. Under Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, businesses with revenue of AED 3 million or less can elect relief, but only for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026, and Qualifying Free Zone Persons cannot use it. A company set up in Ajman today should not build its plan around that relief.
• VAT. Registration becomes mandatory once taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 a year under the Federal Tax Authority's rules, whether or not you are in a free zone.

How does an Indian founder fund and run an Ajman company?

The UAE side is the easy part. The Indian side decides whether the structure holds up.

• An Indian company invests through the overseas direct investment (ODI) route under the Foreign Exchange Management (Overseas Investment) Rules, 2022, reported through its bank. Our guide to ODI rules covers the filings.
• A resident individual can invest in an operating foreign company within the Reserve Bank of India's Liberalised Remittance Scheme limit of USD 250,000 a financial year, subject to the ODI conditions. We compare the two routes in ODI vs LRS for funding an overseas company.
• Management and control. If the Ajman company is in practice run from India, with decisions taken in Mumbai and no one acting for it in the UAE, India can treat it as resident under its place of effective management rules. See our article on place of effective management (POEM).
• Banking. UAE banks look at substance, ownership and the source of funds. A flexi-desk company with an Indian owner and no UAE activity can take longer to bank. Our guide to UAE corporate bank accounts for Indian-owned companies sets out what banks ask for.

When is Ajman the wrong choice?

Ajman does fit founders who want a low-cost licence with visas, traders and light manufacturers who value AFZ's warehouses and port access, and businesses that benefit from being in a VAT Designated Zone.

Common mistakes when budgeting for Ajman

• Comparing an AMC price with an AFZ quote. They are different zones with different VAT treatment.
• Ignoring renewal. Ask for year two in writing before you sign.
• Buying more visas than you need. Each extra visa adds thousands of dirhams; a larger quota can usually be added later with more space.
• Choosing activities by price, not by contract. Your licence activity must match what you invoice. Banks and the tax authority will check.
• Forgetting the Indian filings. An unreported ODI or LRS remittance is a compliance problem in India, whatever the UAE licence says.

The Greenwolf view

An Ajman licence is one of the cheapest ways into the UAE, but the licence is rarely the expensive part. The costs that matter come later: a bank that will not open an account, a tax position that depended on Small Business Relief, or an Indian residence question because the company is run from India. Decide first what the UAE company is for, who will run it and where, and how it will be funded from India. Then pick the zone.

Greenwolf Advisors helps Indian founders and family businesses set up and run UAE companies, from zone and structure choice to ODI filings, banking, corporate tax and ongoing compliance. See our corporate services or speak to our team for a costed, line-by-line plan for your UAE company.

This article is general information, not advice for a specific case. Free zone fees and UAE and Indian tax rules change: confirm current figures with Ajman Free Zone, the Federal Tax Authority and your advisers before you commit.