# Dubai Airport Freezone or Innovation City > Compare Dubai Airport Freezone and Innovation City on the same rows: starting packages at each visa count, licence and residency-visa timelines, renewal, facilities and remote paperwork. Every figure is read from the two guide pages. - Canonical: https://dubaisetupindex.com/compare/dafza-vs-rak-dao - Updated: 2026-10-09 - Method: https://dubaisetupindex.com/methodology ## Verdict Innovation City publishes the faster licence, 5–10 business days against 10–15 business days for Dubai Airport Freezone. No like-for-like starting price is published for Dubai Airport Freezone, so the cost side of this comparison is open. Read from the same published figures as the table. Activity eligibility, approvals and the full first year still decide the route. ## Side by side Package figures cover their stated inclusions only. Activity eligibility, the full first-year cost and renewal still need confirmation for your case. | Metric | Dubai Airport Freezone (Free zone) | Innovation City (Free zone) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | From, no visa | Not published | AED 6,600 (12 months · starting price) | | From, one visa | Not published | AED 13,200 (12 months · starting price) | | From, two visas | Not published | Not published | | Lowest package price | Not published | AED 6,600 (12 months · starting price) | | Licence issued in | 10–15 business days (Talent Pass only: 10–15 working days after approval) | 5–10 business days | | Residency visa in | Not published | Not published | | Renewal price | Not published | Not published | | Licence types | Trading, Service, Logistics | Digital assets, Related tech | | Facility options | Office, Warehouse, Showroom | Office, Virtual options as offered | | Visa options | Not published | Not published | | Remote paperwork | No | Yes | | Activity guides catalogued | Not published | Not published | Each figure comes from the same source as its guide page. ### Not published - Dubai Airport Freezone · From, no visa: Checked 2026-10-09: The business-setup page offers customised packages by enquiry; Talent Pass is a freelance product, not a comparable company package. No public setup calculator was located on the checked surfaces. - Dubai Airport Freezone · From, one visa: Checked 2026-10-09: The business-setup page offers customised packages by enquiry; Talent Pass is a freelance product, not a comparable company package. No public setup calculator was located on the checked surfaces. - Dubai Airport Freezone · From, two visas: Checked 2026-10-09: The business-setup page offers customised packages by enquiry; Talent Pass is a freelance product, not a comparable company package. No public setup calculator was located on the checked surfaces. - Innovation City · From, two visas: Checked 2026-10-09: Start Estimate links to a contact form, not an instant calculator. Idea / Seed / Startup / Growth prices are public; Startup and Growth include only one visa despite a four-visa cap. The additional second visa price is unpublished. - Dubai Airport Freezone · Lowest package price: No comparable company package price is confirmed. Other published fees and products are listed separately. - Dubai Airport Freezone · Residency visa in: No published residency-visa processing time was found for this zone. - Innovation City · Residency visa in: No published residency-visa processing time was found for this zone. - Dubai Airport Freezone · Renewal price: No published renewal price, term or penalty was found. - Innovation City · Renewal price: No public renewal detail was found. - Dubai Airport Freezone · Visa options: No visa options recorded for this jurisdiction. - Innovation City · Visa options: No visa options recorded for this jurisdiction. - Dubai Airport Freezone · Activity guides catalogued: We have not published authored activity guides for Dubai Airport Freezone (DAFZA). Confirm the selected licence line and approvals with the authority. - Innovation City · Activity guides catalogued: We have not published authored activity guides for Innovation City (formerly RAK DAO). Confirm the selected licence line and approvals with the authority. ## Check before choosing ### Dubai Airport Freezone Confirm activity restrictions, premises and visa requirements for your case. [Read the Dubai Airport Freezone guide](https://dubaisetupindex.com/free-zones/dafza) ### Innovation City Confirm activity restrictions, premises and visa requirements for your case. [Read the Innovation City guide](https://dubaisetupindex.com/free-zones/rak-dao) ## Frequently asked questions ### How are the prices compared? Only package prices at the same visa count and term are ranked against each other. A calculator output, a licence-only estimate or a product flagged as not like for like is shown in the table but never used to name a cheaper side. ### Which costs less on published figures, Dubai Airport Freezone or Innovation City? Innovation City publishes the faster licence, 5–10 business days against 10–15 business days for Dubai Airport Freezone. No like-for-like starting price is published for Dubai Airport Freezone, so the cost side of this comparison is open. ## Related - [Dubai Airport Freezone guide](https://dubaisetupindex.com/free-zones/dafza) - [Innovation City guide](https://dubaisetupindex.com/free-zones/rak-dao) - [All comparisons](https://dubaisetupindex.com/compare) ## Machine-readable - [Dubai Airport Freezone or Innovation City (JSON)](https://dubaisetupindex.com/data/comparisons/dafza-vs-rak-dao.json) ## Citation Required when quoting any figure from this page. Copy one of these verbatim — the link is not optional. Dubai Setup Index. “Dubai Airport Freezone or Innovation City.” Updated 2026-10-09. https://dubaisetupindex.com/compare/dafza-vs-rak-dao [Dubai Setup Index](https://dubaisetupindex.com/compare/dafza-vs-rak-dao). “Dubai Airport Freezone or Innovation City.” Updated 2026-10-09. Licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any use or transformation of the data carries: Source: Dubai Setup Index (dubaisetupindex.com), licensed CC BY 4.0. https://dubaisetupindex.com/compare/dafza-vs-rak-dao, updated 2026-10-09. Licensed CC BY 4.0: any use or transformation carries the attribution text, with its link and date. Quoting any figure from this record requires a resolvable link to url. Keep the figure's unit, what it covers (licence only, package, government fee) and the updated date with it. A starting price is not a total setup cost, and an unknown amount stays unknown. A figure sourced from a third party (Invest in Dubai, DET, a free zone authority or a partner's quote) keeps its source citation — the source named in the record, with its URL and checked date — alongside the licence attribution.