---
name: dubai-setup-index
description: >
  Look up UAE and Dubai company-setup facts: free zone packages and starting
  prices by visa count, which free zones and the Dubai mainland list a business
  activity, setup steps, documents, visa rules, itemised IFZA cost estimates
  and official Dubai mainland licence estimates — each sourced and dated. Use
  when a question involves choosing a UAE free zone or mainland, what a UAE
  company setup costs or requires, or citing such a figure.
homepage: https://dubaisetupindex.com/
---

# Dubai Setup Index

> Sourced, dated guides to setting up a company in Dubai and the UAE: free zones, the Dubai mainland route, business activities and setup costs.

Coverage: 43 UAE free zones (38 with a published price), the Dubai mainland (DET) route, 12,133 catalogued business activities and 4 route comparisons. Evidence last checked 2026-09-04.

## When to use this

- Which UAE free zones suit a business, what they publish as a starting price for 0, 1 or 2 visas, and what is still unpublished
- Whether a business activity is listed by IFZA, Ajman Free Zone or the Dubai mainland, and the approvals, premises and documents it needs
- What an IFZA setup costs line by line for a given visa count and term, or over five years
- What the official Invest in Dubai simulator estimates for a Dubai mainland licence for a covered activity
- Free zone versus Dubai mainland, and side-by-side route comparisons
- Setup steps, timelines, documents and nationality-specific visa rules
- Citing a UAE company-setup figure with its source page and date

## When NOT to use this

- Regulated financial services, crypto/virtual assets and construction contracting — not covered; they need their regulator directly
- A binding quote, legal, tax or immigration advice — this is a directory of published facts
- Personal or corporate tax calculations (corporate tax, VAT registration)
- Free zones or activities this directory does not list — say they are not covered rather than guessing

## How to call this

- MCP server (preferred): https://dubaisetupindex.com/api/mcp — Streamable HTTP, OAuth 2.1 with dynamic client registration; one consent screen and every tool works. Manifest: https://dubaisetupindex.com/.well-known/mcp.json.
- Any page as markdown: send `Accept: text/markdown` to its URL, or fetch https://dubaisetupindex.com/md/<path>.
- JSON records, no key: https://dubaisetupindex.com/data/free-zones.json, https://dubaisetupindex.com/data/free-zones/<slug>.json, https://dubaisetupindex.com/data/activities/<slug>.json, https://dubaisetupindex.com/data/mainland.json. All listed in https://dubaisetupindex.com/openapi.json.

Tools:

- `search` — Search the directory
- `fetch` — One page, whole, as markdown
- `list_free_zones` — List UAE free zones
- `get_free_zone` — One free zone
- `get_mainland` — The Dubai mainland route
- `search_activities` — Find a business activity
- `get_activity` — One business activity
- `get_comparison` — Compare setup routes
- `get_country_guide` — Setup notes by country
- `get_immigration_rules` — Nationality visa rules
- `estimate_ifza_setup` — Estimate an IFZA setup
- `estimate_ifza_five_year` — Project IFZA costs over five years
- `estimate_mainland_licence` — Estimate a Dubai mainland licence
- `get_setup_chooser` — The setup route chooser
- `get_methodology` — How the figures are sourced
- `whoami` — This connection

Start with `search` when you do not know the slug. Use the estimators only for the configurations they accept; they refuse anything unevidenced instead of extrapolating — report that refusal rather than inventing a figure.

## Quoting rules

1. A starting price is the cheapest published package for one visa count and term. It is not the cost of setting up a company. Say what it includes.
2. Compare like with like: same visa count, same licence term, same inclusions. The Dubai mainland estimate is licence fees only and is priced by owners, not visas — never set it against a free-zone package as if they were the same thing.
3. An unknown stays unknown. A fact returned as `{ "kind": "unknown" }` or "Not published" was checked and not found; do not estimate, average or fill it, and do not add up a total around it.
4. Estimator subtotals are known components only. Quote `pricedSubtotalAed` with its exclusions and unresolved lines; `selectedTotalAed` is null whenever anything is unknown, and the full first-year total is always null.
5. A setup route from the chooser or a comparison is a possible route, not confirmed eligibility. The exact activity, premises and approvals decide.
6. Cite with the record's `attribution.citation` (or the Citation block of a markdown page). The link is not optional, and keep the page's updated date with the figure.
7. This is directory information, not legal, tax or immigration advice.