← All 46 free zones compared

FREE ZONE FILE

Ajman Free Zone

Emirate AjmanEstablished 1988Type General free zone, trade, industry, e-commerce
Authority Free Zones Authority of Ajman

What we think

The oldest zone on this list, and the least transparent about price. Not one licence figure appears on a product page. The only numbers on the official site are in two blog posts, one of them from 2021. Everything else is behind a cost calculator that returns an estimate and a phone call.

Publishes no licence price at all

Packages

No package price is published. No package price is published on any product or legal page of afz.gov.ae. The named packages are Business Licence, Industrial, Services, Sole Professional, Pioneers, Freelancer, E-commerce and Offshore. One blog article from 2025 mentions an e-commerce package from AED 5,555 and a 2021 article mentions a freelance licence at AED 6,000. Neither is a product page, neither is contractual, and we will not present them as prices.

Where each line was read: product page, a commercial commitment on the zone's own site. Official document, a downloadable schedule, regulation or terms. Blog only, an article on the zone's site, editorial and not contractual. Not published, the zone does not say.

Visas

Cost of a visanot publishednot published
Quota, Sole Professional licence1 residence visaproduct page
Quota, Freelancer and Pioneers hub2 residence visas, plus 1 employee visa if you hireproduct page
Quota, offices and executive offices2 residence visasproduct page
Quota, warehousesminimum 14 residence visasproduct page
Employee insurance at renewalAED 265, compulsory since September 2019product page
Temporary work permitAED 150 per monthproduct page
e-Channel renewalAED 1,100 per yearproduct page
Family sponsorshipminimum salary AED 4,500, AED 20,000 guarantee for a smart office or business centreproduct page

Offices and desks

Executive offices, offices, business centre, hubsno price publishednot published
Warehousesunlimited space from 100 square metres, electricity and water at federal FEWA rates, no price publishedproduct page

Year two, and closing down

The two figures nobody advertises. A cheap first year means nothing if year two doubles, and nothing at all if leaving costs a fortune.

Renewal, per year

not published by the zone

Not published. The official FAQ states plainly that the renewal cost is only visible after you open a service request inside the client portal. The grace period is one month after expiry. The late penalty amount is not published.

Closing the company

AED 2,135

Licence cancellation is AED 2,135. But the published procedure is the real cost: cancel every employee visa and the establishment card, run a press announcement for fourteen days, then obtain clearance from the port, from customs, from Etisalat, from the federal electricity and water authority and from sanitation. Budget weeks, not days.

Other fees and penalties

Licence cancellationAED 2,135
e-Channel renewalAED 1,100 per year
Manager changeAED 2,500
Shareholder change, registration or amendmentAED 2,000, plus AED 500 press announcement
Establishment card amendmentAED 535
Security checkAED 500
Economic substance breachAED 20,000 up to AED 400,000 for repeated failure
Beneficial owner breachAED 50,000 to AED 100,000 and up to 12 months of licence suspension

Binding terms

Contradictions on the zone's own site

What this zone does not publish

Where every figure above comes from

  • afz.gov.ae/en/start-your-business.html
  • afz.gov.ae/en/start-your-business/business-license-types.html
  • afz.gov.ae/en/start-your-business/product/warehouses.html
  • afz.gov.ae/en/cost-calculator/
  • afz.gov.ae/en/help-and-support/faqs.html
  • afz.gov.ae, guidelines for licensing, PDF
  • afz.gov.ae, channel partner code of conduct, PDF
  • ajman.ae, Ajman government portal, free zone licence types

Read on the zone's official site on 13 aout 2026. We print the addresses rather than link them, so you can check any figure word for word, and so this page stays a comparison rather than a doorway.

AED 1,000 back on this zone

This zone pays us an introduction fee, and we hand AED 1,000 of it back to you once your trade licence has actually been issued. You pay the zone exactly what you would pay going direct, we never take a dirham from you, and the cashback is only due if you filled in the Free Zone Radar form first.

Check whether this zone fits your case12 questions, about 90 seconds. It may well tell you this zone is wrong for you.

Figures quoted from the zone are left in the language the zone published them in, so you can check them word for word. This file is available in English and French. The comparator itself is in Arabic too.

Chat on WhatsAppA real person answers, usually within the hour