FREE ZONE FILE
Masdar City Free Zone
What we think
Publishes its packages, its visa costs and its desk prices line by line, which puts it ahead of most. Then contradicts itself on what a flexi desk costs, and never publishes the renewal price. Prices are quoted before 5 percent value added tax.
Publishes its headline prices, but not everythingPackages
- Up to 2 activities
- Licence and registration
- Visa quota not stated
- Up to 3 activities
- Licence, registration, flexi desk lease
- Visa quota 2
- Up to 3 activities
- 1 free visa
- Licence, registration, flexi desk lite, establishment card, e-channel, medical, Emirates ID
- Up to 6 activities
- Visa quota 3
- Licence, registration, flexi desk plus
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
Offices and desks
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. No second year licence price, no package renewal rate, no late penalty. The only recurring published figures are the e-channel at AED 1,600 per year and the two year visa and Emirates ID costs.
Closing the company
Not published. Neither liquidation nor strike off appears in the fee list, and the published terms and conditions cover use of the website only.
Other fees and penalties
Binding terms
- A registered office address is part of the licensing process, and the desk you take sets your visa quota.
- Multiple activities under one licence are possible depending on approval, which is discretionary.
- Registration is announced at 1 to 3 working days.
- The published terms and conditions cover website use only. There are no published terms of service for the licence itself.
- Prices are quoted subject to 5 percent value added tax.
Contradictions on the zone's own site
- The leasing page prices a flexi desk at AED 6,000 and a flexi desk plus at AED 10,000. The licence page attaches the same two figures to a virtual desk and a flexi desk. Same site, different products.
- Name reservation is AED 2,000 in the Masdar City fact sheet and AED 1,000 for a special name on the pricing page.
What this zone does not publish
- The renewal price for year two. The largest gap.
- The year the free zone was created.
- The contractual duration of the packages. One year appears only in a blog article.
- Prices for private offices, laboratories, warehouses, land and retail.
- Minimum share capital, liquidation fees, late renewal penalties.
- The visa quota of the Startup package, although it is stated for the other three.
- The channel partner commission.
Where every figure above comes from
- masdarcityfreezone.com/explore/license-and-registration
- masdarcityfreezone.com/explore/commercial-leasing
- masdarcityfreezone.com/explore/legal-and-regulation
- masdarcityfreezone.com/terms-and-conditions
- masdarcity.ae/free-zone-and-leasing/freezone
- masdarcity.ae, Masdar City fact sheet 2024, PDF
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.
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.