HomeCompany formationMeydan vs IFZA
Meydan vs IFZA: Compare Costs and Business Fit
Both are Dubai free-zone licensors. The rows below use one case throughout: a consulting or software business, one shareholder, one visa, international clients, and no large office. IFZA vs Meydan is the same comparison.
What the public pages show
Same founder. One shareholder, one visa, consulting or software, international clients, flexi-desk scale.
Public licence price
Meydan
Current official price published
A regular licence with no visa starts from AED 12,500. That package is the LLC-FZ, up to three activity groups, and a flexi-desk with a lease. It is not a one-visa total.
IFZA
Current quotation required
The pages reviewed describe cost components and do not print a current licence tariff. A quotation is required before any dirham comparison.
Activities in the base
Meydan
Up to three activity groups in the AED 12,500 package. The regular list is described as 2,500+ activities.
IFZA
Up to three activities in the standard fee. Commercial and professional activities can sit on one licence. One guide also refers to a ceiling of seven. Confirm the cap.
An extra activity
Meydan
AED 1,000 beyond the three included activity groups.
IFZA
Current quotation required
Further activities are charged. The amount is not on the pages reviewed.
One shareholder
Meydan
The regular route allows more than one shareholder. Fawri is the solo route, from AED 15,000, for one person who is shareholder, manager, director and beneficial owner.
IFZA
The pages reviewed do not state a shareholder ceiling. The application includes beneficial-owner details.
One visa
Meydan
Visa allocation is AED 1,850. An employment visa is AED 3,500. An investor or partner visa is around AED 4,000, in Meydan’s wording. An immigration establishment card is from AED 2,000. Medical and Emirates ID assistance is from AED 2,250. These lines are separate from AED 12,500.
IFZA
Current quotation required
Packages are split by visa allocation. Adding visas later charges the difference. Medical and Emirates ID still happen in the UAE. No dirham figure is published for the one-visa package.
Address
Meydan
The regular starting package includes a flexi-desk. A dedicated desk, shared office or dedicated office is an upgrade, with published yearly or monthly rates.
IFZA
A registered-office cost is described once the company has four or more visa allocations. One visa does not, on that guide, trigger that office line.
Setup
Meydan
Meydan describes a standard digital licence within a day. Fawri is described as under 60 minutes. That is Meydan’s timing, not a completed visa.
IFZA
Incorporation, the memorandum and the licence are described as digital, taking a few business days. That is IFZA’s description of its own step.
Approvals
Meydan
The activity still has to be one Meydan will license. An outside regulator can still apply. A mainland NOC is advertised. Selling to mainland customers still depends on the activity.
IFZA
Green activities do not need an outside approval, though they can still need particular premises. Amber activities need a Dubai or federal approval, which the licensee obtains.
Renewal
Meydan
Renewal amount not publicly stated
A renewal tariff is not published as its own line. Multi-year setups are described as discounted by up to 15%. The year-by-year amounts were not in the readable text.
IFZA
Renewal amount not publicly stated
Renewal should be confirmed from a current quotation. No renewal amount was on the pages reviewed.
Price transparency
Meydan
Current official price published
A current public starting figure is available, with separate visa and workspace lines. VAT is not stated.
IFZA
Current quotation required
No current public figure is verified. VAT is not stated. Older forms are not used as the tariff.
What cannot be compared from current public evidence
- A like-for-like dirham total for one shareholder, one visa and a small address.
- Which licence costs less. Missing IFZA prices are not evidence that Meydan is the lower one.
- VAT on either side.
- The renewal invoice for either authority.
Meydan may fit this scenario because
The activity is on the regular list, a flexi-desk is enough, one visa can be added as a separate file, and a published starting figure is enough to begin the budget. Fawri is the route only if that one person is also the manager, director and beneficial owner, and the activity is in the Fawri list.
IFZA may fit this scenario because
The consultancy is a green activity, commercial and professional work need to share one licence, and the founder can wait for a quotation. One visa does not, on the registration guide, bring the four-visa office rule into the file.
Check carefully if
- The software work is regulated, or customers in Dubai will be invoiced directly.
- A second shareholder appears. That takes Meydan off the Fawri description.
- The visa count later reaches four. IFZA then describes a registered-office cost.
Detail sits on the Meydan profile and the IFZA profile. The wider route choice is company formation.