Dubai Development Authority Free Zone Guide 2026: DDA Zones, Licences, axs, Costs and Compliance

In short: The Dubai Development Authority (DDA) is the Dubai government authority that registers and licenses companies in nine TECOM Group business free zones, from Dubai Internet City to Dubai Design District. It operates under Law No. 15 of 2014 as amended (renamed DDA by Law No. 10 of 2018). DDA charges AED 3,500 to register an FZ-LLC or branch plus an annual licence fee per segment, usually AED 15,000, and AED 7,500 a year for a freelancer permit. Minimum capital is AED 10,000 for most segments. DDA quotes 10 plus 2 working days, and visas, renewals and UBO filings run through the axs portal.

This hub explains how the DDA system works as a whole: the law behind it, which zones it covers, the licence types, the published fees, the registration steps, the axs portal and what you must keep doing after the licence is issued. Each DDA community also has its own detailed guide on this site with packages, costs and worked examples, linked in every section below. Every figure here comes from DDA’s own legislation and service cards, the community websites run by TECOM Group, GDRFA Dubai or the Federal Tax Authority, checked on 11 October 2026.

What is the Dubai Development Authority?

The Dubai Development Authority is a Dubai government authority with three jobs, according to its own website: real estate planning and development control, regulatory and licensing services for the strategic industries in its jurisdiction, and developing new sectors for the economy. For a business owner, the part that matters is the second one. DDA registers companies, issues their commercial licences, collects the fees and inspects licensees in its free zone.

Its legal history explains why older documents use different names:

Law No. 15 of 2014 sets the core rules that still apply. No one may carry on an activity in the zone without a DDA licence (Article 22). A limited liability company can be owned by one or more people, natural or corporate, UAE nationals or not (Article 21). A licence cannot be assigned without DDA’s written consent (Article 26). And in the zone, companies are outside the jurisdiction of Dubai Municipality and the economic department, except for health, public safety, food control and environment rules (Article 20). The day-to-day company law is the Dubai Creative Clusters Private Companies Regulations 2016, and the licence menu, fees and capital are set by DDA Decision No. 1 of 2021 on licence categories, issued on 7 April 2021.

Which free zones does the Dubai Development Authority regulate?

DDA Decision No. 1 of 2021 issues licences for nine business communities, each with its own licence segments, plus Emirates Towers, where licences may be issued for any segment, and a General segment available in all of them. The Decision groups the communities into clusters for science, media, ICT, design and education. The table below is a short profile of each; follow the link for packages, detailed costs and examples.

Segment fees and capital are from DDA Decision No. 1 of 2021, Articles 14 and 15. To see how these nine compare with Dubai’s other free zones, use our Dubai free zones list, or our guide to free zones in the UAE for all seven emirates.

Which DDA zone fits your activity?

DDA licenses by segment, and each segment sits in one community. Start from what you actually do and who you sell to, not from a package price. This decision matrix is built from the segment lists in Decision No. 1 of 2021.

A licensee in one community can add a segment or activity from another community “at the sole discretion of the Authority” (Decision No. 1 of 2021, Article 11.1). So a design studio that also builds apps does not always need two companies, but you need DDA’s approval, and an additional standard segment costs AED 10,000 a year on top of the first (Article 10.1).

What licence types does DDA issue?

DDA’s setting-up page lists three routes. A fourth, start-up programme, sits in Schedule 1 of the licensing Decision.

TECOM markets the freelancer route as GoFreelance in Dubai Media City, Dubai Internet City, d3 and Dubai Knowledge Park. Its page sets the package at AED 7,520 a year, says the licence “cannot be used to register a company name” and that you cannot hire or sponsor staff. If you plan to hire, start with an FZ-LLC. For how freelance residence compares across Dubai, see our freelance permit and visa service.

How do you register a company with DDA, step by step?

The official process is short on paper. Most delays come from documents signed abroad and from choosing space after the application, not before.

What is the axs portal and what is done there?

axs is TECOM Group’s service platform for its communities. TECOM describes it as offering more than 200 government and corporate services, including visa processing and licensing, and the Dubai Internet City page lists government and visa services, leasing, licensing, NOCs and permits. It has service points at Dubai Knowledge Park (Block 8), Dubai International Academic City (Service Block) and Dubai Studio City (Commercial Building 1), and a contact centre on 800 4 AXS (297).

Several DDA services are filed only through axs:

• Licence renewal: DDA’s service card says log in to axs, raise a “Commercial License Renewal” request, upload any NOC and pay. The service time is “Immediate”.
• Deregistration: the FZ-LLC and branch deregistration requests start on axs or at a DDA customer service centre.
• UBO submission: under DDA Circular 670 of 3 June 2026, each company must go to New Request, Company Services, UBO Submission on axs, review and confirm its UBO details, fill any gaps, upload documents and confirm the ownership chain for individual or corporate shareholders.
• Immigration: the establishment card, employment visas, renewals and cancellations for DDA-licensed companies. The d3 FAQ says DDA-licensed companies arrange visas through axs, while d3 companies with a DET licence apply at immigration offices.

Our free zone visa service prepares and files these axs requests for companies that do not have someone in-house to do it.

How much does a DDA free zone company cost?

DDA publishes its registration and licence fees. It does not publish workspace prices, and visa and establishment card charges are shown on axs. The table separates what is published from what is quoted.

Capital is not a fee. It is the company’s own money, and the Dubai Media City and Dubai Studio City FAQs call it “refundable”. For your own numbers, our business setup cost planner builds a first-year budget line by line.

Illustrative first-year model (not a quote)

This model adds up only lines that are published today. It is illustrative, assumes one shareholder who takes one visa, and leaves out workspace, medical tests, Emirates ID, health insurance and any service provider’s fee.

The visa and establishment card figures are TECOM’s published GoFreelance prices, which it says are “subject to change”; a company sees its exact visa charges on axs before paying. From year two, the recurring DDA line for the FZ-LLC is the AED 15,000 licence fee, plus any visa renewals and rent.

How does DDA compare with DMCC, IFZA, DWTC and Meydan?

Founders often compare a DDA community with Dubai’s other big free zones. They are run by different authorities under different laws, so a like-for-like price comparison only works line by line.

Prices are each authority’s own published figures, checked on 11 October 2026; packages bundle different things, so compare the lines, not the headline. None of these five is on the FTA’s list of VAT designated zones. Where DDA usually wins is sector fit: a broadcaster, university, lab or design label gets a segment, community and neighbours built for it. Where it usually loses is the entry price for a one-person trading or consultancy licence.

What do you have to do after setup? A DDA compliance calendar

How are DDA companies taxed?

Law No. 15 of 2014 promises a 50-year exemption from taxes “in connection with their operations inside the Creative Clusters” (Article 17), but federal corporate tax still applies to free zone companies. The federal rates are 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it.

A DDA company can pay 0% on qualifying income if it is a Qualifying Free Zone Person. The FTA lists the conditions: adequate substance in the free zone, qualifying income, no election for the standard regime, transfer pricing compliance, audited financial statements, and non-qualifying revenue no higher than AED 5 million or 5% of total revenue, whichever is lower. A Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 9% on all taxable income that is not qualifying income, without the AED 375,000 0% band, and cannot use Small Business Relief.

Small Business Relief is open to resident persons with revenue of AED 3 million or less in the current and every previous tax period, for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 (Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026). For many small DDA service companies, choosing between the QFZP route and Small Business Relief is a real decision worth taking advice on.

On VAT, no DDA community appears on the FTA’s list of designated zones, which for Dubai covers zones such as Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai Airport Free Zone and Dubai Aviation City. Ordinary VAT rules apply to DDA companies.

Can a DDA company work with mainland Dubai clients?

A free zone licence covers the free zone. The d3 FAQ puts it plainly: the free zone licence “permits operating your business within the Freezone territory only”. Many DDA companies sell services to clients anywhere, including abroad, but conducting activities in mainland Dubai needs one of the routes in Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025 (issued 3 March 2025), all issued by the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).

• Temporary permit (the Free Zone Mainland Operating Permit): AED 5,000, valid for up to six months and renewable, for free zone companies holding a Dubai Unified Licence, applied for on the Invest in Dubai platform. The first phase covers non-regulated activities such as technology, consultancy, design, professional services and trading. Mainland revenue is subject to 9% corporate tax and must be kept in separate records.
• A DET licence for a branch operating out of the free zone: AED 10,000 a year (Article 12), valid for one year and renewable.
• A DET licence for a branch located in the emirate, for a full mainland presence.
• A DET licence inside d3: d3 also hosts mainland-licensed units, and a company can hold both licences.

If most of your customers will be walk-in mainland customers, compare a mainland company first; our business setup service sets the two routes side by side.

What does DDA not do? Common misunderstandings

• “DDA and TECOM are the same thing.” DDA is the government authority created by law; it registers, licenses and penalises. TECOM Group is the landlord and operator: it leases the space, runs the community websites and the axs platform, and handles the sales process. Your licence is a DDA licence; your lease is with TECOM.
• “axs is a government portal.” axs belongs to TECOM. DDA services such as renewal, deregistration and the UBO submission are filed through it, and visas filed there are issued by GDRFA Dubai.
• “Dubai Healthcare City is a DDA zone.” It is not. Dubai Law No. 16 of 2024 places it under the Dubai Healthcare City Authority, with the Dubai Health Authority licensing healthcare activity.
• “d3 has its own authority.” d3 is a DDA free zone; its FAQ says so. What makes it different is the option of a DET mainland licence for a d3 unit.
• “DDA staff need a MOHRE work permit.” The UAE government portal says free zone employers apply for the work permit and residence visa with their free zone authority, and that free zone staff are generally governed by the free zone’s own employment regulations, which are typically aligned with the federal labour law. For DDA companies that means filing on axs, with visas issued by GDRFA Dubai. DDA publishes its employment regulations next to Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 and offers an Employment Dispute Request service on its website.
• “The licence is all I need.” Decision No. 1 of 2021 says a DDA licence does not exempt you from any other permit or approval required by Dubai or UAE law (Art. 2.15). Media content, education, health, food and filming each have their own regulators.
• “The package price is DDA’s price.” DDA publishes registration and licence fees. Packages add workspace, visas and service fees, which vary.

How do you close a DDA company?

DDA’s Deregistration (FZ-LLC) service costs AED 1,500 (AED 1,000 for in5 companies) plus AED 20, with an estimated service time of 4 working days once the file is complete. The documents are a members’ resolution, a letter of confirmation from the auditor, newspaper advertisements in English and Arabic, and clearance from Dubai Customs if applicable. Clearance from the leasing, finance and other departments is required before DDA issues the Certificate of De-Registration, so cancel visas and the establishment card and settle the lease first. A branch has its own deregistration service and a freelancer a licence cancellation. Our company liquidation guide covers the full order of steps.

Illustrative scenarios

Each is an illustrative scenario, not a client case. Figures are the published lines above.

• A UX designer moving from London. She works alone for clients in the UK and the Gulf. A DDA freelancer permit in d3 or Dubai Internet City (AED 7,500 plus AED 20, 2 working days) fits. With TECOM’s published establishment card and one-year visa, her published year-one lines come to AED 14,120 before medical tests and Emirates ID. She trades in her own name and cannot hire, so if she later wants a brand or staff, she moves to an FZ-LLC.
• Two founders building a SaaS product. They apply to in5. If the committee admits them, they pay no registration fee and AED 1,000 a year for three years, with visas at AED 1,500. If not, a Software segment FZ-LLC in Dubai Internet City costs AED 3,500 plus AED 15,000, with AED 10,000 capital, and a 300 sq ft office supports five visas at one per 60 sq ft.
• A 60-seat customer service centre. The Outsource segment in Dubai Outsource City costs AED 15,000 a year and allows one activity, but an FZ-LLC needs AED 300,000 paid-up capital. At one employee per 80 sq ft, 60 staff need at least 4,800 sq ft. Before signing, the group checks whether its income would be qualifying income for the 0% rate.

Setting up from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia or abroad

The DDA application is online, so most of the work can start before you travel. Any power of attorney and, for corporate shareholders, the incorporation resolution must be notarised and attested by the UAE Embassy in the country where they are signed, which is usually the slowest step. TECOM’s GoFreelance page notes that applicants abroad fly into Dubai after receiving the visa entry permit to complete the process; the same applies to company founders, because the medical test and Emirates ID biometrics are done in the UAE. The UAE works Monday to Friday and is on UTC+4 with no daylight saving.

Questions people ask