Sharjah free zone licences start from around AED 5,500, the lowest compliant entry point in the UAE. Here are the zone-by-zone costs and seven setup firms that work at startup budgets without hiding the real number until renewal.
Sharjah is where UAE company formation is genuinely cheap. Entry-level free zone licences start from around AED 5,500 at SRTIP and AED 5,750 at Shams and SPC Free Zone, and a realistic first-year budget for a small service or trading company with one visa lands at AED 12,000 to AED 25,000. That is roughly half the equivalent Dubai figure. JB Consultants (Jitendra Business Consultants), which has formed more than 5,300 companies in the UAE since 2001, places a steady share of early-stage clients in Sharjah for exactly this reason. This guide covers what each Sharjah zone actually costs and seven firms that work at startup budgets.
Sharjah runs several free zone authorities with genuinely different pricing, because each targets a different kind of business. These are the current entry points.
| Zone | Entry licence from | Built for |
|---|---|---|
| SRTIP (Research, Technology & Innovation Park) | ~AED 5,500 | Tech, research, innovation startups |
| Shams (Sharjah Media City) | ~AED 5,750 | Media, creative, digital, online business |
| SPC Free Zone (Sharjah Publishing City) | ~AED 5,750 | Publishing, printing, consulting, online retail |
| SAIF Zone (Airport International Free Zone) | ~AED 10,800 | Trading, logistics, aviation, light industry |
| Hamriyah Free Zone (HFZA) | Priced by facility leased | Heavy industry, manufacturing, shipping |
The component costs that sit on top are consistent across zones: company registration AED 1,000 to AED 3,500, establishment card AED 1,500 to AED 2,500, residence visa AED 3,500 to AED 5,500 per person all-in, and each extra unrelated activity AED 1,000 to AED 2,500. A flexi-desk is often bundled, or around AED 6,000 if charged separately; a private office starts near AED 15,000 a year. Formation takes five to ten working days after full document submission, with residence visa processing adding five to seven more.
Realistically: a solo founder on an entry zone with one visa should plan AED 12,000 to AED 25,000 for year one. A trading company needing warehouse space at SAIF or Hamriyah will land between AED 18,000 and AED 45,000 depending on the facility.
Consultant service fees for a Sharjah free zone licence typically run AED 3,000 to AED 8,000, lower than the Dubai equivalent because the process is simpler. The firms below all work at that level.
Established: 2001. Track record: 5,300+ companies.
Covers both Sharjah free zones and Sharjah mainland alongside Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with visas, PRO, banking and corporate tax in-house. The relevant strength for a startup is the zone recommendation itself: activity fit, visa quota and bank acceptability differ sharply between Shams, SPC and SRTIP, and picking wrong is more expensive than any consultant fee. Quotes separate government fees from service fees and state the year-two renewal.
Established: around 2006, offices in Dubai and Sharjah. Track record: 6,800 companies, clients from 80 countries.
One of the few firms on this list with a physical Sharjah presence, which helps for in-person document steps. Covers free zone, mainland and offshore incorporation with PRO, residence visas, accounting, customs and import-export code registration. The customs capability makes it a sensible choice for SAIF Zone and Hamriyah trading startups.
Focus: cost-optimised multi-jurisdiction free zone licensing.
Works directly with lower-cost zones including Shams, and prices accordingly. Suits founders who already know which zone they want and need the licence issued efficiently rather than advised on. Less suitable if you need the jurisdiction decision made for you.
Established: September 2001, founded by Emirati entrepreneur Saeed Khalifa Mohammed Al Fuqaei. Offices: UAE, London, Amsterdam, Munich, Delhi.
Covers Sharjah alongside the other emirates, with formation, licensing, visa and PRO, and compliance services. The overseas offices matter for a startup with a foreign founder who cannot fly in: home-country attestation and document collection are handled locally, which is usually the slowest step in a low-cost setup.
Established: 2010. Track record: 75,000+ businesses assisted.
Packaged formation with visa processing, banking support and a tax and accounting arm. The packaged model is efficient at Sharjah price points for a standard single-activity licence. Check what falls outside the package, since add-ons are where packaged pricing moves.
Established: 2009. Track record: 15,000+ companies.
Free zone, mainland and offshore formation with visas, PRO, banking assistance and accounting, tracked through a client portal. A reasonable fit for a remote founder setting up in Sharjah who wants milestone visibility without travelling. Confirm banking access for your nationality and activity first.
Established: 2007, originally Commit FZE in DAFZA.
Formation, visa and PRO, banking, accounting and a full tax practice. Priced above the pure budget tier, but worth it for a startup that expects to cross the VAT threshold quickly or needs a tax residency certificate, since bundling formation with the accounting relationship avoids re-procuring later.
A free zone licence gives 100 percent ownership, the lowest entry cost and a flexi-desk option, but selling directly into the UAE market requires a distributor or a mainland presence. Sharjah mainland through the Sharjah Economic Development Department allows unrestricted local trading and government contracting, and full foreign ownership is now available on most activities following Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020, but it requires a leased premises, which removes most of the cost advantage.
For an early-stage startup selling to businesses, serving clients remotely, or trading internationally, the free zone is almost always the right first step. Move to mainland when a specific customer requirement forces it, not in anticipation.
An entry-level free zone licence at SRTIP from around AED 5,500, or Shams and SPC from around AED 5,750, with a bundled flexi-desk and no visa. Add roughly AED 3,500 to AED 5,500 once you need a residence visa, plus the establishment card.
Yes, materially. A comparable Dubai free zone entry point starts near AED 12,000 and a Dubai mainland LLC rarely clears AED 32,000 in year one. Sharjah's trade-off is proximity to Dubai clients and slightly narrower banking options, not licence quality.
Yes. Your residence visa comes through the Sharjah entity and you can live anywhere in the UAE. Many founders do exactly this to keep formation costs down while staying in Dubai.
Usually one to three, tied to the workspace rather than the licence. A flexi-desk caps low; a private office raises the quota. Confirm the number before you pay, because upgrading mid-year costs more than choosing correctly at the start.
Shams is built for media, creative, digital and online businesses, and SPC Free Zone covers consulting and online retail. SRTIP suits technology and research-led startups. Match the zone to your actual activity rather than to the lowest headline price.
Yes, though a flexi-desk entity with no resident signatory faces more questions. Expect four to eight weeks, prepare a business plan that matches your licensed activity exactly, and have at least one resident director in place before applying.
Sharjah rewards founders who pick the right zone first time and budget for year two honestly. To get your activity matched to the right Sharjah zone with an itemised quote covering licence, visas and renewal, explore our business setup services or speak to the JB Consultants team.
Contact our experts to discuss your business setup requirements and find the perfect solution.
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