UAE e-commerce licence: free zone or mainland?

Three routes

E-Trader, free zone, or mainland

All three are real e-commerce licences. They differ on ownership, on cost, and — most importantly — on whether you can sell straight to a shopper standing in Dubai.

E-Trader

A UAE or GCC national selling through their own social media and website, with no shopfront or staff visas.

From ~AED 1,400per year, published DET fee

Cheapest way to trade legally
Issued by Dubai’s DET
UAE / GCC nationals only
No staff visas, no office
Not a company — you trade personally

Free zone

Foreign founders who want full ownership and a straightforward, packaged setup with visas.

From ~AED 5,750per year, SHAMS; IFZA and Meydan from ~AED 12,500

100% foreign ownership
Visa packages available
Fast, well-trodden setup
Cannot sell directly to mainland consumers
Needs a distributor or an agent to reach them

SELLS TO EVERYONE

Mainland

Anyone whose customers are ordinary shoppers across the seven emirates — which is most online retail.

From ~AED 12,000first year, DET commercial licence and fees

Sell directly to consumers anywhere in the UAE
100% foreign ownership on most activities
Government and corporate contracts
Physical presence allowed
Needs a TDRA no-objection certificate

Figures are the published starting fees at the time of writing and are there to show the shape of the decision, not to quote you. Setup agents bundle things differently, and the realistic first-year total usually lands well above the headline licence fee once visas, an address and insurance are added. Confirm with the issuing authority or a licensed setup consultant.

The catch worth knowing first

A free zone licence does not let you sell to mainland shoppers

This is the single most expensive misunderstanding in UAE e-commerce. A free zone company can trade with other free zone companies, with mainland businesses, and with customers outside the UAE. Selling directly to a consumer in Dubai or Sharjah is a different thing, and it generally requires a mainland licence — or a mainland distributor or commercial agent standing between you and the customer.

Founders regularly discover this after the licence is paid for and the storefront is built, usually when a payment provider asks what their licence permits. If your customers are ordinary UAE shoppers, that answer needs to be right before anything else is bought.

Side by side

The comparison that matters

	E-Trader	Free zone	Mainland
Sell directly to UAE consumers	Yes	Not directly	Yes
Open to foreign founders	No — UAE/GCC nationals	Yes, 100%	Yes, most activities
Staff visas	No	Yes, in packages	Yes
Office or address required	No	Flexi-desk usually included	Yes — Ejari tenancy
Typical published start cost	~AED 1,400/yr	~AED 5,750–12,900/yr	~AED 12,000+ first year
Issuing authority	DET (Dubai)	The free zone — IFZA, Meydan, SHAMS and others	DET or the emirate’s economic department
Extra approval for e-commerce	Included	Per free zone rules	TDRA no-objection certificate
Works with UAE payment gateways	Yes	Yes	Yes
Can register for VAT and issue TRN invoices	Yes	Yes	Yes

The order to do things in

From licence to first order

These steps really are sequential — each one is asked for by the next, so doing them out of order means waiting twice.

1

Decide who your customer is

Selling to UAE shoppers points at mainland. Selling wholesale, B2B or abroad opens up the free zones. Everything after this follows from the answer.

2

Reserve the trade name and get initial approval

The name has to clear the authority’s rules before anything else moves. This is quick and it is where most rejections happen.

3

Get the licence issued

Mainland e-commerce also needs a no-objection certificate from the TDRA. Free zones handle their own equivalent internally.

4

Open the corporate bank account

The licence is the document the bank starts from. Expect this to take longer than the licence itself, and start it the day the licence lands.

5

Apply for your payment gateway

Stripe, Tabby, Tamara and the local acquirers all ask for the licence, the bank account and a working website with your terms, returns and delivery policies published.

6

Register for VAT when you cross the threshold

Mandatory above AED 375,000 of taxable supplies in a rolling twelve months, voluntary from AED 187,500. How VAT works on the store →

Step five is the one that catches people. Gateways will not approve a site that has no published terms, refund policy or delivery information — so the store has to exist before the payments do. Every FlexiCommerce store ships with those pages in place from day one, which is usually enough to get through the review.

Common questions

Licence questions UAE sellers ask

Can I build the store before the licence comes through?

Yes, and it is the sensible order. Build the catalogue, the policies and the delivery zones during your trial while the paperwork moves in parallel. The only thing you cannot do without a licence is connect a live payment gateway and take real money.

Which free zone is cheapest for e-commerce?

SHAMS in Sharjah publishes the lowest headline figure of the well-known zones, with IFZA and Meydan higher but bundling more. Cheapest is the wrong question if your customers are UAE consumers, though — no free zone licence lets you sell to them directly, at any price.

Do I need a physical office?

A mainland licence needs a real tenancy registered through Ejari. Free zones normally include a flexi-desk in the package, which satisfies the address requirement without you renting a room.

Can I sell across all seven emirates on one licence?

A mainland licence issued in one emirate lets you sell to customers across the UAE. Where it gets more involved is holding stock or opening a physical branch in another emirate, which can need its own registration.

Does FlexiCommerce help with the licence?

No, and anyone promising otherwise is selling you something else. We are the software. What we do is make sure the store meets the requirements a gateway checks — published policies, VAT-correct pricing, working delivery zones — so that side is not what holds up your approval.

What if I already have a licence in another activity?

E-commerce usually has to be listed as an activity on the licence itself. Adding an activity is normally an amendment rather than a new licence, and it is far cheaper than starting again.

This is a plain-language summary of publicly published rules, written to help you ask better questions. It is not legal advice and fees and requirements change. Confirm your own position with the issuing authority or a licensed company-formation consultant before committing money.

Build the store while the paperwork moves

Catalogue, policies, delivery zones and VAT settings can all be ready before your licence arrives — so the day it does, you are switching on payments rather than starting a project.

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No card needed · Policies published from day one · 0% of your sales

Which UAE licence actually lets you sell online?