- The licence is your biggest fixed cost. Free zone ecommerce licences start from AED 6,000 including a visa, and year one with one visa runs about AED 10,250–25,000.
- Shopify charges UAE stores $24 a month for Basic and $69 for Grow on annual billing, more than Saudi stores pay.
- Shopify Payments works in the UAE: 2.9% + AED 1 per card payment on Basic, with no extra Shopify fee.
- Our three year-one budgets come to about AED 16,168 (lean), AED 41,975 (standard) and AED 122,479 (premium), before stock.
- VAT registration only becomes mandatory above AED 375,000 in yearly sales.
Dubai is one of the easiest places in the world to launch a Shopify store. You can hold a licence within days, take cards through Shopify Payments and reach most UAE shoppers by the next morning.
So what does it cost? A lean year one comes to about AED 16,000, and most of that is the licence and visa.
A standard launch on a Dubai free zone and Shopify Grow runs about AED 42,000. Below you'll find every cost line, three budgets you can copy and a worked first-year total.
What you'll pay for
A Dubai Shopify store has five cost groups. Two of them, the licence and your first ads, make up most of year one.
- A licence and visa. A free zone or mainland licence with an ecommerce activity.
- Shopify. The plan, a theme and a handful of apps.
- Content. Product photos and, if you want it, help with the build.
- Payments and delivery. A fee on each card payment and a courier fee per parcel.
- Your first customers. An ad budget to test what sells.
Only the last two grow with your sales. Everything else you can plan to the dirham before launch.
Three budgets for year one
Here's what each tier costs before stock. The lean store runs on Shopify Basic from RAKEZ, the standard store on Grow from Meydan in Dubai, and the premium brand on Advanced with an agency build.
| Year one (AED) | Lean | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence + one visa | RAKEZ: 10,250 | Meydan: 20,750 | Free zone with desk: 25,000 |
| Shopify plan | Basic: 1,057 | Grow: 3,039 | Advanced: 13,168 |
| Theme | Free: 0 | RTL theme: 1,101 | RTL theme: 1,541 |
| Apps | 2 apps: 881 | 4 apps: 5,285 | 6 apps: 10,570 |
| Build help | DIY: 0 | DIY on a paid theme: 0 | Agency project: 36,700 |
| Product photos | DIY + background removal: 480 | 20-product package: 1,800 | 80-product package: 5,500 |
| First ads | 30-day Meta test: 3,500 | First month, 4 channels: 10,000 | First 3 months: 30,000 |
| Total | 16,168 | 41,975 | 122,479 |
Many apps are free to start, so your apps line can come in lower. The licence and ads are the two lines worth getting quotes for first.
Licence and visa: your biggest fixed cost
Free zone ecommerce licences start from about AED 6,000 including a visa. Year one with one visa usually lands between AED 10,250 and AED 25,000.
The visa is what moves the total. RAKEZ's AED 6,000 package comes to about AED 10,250 once the establishment card, medical and Emirates ID are added.
In Dubai itself, Meydan's licence starts at AED 12,500. With one visa, card and ID, year one is AED 20,750.
Free zone companies commonly deliver online orders to UAE consumers. Get your zone's written confirmation that your activity covers it before you sign.
Compare zones in our UAE free zones for ecommerce guide, or get quotes through the UAE company formation directory.
Shopify plans: UAE prices aren't Saudi prices
Shopify sets prices by region. UAE stores pay more than Saudi stores for the same plan.
| Plan (annual billing) | UAE | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $24 a month | $19 a month |
| Grow | $69 a month | $54 a month |
| Advanced | $299 a month | $299 a month |
Register the store under your UAE business so you're billed correctly.
Budget for a theme and apps too. Paid themes with Arabic right-to-left support cost $150–420 once, and apps are often free to start, then about $10–70 a month each.
The plan-by-plan breakdown is in Shopify pricing in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Payments: Shopify Payments is the UAE's big advantage
The UAE is the only Gulf country with Shopify Payments. With a UAE trade licence and an AED bank account, you take cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay inside Shopify's own checkout.
On Basic it costs 2.9% + AED 1 per payment, and Grow trims the rate by 0.1%. Shopify adds no third-party fee on top.
The fee only returns on Tabby and Tamara orders, because they install as separate apps. Shopify takes 2% of those on Basic and 1% on Grow, plus the provider's own contract fee.
Compare card costs on your own order mix:
Payment gateway fee comparator
Estimated monthly cost of gateways that publish their rates
Where is your business registered?
These gateways need a UAE trade licence and an AED bank account.
Average ticket: AED 250.00
Apple Pay is priced as the card inside it. Exception: Amazon Payment Services charges Apple Pay at its card rate, even for mada.
Store platform
Shopify plan
Shopify adds a 2.0% transaction fee to every order paid through a third-party gateway. Shopify Payments (UAE only) has no extra Shopify transaction fee.
Cheapest published option: Shopify Payments
effective rate: 3.68%
Estimated monthly cost
- Processing (% + fixed)
- Monthly fee
- Shopify transaction fee
- VAT on gateway fees (5%)
#1Shopify PaymentsCheapest
AED 1,838 · 3.68%
Rate depends on your Shopify plan. +1% on Amex and international cards. 2% conversion fee if you charge in other currencies (not included).
#2Telr UAE
AED 2,339 · 4.68%
Tier picked from your volume: Medium (AED 0/mo).
#3Ziina
AED 2,733 · 5.47%
+1.5% on international cards. First AED 1,000 free for new sign-ups (not included).
#4Stripe UAE
AED 2,838 · 5.68%
+1% on international cards. Another +1% if currency conversion applies (not included).
Quote-based gateways
These do not publish rates, so we can't rank them. Ask each for a written rate card split by method.
- Tap Payments — Native Shopify checkout app; mada, Apple Pay, Jaywan (UAE), KNET.
- Checkout.com — Enterprise acquirer, flat-rate or interchange++. mada for KSA entities only.
- Network International (N-Genius) — Largest MEA acquirer; sold through sales teams and banks.
- PayTabs (UAE gateway) — UAE gateway rates not published.
Shopify adds a 2.0% transaction fee to every order paid through a third-party gateway.
Estimates based on published fees as of October 2026; confirm with the provider. Excludes refunds, chargebacks, FX, payout and setup fees. Shopify plan subscriptions not included.
The full setup is in our Shopify UAE guide.
Photos, delivery and VAT
Product photos
Dubai studios publish their prices, with fixed packages from AED 1,800 for about 20 products. The lean route is shooting yourself and paying AED 8 a photo for background removal.
Compare studios in the UAE product photography directory.
Delivery
Next-day delivery across all seven emirates starts at about AED 17 per parcel. Our UAE couriers guide compares rates and COD payouts.
VAT
Registration is mandatory once yearly taxable sales pass AED 375,000, and optional from AED 187,500. The rate is 5%.
E-invoicing goes live for most businesses in July 2027. The UAE VAT guide explains each step.
Worked example: year one for an AED 20,000-a-month store
Meet Omar, who sells skincare from a Meydan flexi-desk on Shopify Grow. He's on the standard budget.
His average order is AED 200, so he ships 1,200 orders a year. Three in four shoppers pay by card through Shopify Payments, and the rest use Tabby or Tamara.
| Year one (AED, ex-VAT) | Cost |
|---|---|
| Standard budget from the table | 41,975 |
| Shopify Payments: 900 orders × AED 6.60 | 5,940 |
| Shopify fee on BNPL: 1% of AED 60,000 | 600 |
| Tabby and Tamara fees at 4% + AED 1: 300 orders × AED 9 | 2,700 |
| Delivery: 1,200 parcels × AED 17.31 at Jeebly | 20,772 |
| Total, year one | 71,987 |
His sales come to AED 240,000, so he stays below the mandatory VAT threshold. He can still register voluntarily to reclaim VAT on his costs.
Leave delivery out and Omar's year one costs AED 51,215, about a fifth of his sales. Most stores recover part of the delivery bill with a shipping fee or a free-shipping threshold.
Notes for sellers targeting Saudi Arabia
A Dubai store can serve Saudi shoppers with DDP (duties paid) parcels, which arrive in 2–5 days with no Saudi company. The courier pays import VAT at the border, so these parcels usually don't trigger Saudi VAT registration. Our UAE to Saudi expansion playbook shows when to add Riyadh stock.
Thinking of a separate Saudi store instead? See what an online store in Saudi Arabia costs for the Salla, Zid and Shopify budgets side by side.
Notes for non-resident founders
- Meydan sells a non-resident licence from AED 12,500, and most zero-visa packages are set up online.
- Banks move faster when the owner holds a UAE residence visa, so many founders take one visa anyway.
- Check the UAE ecommerce licence guide before you pick an activity.
More cost and margin guides are in our growth section.
Frequently asked questions
You can build and test the store, but you can't switch on Shopify Payments or most UAE gateways without one. UAE law also expects anyone selling online to UAE customers to hold a licence with an ecommerce activity. That's why the licence sits at the top of every budget.
Sources & further reading
- Shopify pricing (UAE) — Shopify
- Shopify Payments requirements in the UAE — Shopify Help Center
- E-commerce licence — RAKEZ
- Meydan Free Zone licences and visas — Meydan Free Zone
- Registration for VAT — UAE Federal Tax Authority
- E-commerce photography pricing — BlueSky Studio
- Ecommerce agencies in the UAE — Clutch
This guide is for general information only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and fees change — always confirm with the official source or a licensed advisor.
Maya is MiddleEastEcom's lead guide and editor. She researches GCC marketplaces, payments and regulations and turns them into practical playbooks for sellers.
Meet Maya
