Website design cost in Dubai and the UAE

Website design in Dubai is priced across a very wide range. The same brief can come back at a few thousand dirhams from one provider and several times that from another, and both can be honest, because they are quoting different amounts of work. My own website builds start at AED 3,700. This guide covers what sits behind a UAE website quote, including the parts that are specific to selling in the Emirates.

I am a freelance web developer working remotely with businesses in the UAE and the UK. Two of the sites in my portfolio are UAE businesses: Impex Media, a corporate gifts and printing company in Dubai, and Zahar Fragrance, a fragrance store. Both are live, so you can check everything below against a real site.

The short answer

A brochure website that explains your business and collects enquiries is the lowest tier. A product catalogue that takes quote requests costs more, and an online store with payments, accounts, and delivery rules costs more again. Arabic pages, integrations, and anything with a login add to each tier. After launch you pay for hosting, the domain, and any support you choose.

My published starting prices in dirhams:

Online stores are quoted once I have seen the catalogue and know which payment gateway you will use, since that choice decides how much checkout work there is.

What is different about a UAE website

Most of what drives a price is the same everywhere: how many kinds of page there are, who writes the content, and what happens when a visitor gets in touch. These are the parts that come up far more often on UAE projects.

English and Arabic

A bilingual site is not one site with a translation pasted in. Arabic reads right to left, so every layout is mirrored: navigation, icons that point a direction, forms, tables, and carousels. Each page also needs its Arabic content written or translated, checked, and kept in step with the English when either one changes. Zahar Fragrance, for example, serves English at /en and Arabic, right to left, at /ar.

The cheapest way to do it is to decide at the start. Adding Arabic to a finished English site usually means revisiting every template, which costs more than building both directions together.

WhatsApp as the main enquiry channel

Many UAE customers would rather send a WhatsApp message than fill in a form, so a WhatsApp button is close to standard. The useful version opens a chat with the product or service already named in the message, so the first reply can be a price instead of a question. Impex Media offers both a quote form and WhatsApp for custom orders, because some buyers want to send a full brief and others want a quick answer.

It is worth counting WhatsApp clicks as enquiries in your analytics. Otherwise the website looks like it brings in fewer leads than it does.

Quotes instead of a checkout

Plenty of UAE businesses sell to companies, and a company buying 300 branded power banks wants a quote, not a shopping cart. A catalogue with a page per product and a quote request on each one is often a better fit than an online store, and it costs less to build. Impex Media is built this way: sixteen customisable products, from gift sets and mugs to chargers and speakers, each on its own page, with a quote form and WhatsApp for custom orders.

An online store

When you do sell direct, the store carries the most work: collections, product pages, customer accounts, delivery and returns, and the payment gateway. Zahar Fragrance has collections, a page for every fragrance, accounts and a wishlist, and separate pages for gifting, shipping, returns, and order tracking. Each of those pages answers a question a customer would otherwise send by message.

VAT

The UAE charges VAT at 5%. Ask whether a quote includes it before comparing two numbers, and if you sell online, make sure the store handles VAT the way your accountant needs it.

Freelancer or agency

A Dubai agency gives you a team, a local office, and a company to contract with, and its price reflects that. A freelancer gives you one person who designs, builds, and answers your messages, usually for less. Working remotely is normal now: I share written updates and links to the working site as it is built, and we book a call when a decision is easier to make live.

Whoever you choose, the protection is the same. Make sure the domain, the hosting account, and the code are in your name at the end. With me you get the repository and written handover notes, so the site never depends on me to keep running.

Running costs after launch

• Domain.A .ae or .com domain renews every year. Register it in your company's name.
• Hosting. The sites I build usually run on Vercel or a similar host for a small monthly fee, with no server to maintain and no plugin subscriptions.
• Business email. Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, billed per person, separate from the website.
• Support. Optional. Mine starts at AED 2,900 a month for maintenance, content changes, and improvements.

Questions to ask before you sign

1. Is Arabic included, and who writes or checks the Arabic text?
2. Does the price include the 5% VAT?
3. Who owns the domain, the hosting account, and the code afterwards?
4. How do enquiries arrive: form, WhatsApp, phone, or all three, and are they tracked?
5. What search engine work is included? Titles, descriptions, a sitemap, and structured data belong in the build. Ongoing content and link building are separate.
6. If you already have a website, what happens to its old pages and the traffic they bring?
7. What does it cost each year to keep running?

How long it takes

A typical business website takes me three to six weeks. A bilingual site takes longer, mostly because of the content. What usually stretches a schedule is waiting for text, photos, or a decision, so having those ready is the simplest way to keep a launch date.

Getting a quote

Send your current website if you have one, a list of what the new site must do, whether you need Arabic, and your deadline through the contact form. I will reply with a range in dirhams and the questions I need answered to fix the price. I reply within one business day.

You can also see what a build includes on the website design and development page, or, if you sell products, on the online store page.