Last month a café owner in JLT asked me the same question I get every week: how much does a website actually cost in Dubai right now? She had three quotes on her phone. One was AED 800 with no contract. One was AED 18,000 with a 12-page proposal. One was a DIY builder screenshot.
None of them lined up, because they were pricing different things. Here is how I break it for clients in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, using our fixed packages and fees you can click through yourself.
Split the bill into five parts
When someone says “website cost,” they usually mix:
- Design and build (one-time project fee)
- Domain (yearly)
- Hosting or platform (monthly or yearly)
- Features (booking, payments, Arabic pages, product catalogue)
- Upkeep (copy tweaks, renewals, small fixes)
If a quote only gives one big number, ask which of those five are inside it. That single question saves a lot of confusion.
What we charge at Sites by Mahnoor
These are the current build prices on our pricing page:
| Package | AED | Typical fit |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | 999 | One clear offer, proof, WhatsApp button |
| Portfolio | 1,499 | Freelancers, creators, personal brands |
| Business | 2,499 | Multi-page brochure site for a local company |
| Online Store | from 1,800 | Shopify setup |
| Custom | from 5,000 | Odd scopes, heavier integrations |
You pick the package before work starts. Domain and Shopify (or similar) stay on your accounts. I will not hold your .ae login hostage.
Same list whether you are after web design in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Sharjah.
Infographic: what each Sites by Mahnoor package is for
How that compares to DIY builders and bigger quotes
DIY tools are not “free” once you want your own domain and no platform badge. Public list prices (annual billing, USD):
- Wix Light from USD 17/month, Core USD 29/month, Business USD 39/month on Wix Plans
- Squarespace Basic USD 19/month, Core USD 29/month on annual billing on Squarespace Pricing
- Shopify Basic about USD 24/month on annual billing on Shopify UAE pricing
Those are platform subscriptions. You still spend your evenings building the site (or you hire someone on top).
For one-off design quotes from freelancers and agencies in the UAE, our estimate based on quotes we see is roughly AED 3,000 to 25,000+ for a marketing site, and higher when branding, Arabic/English and custom systems land in the same brief. That band is not a published index. It is what shows up in WhatsApp threads and RFPs we are asked to match.
Chart 1: First-year cash to get online
DIY bars are yearly platform fees converted to AED at 1 USD = 3.6725 AED (Central Bank of the UAE USD rate). Our bars are one-time build prices in AED. Dashed bar is our estimate.
Domain: small line item, easy to forget
A domain is cheap next to design. You still renew it every year.
The UAE registry (.aeDA under TDRA) lists a wholesale fee of AED 100 per year for a standard .ae in its Registry-Registrar Agreement fee schedule. Registrars add their margin. Tasjeel has publicly listed about AED 129 for the first year and AED 145 to renew (ex VAT). Other hosts differ. Check the cart.
A .com is often cheaper and fine if you sell outside the UAE. A .ae helps when local customers glance at the address bar.
Register it yourself (I can walk you through DNS). Turn on auto-renew. Keep the login.
Yearly costs after launch
This is the part Instagram ads skip.
Chart 2: Example yearly run costs (published fees)
All bars in AED. Platform fees converted at 1 USD = 3.6725 AED (Central Bank of the UAE). Scale max AED 1,100 for these rows.
For a Shopify store, add card processing (Shopify lists rates on the same pricing page) and any paid apps. Brochure sites on light hosting usually cost less per year than a full commerce plan.
Why mobile layout is not optional in the UAE
Most people here browse on phones. DataReportal’s Digital 2026 UAE report puts internet users at 11.3 million (about 99% penetration) and cellular connections at 23.0 million (connections, not unique people). Statcounter shows mobile at 60.04% of web page views in the UAE in September 2026, with desktop at 38.91% and tablet at 1.05%.
If your menu is unreadable on a phone in Business Bay traffic, you are paying for a site half your visitors cannot use comfortably.
What pushes a project into a higher package
Closer to Starter or Portfolio when:
- One main action (usually WhatsApp)
- Photos and rough copy ready
- English first
- No custom booking engine
Closer to Business or Custom when:
- Many services or location pages
- Arabic and English with proper right-to-left layout
- CRM, property feeds, membership
- Full brand system plus the site
Industry shape matters. A restaurant needs menus and maps. A clinic needs services and trust. A Shopify brand needs product UX. More examples sit under industries.
A simple path from call to launch
Infographic: typical fixed-package flow
Putting a number on your site
For a simple Dubai marketing site, many owners land near AED 999 to 2,499 for the build, plus about AED 100 to 145 a year for a .ae, plus hosting. Stores add a Shopify plan from the UAE pricing page on top of an Online Store build from AED 1,800.
There is no honest single “average website cost in Dubai.” Add the buckets you need.
Want a straight number for your case? WhatsApp +971 56 451 8534 with your business type and must-haves, or skim pricing and tell me which package looks closest.