What is the difference between an LLC and a Freezone company in UAE?

There are various options available in UAE for the Investors and International companies looking out for establishing a business relation in this region. The Investor can opt for either Mainland License or Free Zone license.

Being a business owner in a mainland LLC and have a good amount of knowledge in free zone setup also because once I was also having the same question while setting up my own company, this doubt was solved by the famous business setup company of Mr. Abdulhusen in a detailed way, hence I am suitable to answer this question.

Now, the main difference between Mainland LLC and Freezone LLC is the ownership.

In Mainland LLC, For all the licenses available, you are required to have a local Emirati as your business partner either as local service agent for a professional license or a 51% shareholder partner in the commercial and industrial license. So you can’t start any business in mainland LLC without having a local sponsor within your company. Here the catch is that many people think that he will be the actual partner, but that is not the case. You will be the 100% owner of your company through the court agreement, while the local will act as a support for you for the work related to government in UAE or for any assistance you require for them regarding the visas and all other work.

Now in free zone license, you are the 100% owner of your business which means you don’t need any local sponsor to be there in your business.

And the other main advantage or difference of mainland license is that your geographical area of doing business on mainland license is unlimited i.e within the boundaries of UAE, that means you can also expand your operations or do trading in other parts of UAE and also you can do business in free zones also but that is not the case within the Freezone, your area of business activity is only limited to that particular free zone, if you want to do business in other areas you need to have a tie up or a requirement for appointing an agent.

Now, this is the main difference, now it's up to you and your business activity to decide which is better.

I think you still need more clarification for trusted and experienced professionals in this area and for that you can call Mr. Abdulhusen on +971544710034 or WhatsApp him and he will give you more detail understanding as he also helped me in my business setup.

Hope to be some help to you.