Built to outlast the noise.
An independent reference for UAE & GCC free zone decisions — not a brokerage, not affiliated with any zone, no sponsored rankings. Six-dimension scoring, no zone pays to appear at the top.
01Why this exists
Choosing a UAE or GCC free zone is one of the highest-friction decisions a founder makes. Dozens of options. Pricing tables in three different formats. Banking difficulty rumours. Visa caps buried in PDF appendices. Most directories rank by who paid most for placement.
Formation agents charge AED 3,000–8,000 on top of zone fees — and have a financial interest in steering you toward zones with the highest commissions.
Zone authority websites only show their own offering. They are not going to tell you that a neighbouring zone is cheaper or easier to bank with.
Most blog content is either outdated or affiliate-driven — written to rank in search, not to help you decide.
Zone Compare ranks every zone by your situation, using a published rubric. We take no money from zones for higher rankings, and earn no affiliate commissions.
02Founder
Head of Strategy, ECZA · Saudi Arabia's national SEZ programme
Zone Compare is built and maintained by Yaschin Mohabir — a strategy executive with 15 years inside sovereign free-zone platforms, international consulting, and institutional investment across the GCC and Africa. He has evaluated zone competitiveness from both sides: as a consultant advising governments on how to attract FDI, and as an operator building the commercial engine of a USD 150m free-zone platform from the ground up.
He currently leads strategy for Saudi Arabia's national SEZ programme at ECZA, reporting to the Secretary General and Board. Prior to that he served as Chief of Staff and Head of Special Projects at Qatar Free Zones Authority, and before that as a Senior Engagement Manager at McKinsey and Principal at BCG, advising sovereign funds, free-zone authorities, and government ministries across the Gulf and Africa.
Zone Compare applies the same analytical rigour — multi-dimensional scoring, verified fee data cited to official zone schedules, transparent knockout rules — to a question most founders answer with whatever their formation agent tells them. The methodology page lays out every scoring dimension and data source in full.
Academic work at Oxford (MSc, Sustainable Urban Development — research focus: SEZ spatial integration and urban economics) and LBS (MBA, Distinction) informs the framework. Methodology validated with SEZ authorities and academic experts at Oxford and Harvard.
03How the data works
Data is sourced from official zone authority fee schedules, published Memorandum of Association documents, and direct zone verification. We do not rely on third-party aggregators.
Every zone is scored across activity fit, cost, banking difficulty, visa capacity, office options, and location. The model is deterministic — the same inputs always produce the same output.
Data is updated when zones publish official fee changes. Last verified June 2026.
For the full scoring methodology, see the methodology page.
04Principles
- 01Transparency over completeness
Where a number is unverifiable, we mark it. Where a fact is contested, we say so. We never paper over uncertainty with a confident-sounding average.
- 02Independence over reach
We don't accept payment for higher rankings. We don't take fees from zones to feature in 'top picks' lists. And we earn no affiliate commissions.
- 03Specificity over generality
Generic 'best free zones' lists are worse than useless. Your situation is specific — solo, lean, virtual; or growing, regulated, prestige. The ranking should reflect that.
- 04Plain language over jargon
Free zones, mainland licences, VAT designation, QFZP eligibility, economic substance — every term is defined where it appears. No assumed knowledge.
05Independence policy
Zone Compare does not accept payment from any free zone authority for improved rankings or placement.
Zone Compare earns no affiliate commissions and runs no sponsored placements — our revenue never depends on which zone you choose.
Our scoring engine is deterministic and based on your inputs — not on commercial relationships.
Spotted incorrect data? Want a zone added? Want to talk methodology? home@zonecompare.com — we respond to data correction requests within 48 hours.