Ajman Free Zone Activity List 2026: Licence Types, Tiers and Fees

Most guides to the Ajman Free Zone activity list either reprint a handful of activity names or present a confident-looking fee table that no government source actually supports. Neither helps if you are trying to work out which activities you can hold, how many fit on one licence, and what that decision does to your cost.

Everything below is traced to an official Ajman source — the Ajman Free Zone Authority (AFZ) website, the Ajman Digital Government services portal, and the AFZ Services Manual — and where those sources are silent or contradict each other, we say so plainly instead of filling the gap with a number.

By UAE Freezone Finder Team | Updated August 2026

What is the Ajman Free Zone activity list?

The activity list is the master register of every commercial undertaking that Ajman Free Zone will license. If a business activity is not on the list, it cannot appear on your licence, and you cannot lawfully perform it from within the free zone. It is the single most consequential document in the setup process, and it is published openly.

The list runs to more than 3,500 approved activities

AFZ states that “over 3,500 business activities are offered by Ajman Free Zone.” That figure places Ajman among the broader UAE free zones by permitted scope — a deliberate positioning, because the zone competes on flexibility and price rather than on sector specialisation the way a media or financial free zone does.

You will occasionally see a higher figure of 4,000-plus quoted on third-party sites. AFZ’s own activity list page says 3,500-plus, and that is the number we use here.

Every activity carries an ISIC code and an AFZ activity number

This is the part that most summaries omit, and it is the part that matters when you are filling in an application. Each row of the published activity list carries five fields:

• Activity Number — an AFZ-specific identifier in the format AM-03942 or AM-04001.
• ISIC Code — the International Standard Industrial Classification reference, such as 4690018 or 3320003.
• License Type — which of the four licence categories the activity sits under.
• Activity Name — the exact wording that will be printed on your licence.
• Description — the operational detail defining what the activity does and does not permit.

Two practical consequences follow. First, quote the AFZ activity number rather than a plain-English description when you apply — the description you write is not what gets licensed; the listed activity name is. Second, the ISIC code is what banks, customs and corporate tax filings will key off later, so an activity chosen loosely at setup can create friction at bank onboarding months afterwards.

Which licence types does the Ajman Free Zone activity list cover?

Filtered by licence type, the published activity list resolves into four categories.

The official taxonomy differs depending on which government page you read

Here is a genuine inconsistency worth knowing about before you call an agent, because it explains why two reputable-sounding sources will describe Ajman’s licences differently.

The AFZ business licence types page presents three headline licences: a Business License, an Industrial License, and a Sole Professional License — the last aimed at freelancers, covering 40 categories AFZ describes as “the most cost-effective license in all the Emirates for Freelancers.”

The Ajman Digital Government portal, meanwhile, lists five categories: Commercial (in four tiers), E-commerce, Service, Industrial, and a National Industry License.

These are three views of the same licensing regime rather than three different regimes — marketing groupings, list filters, and the formal service catalogue. But if you are comparing quotes, make sure both parties are describing the same licence. The activity list filter and the government portal map most directly onto what actually gets issued.

How does the activity-count tier system work?

This is the single most important cost mechanic in Ajman, and it is frequently glossed over. In many free zones, you buy a licence type and receive an allowance of activities within it. In Ajman, the number of activities is itself a formal licence variant.

AFZ registers companies by activity count as a distinct service

The AFZ Services Manual — the zone’s official catalogue of registration and amendment services — lists company establishment not as one service but as a set of separate services distinguished by activity count:

• Establishment of Company/Corporation — Single Business Activity
• Establishment of Company/Corporation — Two Business Activities
• Establishment of Company/Corporation — Three Business Activities
• Establishment of Company/Corporation — General Trading
• Establishment of Company/Corporation — Industrial

Renewal mirrors the same split, with separate renewal services for single-activity, two-activity and three-activity companies, plus General Trading, Industrial, Service and E-commerce renewals.

The practical reading: adding a second or third activity at setup is not a minor add-on line. It moves you onto a different registration service and a different renewal service, every year, for the life of the company. Choosing three activities because they “might be useful later” is a recurring cost decision, not a one-off one.

General Trading replaces the activity count with a broad mandate

General Trading sits outside the 1/2/3 counting system. Rather than naming a limited set of activities, it permits trading across a wide range of goods, which is why it is the standard choice for import-export businesses that cannot predict their product mix. It is registered and renewed as its own service class.

If your product range is stable and narrow, a counted-activity commercial licence is normally the leaner option. If you expect to trade whatever your suppliers can source, General Trading avoids a stream of amendment applications later. For a fuller treatment of that trade-off across zones, see our guide to changing your free zone licence category.

What is the National Industry Licence and who qualifies?

The National Industry License is the one Ajman licence with hard, published eligibility criteria, and it carries a genuine commercial benefit that the other categories do not.

To qualify, a company must meet three conditions:

• It must be registered with GCC national countries, with GCC nationals holding the majority share of the partnership — 51% or more.
• At least 40% of the manufacturing process must take place within the free zone.
• The activity must be industrial in nature.

Companies meeting those criteria become eligible for exemption from customs duties on exports to the GCC states. For a manufacturer selling into Saudi Arabia, Oman or Kuwait, that exemption can outweigh every other line in the setup budget — the standard GCC common external tariff would otherwise apply at the border.

The catch is the 51% GCC ownership requirement, which is incompatible with the 100% foreign ownership that draws most investors to free zones in the first place. This licence is built for GCC-national-led manufacturing joint ventures, not for the typical expatriate-owned trading company.

What does Ajman Free Zone actually publish about fees?

Nothing. This deserves stating clearly, because it contradicts an enormous volume of confidently-presented online content.

The official services manual contains no dirham amounts at all

We extracted the full text of the AFZ Services Manual (Fifth Edition, 2021) and searched it for currency figures. The document contains zero occurrences of “AED” and zero occurrences of “Dirham.” It defines each service, lists the required documents and sets out the procedure — and where money is involved, it says only that “additional fees may apply.”

The AFZ licence types page and the entity types page likewise publish no prices. Both point instead to a Cost Calculator tool, which produces a quotation rather than displaying a published tariff.

So Ajman Free Zone operates a quote-based pricing model. There is no published schedule of charges of the kind that DMCC or ADGM issue.

Treat every AED figure you find online as an estimate

Search for Ajman licence costs and you will find figures spanning roughly AED 5,000 to AED 25,000, with confident-looking per-licence bands — trading at one range, service at another, e-commerce at a third. These originate from business setup consultancies quoting from their own recent deals. They are not authority tariffs, they are not guaranteed, and different consultancies quote materially different numbers for the same licence.

That does not make them useless as a planning range. It does mean you should never build a budget on a blog figure, and you should never assume a quoted price is a fixed government fee that cannot vary. Ask any agent to identify which AFZ service name their quote maps to — single activity, two activities, three, or General Trading — and whether the figure includes the establishment card, visa allocation and office or smart-desk component, which are the lines that most often move a quotation.

Which entity type should you register?

Licence type and activity count determine what you may do. Entity type determines who owns it. AFZ lists four:

Both FZC and foreign branches may conduct industrial/manufacture, commercial or services operations, so the entity choice does not restrict your activity choice.

On documents, AFZ requires passports valid for at least six months, photographs, and visa/UID copies for all types. Partnerships and branches additionally need a trade licence copy, MOA copy and board resolution copy. Branch structures are the route to consider if you already hold a UAE licence elsewhere — as opposed to incorporating fresh, which we cover in our guide to holding a second free zone licence in the UAE.

How do you add or change an activity after the licence is issued?

Activity selection is not permanent. The AFZ Services Manual defines a formal amendment service: “Update (Change – Removal – Addition) Activity in License,” with parallel versions for offshore companies and Ajman International Business Companies.

The manual sets out the procedure and required documents but, consistent with the rest of the document, states no fee — only that additional fees may apply. Because activity count drives the registration and renewal service class, adding a third activity to a two-activity licence will generally move the company onto the higher renewal service from that point forward. Budget for the recurring effect, not just the amendment.

The mechanics of an activity amendment are broadly comparable across UAE free zones; our step-by-step guide to adding an activity to a Dubai free zone licence walks through the document set and approval sequence in detail, most of which transfers directly to Ajman.

How should you choose activities from the list?

A short, practical sequence:

1. Search the published list by ISIC code, not by keyword alone. If you know your industry’s ISIC classification, it will land you on the correct activity faster than guessing at names.
2. Read the Description column, not just the Activity Name. The description defines the boundary of what is permitted, and two similarly-named activities can differ materially in scope.
3. Group activities under one licence type where possible. Mixing across licence types can force a second licence rather than an added activity.
4. Check bank compatibility early. Certain activities — general trading, crypto-adjacent, precious metals — attract heavier onboarding scrutiny regardless of zone.
5. Count honestly. Every additional activity carries forward into renewal, so pick what you will actually do in the first two years.

For the full picture on setup routes, facilities and visa allocation in this zone, see our main Ajman Free Zone setup guide. If you are weighing Ajman against the other low-cost northern options, our Fujairah Creative City licence types and activities list makes a useful comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many business activities are on the Ajman Free Zone activity list?

Ajman Free Zone states that more than 3,500 business activities are available. They are published in a searchable list with an AFZ activity number, ISIC code, licence type, activity name and description for each entry. Higher figures of 4,000-plus that appear on third-party sites are not supported by AFZ’s own published count.

How many activities can I put on one Ajman free zone licence?

Ajman structures commercial licences around the number of activities held, with distinct registration and renewal services for single-activity, two-activity and three-activity companies, plus a separate General Trading class. Beyond three activities, General Trading is normally the route rather than continuing to add counted activities. Because activity count determines the renewal service class, it affects your annual cost, not only your setup cost.

How much does an Ajman Free Zone licence cost in 2026?

Ajman Free Zone does not publish a fee schedule. Its official Services Manual contains no dirham amounts anywhere, and its website directs enquirers to a Cost Calculator that generates a quotation. Figures circulating online, typically between AED 5,000 and AED 25,000 depending on licence type and activity count, are consultancy estimates rather than published government tariffs, and should be treated as a planning range only.

What is the difference between a Commercial licence and General Trading in Ajman?

A commercial licence names a specific, counted set of activities — one, two or three — and permits only those. General Trading is registered as its own service class and permits trading across a broad range of goods without naming each one. Businesses with a narrow, stable product range usually find a counted commercial licence leaner; those with an unpredictable product mix avoid repeated amendment applications with General Trading.

Who qualifies for the Ajman National Industry Licence?

Three conditions must be met: the company must be registered with GCC national countries with GCC nationals holding 51% or more of the partnership, at least 40% of the manufacturing process must take place inside the free zone, and the activity must be industrial. Qualifying companies become eligible for exemption from customs duties on exports to GCC states. The 51% ownership requirement makes it unsuitable for wholly foreign-owned companies.

Can I change my activities after the licence is issued?

Yes. The AFZ Services Manual defines an official amendment service, “Update (Change – Removal – Addition) Activity in License,” with separate versions for offshore and Ajman International Business Companies. The manual states the procedure and documents required but publishes no fee. Note that increasing your activity count can move the company onto a higher renewal service class for subsequent years.

Do I need an ISIC code to apply?

You do not need to supply one yourself, but every activity on the published list carries one, and it is worth noting the code for the activities you select. The ISIC classification is what banks reference during onboarding and what flows into corporate tax and customs records, so an activity chosen loosely at setup can create friction later.

Sources note: licence categories, entity types, activity list structure and the National Industry Licence criteria are taken from the Ajman Free Zone Authority website (afz.gov.ae) and the Ajman Digital Government services portal (ajman.ae). Service names and the absence of published fees are taken from the AFZ Services Manual, Fifth Edition (2021), verified by full-text extraction. AED ranges attributed to consultancies are cited as third-party estimates and are not endorsed as accurate. Verify all figures directly with Ajman Free Zone before committing to a budget.

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