How much does software development cost in the UAE?
These are real ranges from projects we have delivered, quoted in dirhams. They are indicative and confirmed after scoping, but they are honest enough to tell you in a minute whether we are in your bracket. Every agency ranking for this search asks you to fill in a form to find out.
| Scope | Indicative budget | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| First useful slice (one process) | AED 20,000 to AED 95,000 | One complete process replaced and running in production: a quoting configurator, a single price list, an order flow. |
| Complete business application | AED 95,000 to AED 250,000 | Several processes, roles and permissions, migration of your existing data, and integrations with your ERP or accounting system. |
| Multi-department programme | AED 250,000 and up | A scope spanning several departments, delivered in successive batches against agreed milestones. |
| Day rate | AED 3,200 per day | For work beyond the agreed scope, or ongoing changes once the application is live. |
What moves the price
- The number of real business rules, not the number of screens. Thirty simple screens cost less than one pricing screen with fifteen special cases.
- Integrations. A documented API connects quickly; an older ERP with no API is paid for in days of exploration, and it is the line most often underestimated in quotes.
- Migrating existing data. Years of spreadsheets almost always hold duplicates, mixed formats and unwritten exceptions, each needing a decision.
- Whether the work needs Arabic alongside English, which affects the interface, the data and the documents you generate.
One thing worth knowing if you are comparing quotes: our engineering sits in Bordeaux, France, which usually puts the same scope below Dubai agency rates without the work being quietly subcontracted to a team you never speak to. Ask any supplier who is actually writing the code.
How do you choose a software development company in Dubai?
We are not going to hand you a ranked list with ourselves at the top. Two of the pages competing for this exact search both describe themselves as the number one software development company in Dubai, and they cannot both be right. Here is what actually separates a supplier worth signing from one worth avoiding, in a market where anyone can rent an office and a title.
Ask who is actually writing the code
Dubai has a large layer of agencies that sell locally and deliver through an offshore team. That can work perfectly well, and you should still know before you sign: which country, which timezone, and whether the people in your kickoff meeting are the people building it.
Ask who owns the code, in writing
The contract should assign you the rights to the code, with the repository and hosting in your name. If a supplier is vague here you are renting your own production tool, and no other supplier can legally take it over later.
Ask what exists after four weeks
A good answer describes something running in production on a narrow scope. A weak answer describes documents and phases. Six months of specification before anything ships is how projects fail slowly and expensively.
Ask the price of the first slice, not the whole programme
Anyone can quote a big number against a vague scope. Ask what the smallest genuinely useful version costs and how long it takes. If nobody will answer that, the estimate behind the big number is not real either.
By these criteria we suit some UAE projects and not others. If you need a large team on the ground, daily in-person presence, or a long list of UAE enterprise references, an established Dubai firm will serve you better and we will say so on the call rather than after the contract.
What we build for UAE companies
The work is almost always the same shape: a process running on spreadsheets and goodwill that needs to run on software instead.
Replacing the spreadsheet that runs the business
Pricing, quoting, stock or invoicing living in a shared file that one person understands. We turn it into an application with real permissions, an audit trail and backups, keeping the business rules that are genuinely correct.
Custom tools on top of an existing ERP
When the ERP covers most of the need and the rest happens in exports and manual rework, the answer is usually a business layer on top rather than replacing the ERP.
Order capture over WhatsApp and voice
In markets where customers order by message rather than through a portal, we have built voice and WhatsApp order capture that writes straight into the back office. This is real delivered work rather than a slide, though the client is under NDA so we cannot name them here.
Taking over software nobody maintains
An application built by a developer who has moved on, or generated by an AI tool and pushed into production. We audit it, stabilise it and take over development.
Abu Dhabi and the other emirates
We work across the Emirates, not only Dubai. Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the northern emirates are all in scope, and the mix of work is much the same: replacing spreadsheets, building on top of an existing ERP, and taking over software that nobody maintains any more.
Because the work is remote-first with time on site where it earns its keep, being in Abu Dhabi rather than Dubai changes very little in practice. It is the same team, the same rates and the same delivery approach.
Who you work with, and in which timezone
Albina Lanina is our contact in the UAE and is based in Dubai. The engineering team is in Bordeaux, France, which is two to three hours behind Dubai depending on the season.
That is the part worth pausing on: a two-hour gap means a genuinely shared working day rather than a handover. You are not waiting overnight for an answer, and there is no window where the people building your software are asleep while you are at your desk. Compared with a supplier delivering from a timezone eight or ten hours away, that difference shows up every single day.
Contracts, invoicing in dirhams and data hosting can all be arranged to suit a UAE client, including keeping your data in a UAE or Gulf region. Ask on the call and we will be specific about your case rather than vague about it.
To be straightforward about it: we do not have a Dubai office, and we are not going to describe a contact as one. We have a person here and an engineering team two hours away. If a local office with staff on site is a requirement for you, that is a fair reason to choose someone else.
When we're not the right fit
Cheaper to say now than to discover in month three.
- Off-the-shelf software covers your need. If a product does the job, buy the product. We will name it on the call if we know it.
- You need a brochure website or an e-commerce store. That is a different trade, and a Dubai web agency will do it better and cheaper.
- The tool serves one person and nothing breaks when it fails. A no-code tool is usually the proportionate answer.
- You need a large team on the ground in the UAE from day one, or daily on-site presence.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have an office in Dubai?
No. Albina Lanina is our contact in the UAE and is based in Dubai, and the engineering team is in Bordeaux, France. We are deliberately not calling that an office. If in-person presence is a requirement for your project, an established local firm is the better choice and we will tell you so.
Can you invoice in dirhams?
Yes. Invoicing and contracting can be arranged to suit a UAE client. Tell us your requirements on the call and we will confirm what is straightforward and what is not, rather than promising first and checking afterwards.
Can our data stay in the UAE?
Yes. We can host in a UAE or Gulf region so your data does not leave the jurisdiction, which matters for some regulated clients and for some internal policies. It is a hosting configuration rather than a special arrangement, so ask at scoping and we will confirm it for your case.
Who owns the code you write?
You do. The contract assigns you the rights to the code produced, with the Git repository and hosting in your name. It is the single most important thing to check with any supplier, because without it no other developer can legally take the project over.
How long does a project take?
We aim for a first version in production on a narrow scope within weeks rather than months, then additions in increments. What stretches a timeline is rarely the development: it is decision time on your side, access to your existing systems, and the availability of the people who understand the process. We cost that explicitly at scoping instead of pretending it is free.
Do you work with companies in Abu Dhabi and the other emirates?
Yes. Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the northern emirates are all in scope, on the same rates and the same delivery approach. The work is remote-first with time on site where it genuinely helps, so which emirate you are in changes very little in practice.
Can you build on top of our existing ERP?
That is often the better answer than replacing it. If the ERP covers most of the need and the gap is being filled by exports and manual rework, a business layer on top costs a fraction of a migration and carries far less risk. We will say which of the two your situation calls for after looking at it.
What if we already have an application that needs fixing?
That is a large part of what we do. The entry point is a code audit reporting what is sound, what needs work and what that represents in days, before anyone commits to a rebuild. The usual answer is to stabilise what exists rather than start again, because a full rewrite throws away work you have already paid for.
Got a process that has outgrown its spreadsheet?
Tell us what the process is and which systems are already in place. We will tell you honestly whether off-the-shelf software would do the job, and if not, what the project involves and what it costs.
