Across the GCC, boutique-studio web design starts at about AED 1,500 for a one-page site, AED 4,000 for a brochure site and AED 9,000 for a bilingual business site; brand identity starts around AED 4,000; paid-ads management from AED 1,500 a month plus spend; content and social from AED 3,000 a month; custom ERP or CRM from AED 15,000 per module; and a full-service marketing retainer from AED 8,000 a month. Those are typical mid-market ranges in the Gulf, quoted in AED and paid by bank transfer from any GCC country.
The market is wide because it runs in three tiers, and the same brief can come back at three very different numbers. This post explains the tiers, gives starting points for each of our six services, and covers what moves a price, how payment works across borders, and why a fixed written scope beats an hourly rate.
Why does the GCC market price in three tiers?
From Riyadh to Muscat, suppliers sort into three groups:
- Budget tier. Freelancers and template shops. A website for AED 1,500, a logo for AED 500. Fast and cheap, but you are the project manager, the scope is loose, and when the person moves on, so does your access.
- Mid-market. Small studios and outsourced departments. Fixed written scope, a named team, two or three week delivery, and prices in the ranges below. This is where serious SMEs buy, and it is where we sit.
- Enterprise and agency networks. International network agencies and large local firms. Strong for brand campaigns with six-figure media budgets. Fees typically start at AED 50,000 a project or AED 25,000 a month, because you are paying for account layers an SME does not need.
Most GCC businesses with 5–100 staff belong in the middle: below it you risk an unfinished or unowned asset, above it you pay for overhead.
Where web design pricing starts
Our web design ladder is published on the pricing page and applies across the GCC. It deliberately starts at a freelance rate and climbs from there:
- One-pager / landing page: AED 1,500–4,000. One page, one goal — a launch, a campaign, a clinic or a trade. Freelance price, studio finish.
- Brochure site (3–6 pages): AED 4,000–9,000.
- Bilingual business site (6–15 pages): AED 9,000–25,000. Arabic and English, forms, blog, on-page SEO. The tier most SMEs need.
- E-commerce: AED 15,000–45,000, driven by product count, payment gateway and shipping rules.
- Portals and web apps: AED 30,000–150,000+, where the site has user accounts, dashboards or integrations.
Arabic adds 25–40% to a build because right-to-left layout and Arabic SEO are design work, not pasted translation. For the full breakdown of what sits inside a quote, read how much a website costs in Dubai.
Where brand identity pricing starts
Typical GCC mid-market range for brand strategy and identity: AED 4,000–25,000 per project.
- The bottom of the range is a logo refresh: cleaned-up mark, colour palette, type, basic files.
- The middle covers a new identity with logo system, stationery, social templates and a short guideline document.
- The top is positioning plus identity: audience research, messaging, naming support, a full visual system and guidelines a second supplier can follow.
Bilingual wordmarks (Arabic and Latin that sit together) take more design rounds and push the price up. Two revision rounds are standard; we quote each project in writing before kickoff.
Where paid ads and content management pricing starts
Both are monthly, and both are quoted as typical GCC mid-market ranges:
- Paid advertising management: AED 1,500–6,000 a month plus ad spend. Spend goes to Google or Meta from your own account. A sensible minimum is about AED 3,000 a month in spend. Managing two platforms, several markets or weekly creative refreshes moves the fee toward the top.
- Content and social management: AED 3,000–12,000 a month. The bottom covers one or two channels with designed posts and captions in one language. Shoot days, video editing, Arabic and English captions and four or more channels take it toward the top.
How these fit together as a share of revenue is covered in our marketing budget guide for SMEs.
Where custom software and full-service retainers start
- Custom ERP and CRM: AED 15,000–120,000, scoped per module. A single CRM module (contacts, pipeline, quotes) sits at the bottom. A multi-module ERP with invoicing, inventory, HR and integrations to accounting or e-commerce sits at the top. Optional support retainers cover hosting, backups and small changes after launch.
- Full-service marketing retainer: AED 8,000–25,000 a month. One team running website, ads, content, Google Business Profile, CRM, tracking and monthly reporting. The entry point suits a business that would otherwise hire one marketing coordinator; the top replaces a small in-house team.
What moves a price up or down?
Across all six services, the same levers apply:
- Up: a second language, more pages or modules, custom design over templates, integrations with other systems, shoot days, more than two revision rounds, and rush delivery. Our standard target is two weeks from kickoff; delivery within three days carries a fee stated on the quote.
- Down: finished copy and photos supplied by you, one decision-maker approving on time, a clear page or module list, and reusing existing brand assets.
Location inside the GCC does not change our price. A Saudi or Qatari client pays the same AED figure as a Dubai one, because the work is remote and the deliverable is identical.
How does cross-border payment work, and why fixed scope beats hourly?
Every quote is in AED and paid by bank transfer to a UAE account. For reference, 1 AED is roughly 1.02 SAR, 0.99 QAR, 0.10 BHD, 0.083 KWD or 0.105 OMR, so a AED 10,000 website is about SAR 10,200, QAR 9,900, BHD 1,000, KWD 830 or OMR 1,050. Projects are split 50% at kickoff and 50% at launch; retainers are invoiced monthly. UAE VAT at 5% applies where relevant and is confirmed on the quote. Our pricing page lists every starting point.
We do not bill by the hour. An hourly rate rewards the supplier for slowness and leaves you unable to budget. A fixed written scope names the pages, modules, deliverables and revision rounds, states the price and the delivery date, and puts the overrun risk on us. If the scope changes mid-project, the change is written down and priced before it is built. Send your brief through get a quote and you will have a written number within one working day.