What does digital marketing cost in Dubai in 2026?

What are you paying for when you buy digital marketing?

Up to five different things, and many quotes blend them into one monthly number: a website, search and AI visibility, the running of ad campaigns, the ad spend itself, and automation such as WhatsApp follow-up. A retainer usually keeps some of them going after they're built. The table puts each one beside how we charge for it and what we charge, copied from our price list.

How much do other Dubai agencies charge?

Most don't say publicly, so an honest market average can't be given. A 2026 review of 21 Dubai dental-marketing agencies, published by one of them, found one that published a starting price. ^{Evidence 1 of 21 Dubai dental-marketing agencies publishes a price. A 2026 review of 21 Dubai dental-marketing agencies (updated 26 Sep 2026) found that 1 of 21 publishes a starting price and 4 of 21 name a client. It was published by one of the agencies on the list. We don't name other agencies on this site. A Dubai agency's published review · checked 2 Oct 2026 Close} What we could source is below, each labelled by how solid it is.

We couldn't find a sourced comparison of freelancer and agency rates in Dubai, so we don't quote one. Treat every range here, ours included, as the start of a written quote rather than a benchmark.

Is ad spend included in an agency's price?

Not with us, and you should ask every agency the same question in writing. Ad spend is what you pay Google, Meta or LinkedIn for clicks and impressions; the agency's fee pays for setting up and running the campaigns. We keep the ad accounts in your name and you pay the platforms directly, so the spend is never marked up or re-billed. Our fee isn't a share of the spend either: raising your budget doesn't raise it; only a change in the scope of work does. ^{Evidence · published Ad spend is separate. Advertising budgets are always paid by you, directly to the platform. Our fee is never a share of ad spend: it changes only if the scope of work changes, not when the budget does. Custom development is quoted on its own. Published price list · checked 1 Oct 2026 Open the evidence → Close}

• Is the fee a fixed amount, or a percentage of ad spend?
• Whose card pays the platform, and whose login owns the ad account?
• If we stop working together, what stays with us: the account, its history, the audiences?
• Are creative and landing pages in the fee, or quoted on top?

We don't publish a typical ad budget, because it depends on what a click costs in your sector and city. We set a starting budget with you once tracking is in, and say plainly if it's too small to learn from.

Should you pay for a project or a monthly retainer?

Pay a project fee for what gets built once, and a retainer only for work that has to continue. A website, tracking, a CRM and WhatsApp workflows are built once; content, campaigns and conversion work need someone every month. Our prices follow that shape: a fixed AED 15,000–30,000 (≈ USD 4,000–8,000) for the first 90 days, covering everything we set up, then an optional retainer from AED 5,000 a month (≈ USD 1,400). ^{Evidence · published After day 90: a retainer. Growth, Growth+ or Growth Partner, from AED 5,000 a month (≈ USD 1,400). Optional: the system you own keeps working without it. Published price list · checked 1 Oct 2026 Open the evidence → Close}

What moves a quote up or down within a range?

Scope: how many pages, workflows, platforms and integrations the work needs. Our free audit sets the number within each published range, and the proposal says what's in and what isn't.

• Websites: how many pages enquiries come through, and what has to connect to your CRM.
• Search and AI visibility: how many questions and pages need writing, and how much technical repair the site needs first.
• Campaigns: how many platforms, markets and services run at once.
• Automation: how many workflows, and whether your CRM or booking system connects without custom work. Connections it doesn't offer are quoted separately.
• Custom systems: one fixed-scope phase at a time, each priced before it starts.

One thing that shouldn't move a quote: a forecast of how many leads you'll get. Nobody can promise lead volumes, so a price built on one is built on a guess.

What will you pay that isn't the agency's fee?

Usually four things paid to someone other than the agency, plus VAT on the agency's fee. Ask for them in the quote, so the total you budget is the total you pay.

• Ad spend, paid by you to Google, Meta or LinkedIn.
• WhatsApp message charges. Since 1 July 2025, Meta charges per template message delivered; replies inside the 24-hour window after a customer writes to you aren't charged. Rates depend on the country and the message category. ^{Evidence · published How Meta charges for WhatsApp messages. Since 1 July 2025, Meta charges per template message delivered. A customer's message opens a 24-hour customer service window in which non-template replies aren't charged; outside it, only template messages can be sent. Rates depend on the recipient's country and the message category. Meta for Developers · checked 2 Oct 2026 Open the evidence → Close}
• Software you subscribe to, such as a CRM or booking tool, paid to the vendor.
• VAT on the agency's own invoice. UAE prices for businesses are usually quoted excluding VAT, with 5% added where it applies; ask which way a quote is written. Ours exclude it. ^{Evidence · published Prices exclude VAT. Our published prices exclude VAT. Where VAT applies, the UAE standard rate of 5% is added and shown on the invoice. Published price list · UAE VAT law (Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017) · checked 2 Oct 2026 Open the evidence → Close}
• Clinics only: health-advertisement licences. MOHAP licenses health advertising on social media and websites. The fees we found (AED 100 to apply, then AED 1,000 a month or AED 3,000 a year per account or website) come from a 2024 summary; we couldn't confirm them on MOHAP's site. ^{Evidence MOHAP's health-advertisement rules and fees, as summarised. The IBA's 2024 UAE healthcare survey summarises MOHAP's rules (banned expressions such as "pain free" and "safe", no numerical recovery or weight-loss claims) and fees: AED 100 to apply, then AED 1,000 a month or AED 3,000 a year per social-media account or website. MOHAP's own pages refused our fetcher, so the fees are unconfirmed. International Bar Association · checked 2 Oct 2026 Open the evidence → Close}

What should you ask before you sign?

1. What does each part cost on its own, and what's excluded?
2. Is ad spend in the number? Whose account pays it?
3. Is this a fixed fee or an estimate, and what changes it?
4. What's the term, and what do we keep if we leave?
5. Who will do the work, by name?
6. What will you report each month, and against what: clicks, or enquiries by source?
7. What won't you promise? (Good answers include rankings, AI mentions and lead volumes.)

Our own answers are on the pricing page and in how to choose an agency, including where we're still building.