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How Much Does Headless CMS Web Development Cost in Dubai 2025?
Discover the real cost of Headless CMS development in Dubai (2025). Compare freelancer, agency, and enterprise rates. See AED pricing for CMS licenses like Contentful, Sanity, Builder.io, and Storyblok.
Jaswinder Singh
If you’re planning to build or upgrade a website in Dubai in 2025, you’ve likely come across the term Headless CMS. It’s flexible, scalable, and perfect for businesses that want to deliver content across websites, apps, and digital channels. But how much does it cost?
This blog breaks down the full costs including development work, software (CMS) licenses, and hosting with realistic AED price ranges for small, medium, and enterprise projects in Dubai.
What is a Headless CMS?
A Headless CMS is a content system where the backend (content storage) is decoupled from the frontend (website, app, display).
Traditional CMS (like WordPress): content and design are tied together.
Headless CMS: content is managed once and delivered via APIs to any frontend whether that’s a Next.js website, mobile app, kiosk, or e-commerce store.
This architecture is popular in Dubai for multi-language business websites, e-commerce, and enterprise systems.
Cost Breakdown for Headless CMS Projects
There are three major cost areas you need to plan for:
Development Work – planning, CMS setup, frontend build, integrations, testing.
Software Licenses (CMS) – SaaS subscription or enterprise license fees.
Hosting & Infrastructure – cloud servers, CDN, backups, and monitoring.
CMS License Costs in 2025
Here’s a summary of popular headless CMS platforms used in Dubai, with latest pricing converted to AED (1 USD ≈ 3.67 AED).
| CMS Platform | Free / Entry Plan | Growth / Mid-Tier Plan | Enterprise Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanity | Free (AED 0) | AED 55 / seat / month (~AED 660 / year per user) | Custom quote — AED 100K+ / year for large enterprises |
| Contentful | Free (AED 0) | AED 1,100 / month (~AED 13,200 / year) | Custom — AED 200K+ / year depending on API calls & users |
| Storyblok | Free (AED 0) | AED 360–400 / month (~AED 4,300–4,800 / year) | AED 11,000+ / month (~AED 130K+ / year) |
| Builder | Free (AED 0) | AED 220–1,100 / month (~AED 2,600–13,200 / year) | Enterprise plans by quote (~AED 100K+ / year) |
| Strapi | Free (Community, self-hosted) | AED 55–370 / month (~AED 660–4,400 / year) | Custom enterprise pricing for support & compliance |
Key takeaway:
Small projects can run on free tiers or low monthly plans (AED 3K–15K / year).
Medium businesses typically spend AED 15K–50K / year on licenses.
Enterprise projects should budget AED 100K–200K+ / year for advanced features, quotas, and SLA support.
Development Work in Dubai
Development cost depends on whether you hire a freelancer, a local agency, or a large enterprise system integrator.
| Provider Type | Rate (Dubai, 2025) | Responsibilities | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | AED 75 – 600+ / hour | CMS setup, simple frontend, deployment, training | Small projects, MVPs |
| Agency | AED 20K – 200K (per project) | End-to-end delivery: design, CMS integration, QA, support | SMEs, mid-size businesses |
| Enterprise Firm | AED 150K – 2M+ (per program) | Complex integrations, compliance, 24/7 SLA, enterprise rollout | Large corporates, government |
Hosting & Infrastructure Costs
Most headless CMS solutions are SaaS-hosted (license covers hosting). But you’ll still need to budget for frontend hosting, CDN, backups, and scaling.
| Scale | Monthly Hosting Cost | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Small site | AED 100 – 800 | Basic cloud instance (e.g., Vercel, Netlify, DigitalOcean, AWS Lightsail) |
| Medium site | AED 800 – 4,000 | Managed cloud, staging + production, CDN, auto-scaling |
| Enterprise | AED 4,000 – 50,000+ | Multi-region deployment, high availability, DDoS protection, monitoring |
Final Word
In Dubai, Headless CMS web development costs in 2025 can range from as little as AED 10K for a starter site to over AED 2M for enterprise deployments.
Freelancers keep costs low but offer limited long-term support.
Agencies balance expertise and delivery for SMEs.
Enterprise firms are essential for complex, mission-critical projects.
The CMS license is a major recurring cost: expect AED 3K–50K / year for SMBs and AED 100K+ / year for enterprises.
By understanding these costs, you can create a realistic budget and choose the right vendor for your scale.
Hi, my name is Jaswinder, let's talk about your business needs.
I will do my best to find a reliable solution for you!
Need Expert Guidance?
If you’re exploring a Headless CMS project in Dubai and want clear advice on budgeting, tools, and implementation, RW Infotech can help.
With experience in headless commerce, CMS integration, and modern frontend frameworks (Next.js, React, mobile apps), our team delivers scalable and cost-effective solutions for businesses of all sizes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to the most common questions about Headless CMS costs, licenses, and development in Dubai
The cost of headless CMS development in Dubai starts from AED 10,000 for small projects and can go up to AED 2,000,000+ for large enterprise solutions, depending on complexity, license choice, and hosting.
For startups and SMEs, Sanity, Builder.io, and Storyblok are popular due to affordable pricing. For enterprise-scale projects, Contentful remains the most widely adopted choice.
Yes. Most businesses budget 5–15% of the initial project cost annually for maintenance, updates, and security monitoring.
Yes. Builder.io is cost-effective (AED 3,600 – 11,000/year for business plans), offers drag-and-drop visual editing, and is popular for marketing-driven sites and ad campaign landing pages.
Yes. Many Dubai businesses start with an open-source headless CMS (like Strapi or Directus) to save on license costs and later migrate to SaaS solutions (like Contentful or Builder.io) once scaling and advanced features are required.
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