The verdict in three sentences
Redesigning a bilingual Arabic-English B2B website for an industrial company falls between 22,000 and 66,000 AED excl. VAT in 2026 (about 6,000 to 18,000 USD) with an offshore-assisted team, while premium Dubai studios often quote two to three times more. Handling Arabic in RTL (right to left) adds 15 to 25% to the budget, because it affects layout, typography and every component. Plan 10 to 14 weeks and compliance with the UAE Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) as soon as the site collects personal data.
Why RTL Arabic costs more than a simple translation
A bilingual Arabic-English site is more than translated text. The whole interface must be mirrored: menus, arrows, carousels, forms, tables, directional icons. Numbers, phone numbers and product references stay left to right inside Arabic text, which requires specific testing.
| Technical point | English-only site | Bilingual Arabic-English site |
|---|---|---|
| Layout | LTR only | LTR + mirrored RTL (dir="rtl", CSS logical properties) |
| Typography | 1 Latin family | Latin + Arabic web font (IBM Plex Sans Arabic, Noto Kufi, Cairo) |
| Components to adapt | None | Menus, sliders, forms, icons, tables |
| Testing | 1 language | 2 languages x mobile and desktop |
| Translation | n/a | 0.35 to 0.55 AED per word, native review included |
| Development premium | Baseline | + 15 to 25% |
A good practice is to build the site from day one with CSS logical properties (margin-inline-start rather than margin-left). Adding Arabic later to an LTR site often costs 40% more than planning it at design stage.
2026 price grid
| Scope | Pages per language | 2026 price excl. VAT | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bilingual corporate site | 10 to 20 | 22,000 to 33,000 AED | 10 weeks |
| Industrial site + product catalog | 20 to 50 | 33,000 to 48,000 AED | 12 weeks |
| Industrial site + catalog + distributor portal | 50 to 120 | 48,000 to 66,000 AED | 14 weeks |
| Adding French or Urdu (3rd language) | n/a | + 4,500 to 9,000 AED | + 2 weeks |
| Arabic translation (20,000 words) | n/a | 7,000 to 11,000 AED | within schedule |
| Monthly maintenance | n/a | 550 to 1,500 AED | n/a |
Data protection compliance: what to plan
The UAE PDPL (Federal Decree-Law 45 of 2021) governs personal data processing on the mainland, while DIFC and ADGM have their own regimes. A site collecting contacts through forms, job applications or distributor data must inform users, obtain consent where required and secure cross-border transfers.
| Requirement | Deliverable | Indicative cost excl. VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Processing records and data mapping | Register of processing | 1,100 to 3,000 AED (support) |
| Legal notice and privacy policy | EN + AR pages | 750 to 1,800 AED |
| Cookie consent banner | Configured module | 550 to 1,500 AED |
| Notice on every form | Information text | Included |
| Cross-border data transfer | Safeguards if hosted outside the UAE | 1,100 to 2,200 AED |
Mini case study
Layla, marketing manager at a building materials manufacturer in Dubai (220 employees), is redesigning an English-only site from 2017. Distributors and government buyers ask for an Arabic version. Approved budget: 43,000 AED for 35 pages per language with catalog, 8,800 AED of translation and 2,200 AED of compliance support, so 54,000 AED excl. VAT (about 14,700 USD).
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The goal is 15 extra qualified quote requests a month thanks to the Arabic version and better search visibility. With a 10% close rate and an average margin of 9,000 AED per order, that is about 13,500 AED of margin a month: the investment is covered in 4 months if the target is met.
FAQ
Do we need two separate sites for Arabic and English?
No, a single site with language URLs (/en/ and /ar/) and hreflang tags is the recommended setup. It shares hosting and maintenance.
Is machine translation enough for Arabic?
For an industrial site, technical terminology requires native review. Budget 0.35 to 0.55 AED per word for reviewed professional translation.
Which Arabic fonts work well on the web?
IBM Plex Sans Arabic, Noto Kufi Arabic or Cairo are free and readable. Optimized loading adds under 60 KB per page.
Does Arabic improve search visibility in the UAE?
Yes, many B2B and government searches happen in Arabic. An Arabic version opens a keyword pool with little competition.
What is the risk without data protection compliance?
The PDPL allows administrative fines set by implementing regulations, and government buyers increasingly check privacy policies. Compliance support costs far less than the risk.
Let's scope your project. Send us your current site and language list: we will price the RTL redesign, translation and compliance with a 10 to 14 week schedule. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
