The verdict in three sentences
A trilingual Arabic, English and French website for an industrial or holding group in Dubai should be budgeted at AED 110,000 to 215,000 (about USD 30,000 to 58,500) in 2026. The most underestimated item is the Arabic version: RTL templates (right-to-left reading) and proper Arabic typography alone cost AED 16,000 to 31,000. Without a translation and approval workflow, the three versions drift apart within six months.
Why RTL is a project in its own right
Flipping text direction is not enough. In Arabic the whole layout mirrors: navigation, directional icons, carousels, financial tables, timelines, forms. Numbers still read left to right inside an Arabic sentence, which creates edge cases in results tables and press releases. Typography requires a professional screen-readable Arabic font (IBM Plex Sans Arabic, Noto Kufi Arabic or a commercial licence), with more generous line height than Latin text.
Clean development uses CSS logical properties (margin-inline-start instead of margin-left) from day one: this cuts the RTL premium by about 30 % compared with retrofitting.
| Item | Content | 2026 budget (AED) |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery, trilingual sitemap | Workshops, audience mapping, 25 to 40 templates | 12,000 to 21,000 |
| EN/FR design system | Web guidelines, components, mockups | 19,000 to 35,000 |
| RTL templates and Arabic typography | Mirrored layout, font, testing | 16,000 to 31,000 |
| Development and headless CMS | Multilingual management, roles, workflow | 31,000 to 62,000 |
| Investor and careers sections | Financial publications, job openings | 14,000 to 27,000 |
| International SEO and hreflang | Tags, per-language sitemaps, localized URLs | 6,000 to 12,000 |
| Trilingual QA, accessibility, launch | Tests in 3 languages and 4 browsers | 12,000 to 25,000 |
Translation, approval and hreflang
The editorial workflow must define who writes (usually in English in Dubai), who translates, who reviews legally and who publishes. In a headless CMS, each piece of content carries a status per language: draft, in translation, awaiting approval, published. An Arabic page goes live only after native review and sign-off by corporate communications.
| Item | 2026 order of magnitude | Note |
|---|---|---|
| EN to AR or FR translation | AED 0.30 to 0.55 per word | Higher for legal and financial |
| Typical initial volume | 40,000 to 70,000 words per language | AED 24,000 to 77,000 for two languages |
| Native Arabic proofreading | 15 to 25 % of translation cost | Essential on investor pages |
| Approval time per page | 2 to 5 working days | Legal and communications |
| Hreflang tags | en-AE, ar-AE, fr | Plus x-default to the English version |
| Monthly updates | 5,000 to 15,000 words | Press releases, job openings |
Initial translation is often on top of the site budget: make that explicit in the tender.
Realistic timeline
Allow 4 to 6 months: 4 to 6 weeks of discovery, 6 to 8 weeks of design, 8 to 10 weeks of development, then 3 to 4 weeks of QA and trilingual content entry. Translation starts as soon as the source templates are approved, in parallel with development. Ongoing maintenance then costs AED 2,300 to 5,800 per month depending on publishing volume.
Mini case study
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Omar, head of communications at a 2,200-employee industrial group in Dubai, is preparing a sukuk issuance and a plan to hire 300 people. He sets a budget of AED 165,000 for the site and AED 42,000 to translate 55,000 words into Arabic and French. The site centralizes applications: the group cuts paid job board listings by 35 %, saving about AED 35,000 a year. The investor area also replaces manual distribution of 4 quarterly reports to 150 contacts, about 60 hours of work a year.
FAQ
Should we start with Arabic or English?
Most Dubai groups write in English and then translate. Arabic must still be planned from the mockup stage, because retrofitting RTL at the end costs about 30 % more.
Is an automatic translation plugin enough?
Not for a corporate site: investor and legal pages require human translation at AED 0.30 to 0.55 per word. Machine translation can serve as a first draft, fully reviewed.
How do we stop Google mixing languages?
With hreflang tags en-AE, ar-AE and fr, distinct URLs per language (/en, /ar, /fr) and one sitemap per language. This setup costs AED 6,000 to 12,000.
Does the site need to comply with UAE data protection law?
Yes, application and contact forms process personal data under the UAE PDPL (Federal Decree-Law 45 of 2021): clear notices and explicit consent in all three languages.
Which CMS works for three languages?
A headless CMS (Sanity, Strapi) handles per-language statuses and approval roles cleanly. Expect AED 31,000 to 62,000 of related development.
Let's scope your project. A trilingual corporate site with RTL, approval workflow and hreflang, indicative budget AED 110,000 to 215,000, delivered in 4 to 6 months. 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.
