The verdict in three sentences
A trilingual EN/FR/AR website for an industrial group operating from Dubai can be budgeted at USD 15,000 to 36,000 in 2026 with a nearshore team, against USD 40,000 to 90,000 for a premium Dubai agency. Arabic is not just a translation: RTL support (right-to-left reading) and professional proofreading add 25 to 40% to the cost of a bilingual site. Plan for 12 to 18 weeks and set up a three-level editorial workflow from day one so the Arabic version never lags months behind the English one.
How much does a trilingual industrial group website cost in 2026
Price depends first on scope: number of pages, number of subsidiaries, and depth of content (technical sheets, certifications, export catalogue). These are 2026 orders of magnitude for an exporting group.
| Package | Pages | Languages | 2026 budget (USD, excl. VAT) | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate essentials | 30 pages | EN/FR/AR | 15,000 to 20,000 | 12 weeks |
| Corporate + product catalogue | 40 pages + 120 sheets | EN/FR/AR | 20,000 to 26,000 | 14 weeks |
| Multi-subsidiary group | 50 pages + 4 mini-sites | EN/FR/AR | 26,000 to 36,000 | 16 to 18 weeks |
| Option: distributor portal | Secure portal | EN/FR | + 4,000 to 6,500 | + 4 weeks |
| Option: interactive annual report | 1 module | EN/FR/AR | + 2,600 to 5,000 | + 3 weeks |
| Maintenance and hosting | Yearly | 3 languages | 2,000 to 4,000 / year | Ongoing |
These amounts include design, front-end build, a headless CMS with workflow, multilingual technical SEO (hreflang) and team training. Translation itself can be handled in-house or by an agency, which changes the bill significantly.
The real extra cost of Arabic and RTL
RTL affects the whole interface: mirrored menus, directional icons, carousels, forms, technical tables and Arabic typography that stays readable at small sizes. A layout designed in English and "flipped" at the end almost always shows visible defects. Both reading directions must be designed from the start.
| Item | Bilingual EN/FR | Trilingual with Arabic RTL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| UI design (mock-ups) | USD 2,900 | USD 4,050 | + 39% |
| Front-end build | USD 4,550 | USD 6,000 | + 32% |
| Professional translation (40,000 words) | USD 2,600 | USD 4,550 | + 75% |
| QA and cross-browser testing | USD 975 | USD 1,460 | + 50% |
| Multilingual technical SEO | USD 1,140 | USD 1,560 | + 37% |
| Indicative total | USD 12,165 | USD 17,620 | + 45% |
Across a full project, once unchanged items (hosting, project management, CMS) are counted, the overall premium stays within 25 to 40%. The most underestimated line is technical Arabic proofreading: one mistranslated industry term on an export product sheet costs more than a specialised reviewer at about USD 0.08 per word.
Editorial governance: three validation levels
In an industrial group, a news item or certification page goes through several hands. The CMS must reflect that, otherwise teams bypass it by email.
- Level 1, author: communications officer or subsidiary manager, who drafts the content in English or French.
- Level 2, translation and review: EN, FR and AR translators, with terminology control through a shared glossary of 300 to 500 industry terms.
- Level 3, management sign-off: communications or legal director, who publishes all three versions at once.
A dashboard shows blocked content per language. Target to write into the brief: under 5 working days between the first-language release and the Arabic release.
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Mini case study
Omar, communications director of a metal processing group headquartered in Dubai (3 subsidiaries, 65% of revenue from exports to North and West Africa), wants to replace an English-only site. Scope: 42 pages, 90 product sheets, three languages, three-level workflow. Budget: USD 23,500 including USD 5,900 for Arabic and RTL. Previously the group spent about USD 3,000 a year on ad hoc translation, with no French site for its francophone African buyers. After launch, sales estimates 14 qualified inquiries a month from Algeria, Morocco and Senegal against 4 before. If a single export order brings USD 50,000 in annual margin, the project pays for itself in under six months.
FAQ
Can we launch in English and French first, then add Arabic?
Yes, as long as the architecture and design plan for RTL from the start. Adding Arabic later then costs about USD 5,000 to 8,000, against nearly double if the front end has to be reworked.
Human translation or is AI enough?
AI speeds up the first draft and cuts cost by 30 to 40%, but human review remains essential for technical Arabic and legal content. Budget at least USD 0.04 to 0.08 per word for proofreading.
Which CMS handles three languages?
A headless CMS such as Sanity natively manages language variants and approval workflows. Licences often stay under USD 500 a year for a mid-sized group.
How long for a 50-page group website?
Plan 16 to 18 weeks, 4 of which go to translation and QA across the three languages. Content production by the client is the main source of delay.
Does the site need to be hosted in the UAE?
Not for a corporate showcase site, but personal data collected through forms falls under the UAE data protection law (PDPL). A CDN with a regional point of presence keeps load times under 2 seconds across the Gulf and North Africa.
Let's scope your project. Send us your page count, subsidiaries and target languages, and we will return an indicative budget in USD and a 12 to 18 week plan. 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.
