Moving to the UAE means answering a dozen practical questions in your first few months — what visa you actually qualify for, what your real monthly budget looks like, whether to rent or eventually buy, and how UAE-specific costs like DEWA and Salik actually work. Rather than researching each one from scratch, here are twelve free tools that cover the most common early questions, in roughly the order most new residents need them.
The List
- Visa Eligibility Checker — Answer a few quick questions to discover which UAE visas fit you.
- Golden Visa Eligibility Checker — Check all 6 Golden Visa routes in 60 seconds and see exactly what you're missing.
- Cost of Living in Dubai — Build your real monthly budget — and see the cash you need on the day you sign a lease.
- DEWA Bill Calculator — Estimate your Dubai electricity and water bill slab by slab — and see why the housing fee dominates it.
- Salik Toll Cost Calculator — Estimate your monthly Salik toll spend from your daily commute route.
- Salary & Gratuity Calculator — Estimate your end-of-service gratuity under current 2021 labour law — no outdated resignation penalty.
- UAE Resume / CV Builder — Build a clean, UAE-ready CV with live preview and download it as a PDF.
- Car Registration Renewal Cost — Mulkiya renewal fees, inspection and the five small things that silently block your renewal.
- Mortgage Affordability Calculator — How much will a UAE bank actually lend you? All three Central Bank limits, plus the stress test.
- Rent vs Buy Calculator — Compare renting against buying in the UAE and see which leaves you better off.
- Bank Account Finder — Answer 3 quick questions to find which category of UAE bank account fits you, and real providers to compare.
- School & University Finder — Find the right curriculum for your child or university field for you — links to official KHDA ratings, not a generic "best" pick.
How to Get the Most Out of These Tools
Each tool on this list is built to answer one specific question in under a minute, with no sign-up and nothing saved afterward. The most efficient way to use them is to work through whichever ones apply to your situation right now, then bookmark this page and come back as new questions come up — most people don't need all of them on day one, but end up using most of the list within a few months.
Why a Free Tool Beats a Generic Calculator
Generic international calculators don't account for UAE-specific rules — DLD fees, Salik pricing, DEWA's flat housing charge, or the exact document formats government portals expect. Every tool linked above is built around the actual UAE rate structure or requirement, so the number or file you get out the other end is one you can actually use, not one you have to adjust afterward.
A Quick Note on Accuracy
These tools are built to reflect currently published UAE rates, fees and rules, and are designed for planning purposes. For anything with legal, immigration or tax consequences, treat the result as a strong starting estimate and confirm final figures with the relevant authority, bank or a qualified professional before you commit.
None of these require a sign-up, and all of them take under a minute to run. Bookmark this page and come back to it as each new question comes up — most new residents end up using every tool on this list within their first six months.