What an in-house SDR really costs in the UAE — and the alternatives
There are three ways to put an SDR on your pipeline in the UAE: hire one, pay an agency a monthly retainer, or pay a fixed fee for each qualified meeting that actually happens. They carry very different costs — and very different risks. This guide puts every line item on the table, with a calculator to run your own numbers.
The real cost of hiring an SDR in the UAE
The salary is only the start. Here's everything an employer pays for, by law or in practice:
| Cost | What to budget | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Salary | Payscale's 2026 data puts the median base salary for a UAE SDR with B2B sales skills at around AED 100,000 a year, before commission | Payscale |
| Commission | On top of base. Paid whether meetings convert or not, unless your plan says otherwise | Your comp plan |
| Employment visa | Roughly AED 5,000–7,000 for a two-year mainland visa, or AED 3,500–6,500 in a free zone. The employer must pay — charging the employee is illegal | UAE Insider Guide, Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 |
| Health insurance | Mandatory for private-sector employees across all emirates since 1 January 2025. The basic plan starts at AED 320 a year; most B2B employers buy more cover | Gulf News |
| Recruitment fee | Agencies typically charge 10–25% of first-year salary for professional roles, plus 5% VAT | Velmont Crest, Qureos |
| End-of-service gratuity | 21 days' basic salary for each of the first five years of service, payable once an employee completes a year | Khaleej Times |
| Annual leave | 30 calendar days' paid leave a year after the first year — a month with no outreach | UAE Labour Law |
| Tools | Data, dialler, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, CRM seats — per SDR, every month | Your vendors |
| Ramp time | Global benchmarks put SDR ramp at about three months before full productivity | The Bridge Group, via Activated Scale |
| Attrition | The same benchmarks put SDR attrition at 40–50% a year. Each leaver restarts recruitment, visa and ramp | The Bridge Group, via Activated Scale |
| Management time | Coaching, call reviews, performance management — usually a founder or sales leader's time | Your diary |
And the time before any of it pays back: a notice period at their current employer, two to four weeks of visa processing on the mainland, then around three months of ramp. A new SDR can easily be four to six months from offer to full productivity.
In-house vs retainer agency vs Curral
| In-house SDR | Retainer agency | Curral | |
|---|---|---|---|
| You pay for | Salary, commission, visa, insurance, tools — whatever gets delivered | A monthly fee, whether meetings land or not | A fixed fee per qualified meeting that actually happens |
| Upfront costs | Recruitment fee and visa before day one | Agreed in their contract | — |
| Time to first meeting | Months: notice period, visa, ramp | Weeks | Campaigns live within two weeks |
| Who carries the risk | You | You | Us |
| If performance drops | You keep paying salary while you manage it | You keep paying the retainer | We don't earn our full fee |
| If the SDR leaves | Gratuity (after year one), then recruit, visa and ramp again | The agency replaces them; your campaign may stall | Our problem, not yours |
| Visa, insurance, gratuity | Yours | The agency's | Ours |
Run your own numbers
Every business is different. Enter your figures below to see your real year-one cost — and your real cost per qualified meeting.
Default figures are examples only. Replace them with your own.
Gratuity is shown as the amount accrued in year one; it becomes payable once an employee completes a year of service. Commission assumes target is hit.
How a fixed fee per meeting works
We agree the criteria and the price before we start
Budget, authority, need and timing — your definition of a real opportunity — and a fixed fee per meeting.
We run the outbound
Our Dubai-based team speaks English and Arabic and covers all six GCC markets: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait. Phone-led, backed by LinkedIn and email.
You pay in full only for meetings that happen
If a prospect doesn't show, or doesn't meet the criteria we agreed, we don't charge the full fee for that meeting.
No visas. No gratuity. No recruitment fees. No ramp time on your clock.
"Outbound is the strongest channel in the GCC. Buyers here pick up the phone and take the conversation — far more than in most international markets. The question isn't whether to do outbound here. It's who carries the cost while it gets going."
When you should hire in-house instead
We'll say it plainly: outsourcing isn't always the answer.
- You need someone embedded in your product team — taking demos, handling inbound and doing account management alongside outbound.
- You're building a full sales floor with leadership, enablement and a career path already in place.
- You've already proven the motion and know exactly what one SDR delivers each month.
If none of those apply yet, prove the pipeline first with a fixed cost per meeting — then hire with real numbers behind you.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to hire an SDR in the UAE?
Payscale's 2026 data puts the median base salary for a UAE SDR with B2B sales skills at around AED 100,000 a year. On top of that come commission, an employment visa (roughly AED 5,000–7,000 on the mainland), mandatory health insurance, a recruitment fee of typically 10–25% of first-year salary, end-of-service gratuity, tools and management time. Use the calculator above for your own figures.
Who pays for an employee's visa in the UAE?
The employer. Under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, charging an employee for their own work visa is illegal.
When does end-of-service gratuity apply?
Once an employee completes a year of continuous service. It's 21 days' basic salary for each of the first five years, rising to 30 days for each year after that, capped at two years' wage.
How long before a new SDR books meetings?
Allow for their notice period, two to four weeks of visa processing on the mainland, then around three months of ramp before they're fully productive.
What's the difference between a retainer agency and Curral?
A retainer agency charges a monthly fee for its time, whether meetings land or not. Curral charges a fixed fee per qualified meeting that actually happens, so the delivery risk sits with us.
Do you cover Saudi Arabia and the rest of the GCC?
Yes. Our Dubai-based team speaks English and Arabic and runs campaigns across all six GCC markets.
Stop paying for an SDR's ramp. Pay for meetings.
A fixed price per qualified meeting. No visas, no gratuity, no recruitment fees.
Sources
- Payscale — SDR with B2B sales skills, UAE, 2026: https://www.payscale.com/research/AE/Job=Sales_Development_Representative_(SDR)/Salary/c5c368e3/Business-to-Business-B2B-Sales
- UAE Insider Guide — employment visa costs, 2026: https://uaeinsiderguide.com/?p=567
- Commoner Law — UAE work visas and employer obligations: https://commoner-law.com/uae/immigration-pathways/work-visas
- Gulf News — mandatory health insurance from 1 January 2025: https://gulfnews.com/living-in-uae/health/uaes-mandatory-health-insurance-for-workers-starts-today-everything-you-need-to-know-1.500009608
- Velmont Crest — recruitment agency fees in Dubai, 2026: https://velmontcrest.ae/insights/recruitment-agency-in-dubai/
- Qureos — UAE recruitment cost calculator: https://www.qureos.com/cost-of-recruitment-calculator/uae
- Khaleej Times — UAE gratuity calculator: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/jobs/gratuity-calculator
- Gulf News — how gratuity is calculated: https://gulfnews.com/preview/story/EdcPypgB6tcv3izRwcoSdiTzG-4CnLBcXHOIS6-sNkrcDrSKGf25Zju1q2gLhCE1
- Activated Scale — SDR ramp, attrition and time-to-fill (The Bridge Group): https://www.activatedscale.com/feeds/blog/hire-outsourced-sdr-team-fill-pipeline