Blog · 12 October 2026
Hiring a nanny in the UAE: straight answers to the usual questions
The questions families actually ask, answered in a paragraph each. Where a number comes from our own marketplace it says so, and where the honest answer is that nobody can promise you, it says that too.
How much does a nanny cost in Dubai?
Nannies on NaNanny ask for a median of AED 3,500 per month, with live profiles ranging from about AED 2,300 to AED 4,500. Five or more years of experience adds roughly AED 500 a month to the median ask.
Those are salary expectations written by nannies themselves on their own profiles in 2026, not an agency price list. The marketplace is young, so it is a few dozen profiles rather than thousands, and the numbers move as it grows.
Do I need an agency to hire a nanny in the UAE?
No. Families can find and contact nannies themselves, which is what NaNanny is for: you compare profiles and message the nannies you like directly.
An agency charges a placement fee, often several thousand dirhams, or a monthly package where part of what you pay never reaches her. Hiring directly means the salary you agree is the salary she receives.
What does NaNanny cost a family?
Browsing every profile is free, and so are your first three contacts. After that a plan is AED 89 per week or AED 250 per month, and you can cancel at any time.
There is no placement fee and no commission on the nanny's salary, now or later. You are paying to reach people, not for anybody's introduction.
Who sponsors a nanny's visa in the UAE?
It depends on her current status and on yours. Some nannies are already on a transferable visa or sponsored by a spouse, and need nothing from you. A live-in arrangement where you sponsor her is a formal employment relationship with real obligations.
Every nanny on NaNanny states her own visa status on her profile, and families can filter by it. That status is what she has declared, not something anybody has verified, and the profile says so. For the procedure itself, use the official UAE government channels rather than a marketplace article: the rules change, and getting this wrong costs months.
How long does it take to find a nanny?
Nobody can promise you a number, and anybody who does is selling something. What you control is how quickly you reply, how clearly your job post describes the hours, and how many nannies you contact rather than waiting on one.
Families who write what the days actually look like, including the hours nobody enjoys, hear back faster. Vague posts get applications from people who leave when they discover the job.
Live-in or live-out: which is cheaper?
Live-out nannies on NaNanny ask AED 3,000 to 4,000. A live-in salary is often lower in cash because accommodation and food are part of the arrangement, so the monthly number looks smaller while the total cost and the legal obligations are larger.
The real question is space and privacy rather than money. A household that resents the arrangement after two months has not saved anything.
Are the nannies background checked?
No, and no marketplace that tells you otherwise is being straight with you. Profiles are reviewed by a person before they are approved, which means somebody looked at them, not that anybody's history was investigated.
Verification badges are given one at a time, only for a document a person actually checked. References are yours to call, and they are worth the twenty minutes: it is the single step families skip most often and regret most.
Can I hire a part-time nanny in the UAE?
Yes, and it is more common than the job adverts suggest: school hours, three afternoons, weekends only. Many nannies list their availability day by day on their profile.
Say the hours in the post rather than calling it flexible. A nanny deciding between two families picks the one whose week she can picture.
Where these numbers come from
The salary figures are what nannies state on their own NaNanny profiles, read in 2026. The plan prices are ours. Everything else is either a description of how the marketplace works or an honest refusal to guess.
Longer reading on two of these: the 2026 salary guide and live-in or live-out. If you are not sure a nanny is what your household needs at all, nanny, maid or babysitter is the place to start.