Blog · 12 October 2026
Where to find a nanny in Dubai: the four routes, and what each costs you
There are four ways families here usually go about it, and they are not variations of the same thing. They differ in who chooses, who does the paperwork, who you can ask when something goes wrong, and what the whole thing costs. This page describes all four, including the three this site is not.
The four routes
A Tadbeer centre
Tadbeer is the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation network of licensed domestic worker service centres. A centre handles the whole employment side: the contract in the prescribed form, the medical, the Emirates ID and the residence visa, and it is the route built for families who want none of that paperwork in their own hands. You are choosing from the workers that centre has. Costs are set per centre and per package, so ask the centre rather than a website.
A private agency
An agency interviews candidates, puts a shortlist in front of you and arranges the paperwork, usually for a placement fee or a monthly package. What you are paying for is the shortlist and the admin. The trade is that you see the candidates the agency chose to show you, and if a nanny is not on their books you will never hear about her.
Facebook groups and classifieds
Free, enormous, and completely unchecked. Nothing on either side is verified, and a post asking for a nanny fills within hours with replies that are a phone number and the words direct message me, which leaves you sorting strangers by whoever answered fastest. Your own number is public from the first reply. Plenty of good arrangements start here, and so do most of the stories that end badly.
Browsing profiles yourself
Platforms where nannies publish a profile and families read them and write to whoever they want. Nobody shortlists for you, so the field is as wide as the site is, and the work of reading and interviewing is yours. There is no placement fee because nobody placed anyone. The visa and the contract are still somebody's job afterwards, usually yours or a centre's.
Which one fits
The question that separates them is not price, it is how much of the choosing you want to do. If you would rather somebody competent handed you three candidates and dealt with the ministry, a centre or an agency is worth what it costs, and reading profiles for a fortnight is not a good use of your evenings. If you would rather see everybody who is available and decide yourself, paying for a shortlist is paying to see less.
The second question is how fast you need somebody. A centre or an agency can move quickly because the candidates are already in front of them. Choosing yourself takes longer at the start and tends to last longer afterwards, because the two of you agreed on the actual job rather than on a job description written by a third party.
Where NaNanny sits, and what it is not
NaNanny is the fourth route. Nannies publish their own profiles, families read them and write to whoever they want, and the two sides talk directly. There is no placement fee and nothing is taken from anybody's salary. Browsing is free and so are the first contacts, and a nanny is never charged at all.
It is a noticeboard and a messenger, and it is worth being exact about what that excludes. NaNanny does not employ anybody, does not sponsor a visa, does not negotiate on either side and does not hand you a shortlist. Profiles are read by a person before badges are given, and that is a check of the documents somebody uploaded, not a background check. Visa, contract and salary are arranged between the family and the nanny, or through a centre that does that work.
It is also smaller than the platforms that have been here for years, which matters if you need somebody by Monday. The honest version is that it is the right route if you want to see the whole field and do the choosing, and the wrong one if you want the choosing done for you.
If you are weighing the money, the 2026 salary guide and live-in or live-out cover the two numbers that move it most, and the straight answers page handles the questions families ask before they start.