Salik Toll Calculator: Dubai Peak and Off-Peak Prices with VAT

How is the Salik toll calculated?

Every time you drive under a Salik gate in Dubai, the toll is taken from your Salik account. The price depends only on the day and the time you pass the gate, not on the gate itself or the size of your car. Since 31 January 2025, Salik has used variable pricing, and since 1 June 2026, 5% VAT is added to each toll, as reported by The National.

So the sum is simple: count your crossings in each time band, multiply by the price for that band, and add them up. The calculator does exactly this for a typical week, then multiplies by the number of weeks you choose.

A worked example

Say you live in Al Barsha and drive to an office in Deira, passing one Salik gate each way. You work Monday to Friday and leave at 8am and 5pm, so both trips fall in peak hours. On Saturday you do two errands at midday, two more on Saturday evening after 8pm, and on Sunday you cross twice to visit family. Late on Saturday night you also drive home from the airport at 2am, passing two gates.

• Peak: 10 crossings x AED 6.30 = AED 63.00
• Off-peak: 4 crossings x AED 4.20 = AED 16.80
• Sunday: 2 crossings x AED 4.20 = AED 8.40
• Late night: 2 crossings x free = AED 0.00

That is AED 88.20 a week, or AED 352.80 over four weeks. Before VAT the same week would have cost AED 84.00, so the VAT adds AED 16.80 every four weeks. If you could leave home before 6am or after 10am, each of those peak trips would drop to AED 4.20 or less.

Rules to know

• There are 10 gates: Al Barsha, Al Garhoud Bridge, Al Maktoum Bridge, Al Mamzar North, Al Mamzar South, Al Safa North, Al Safa South, Airport Tunnel, Business Bay Crossing and Jebel Ali.
• The one-hour rule: if you pass Al Mamzar North and Al Mamzar South, or Al Safa North and Al Safa South, in the same direction within one hour, you pay once, not twice. Count those pairs as one crossing.
• Ramadan has its own timings: AED 6 before VAT from 9am to 5pm, AED 4 before VAT from 7am to 9am and from 5pm to 2am, and free from 2am to 7am. Read our Ramadan in the UAE guide for the other changes that month.
• Keep your balance topped up: if there is not enough credit, you have 5 days to top up before an AED 50 fine.
• Abu Dhabi is different: the Darb toll there is AED 4 at peak times, Monday to Saturday from 7am to 9am and 3pm to 7pm, and free at other times. The daily and monthly caps were removed in September 2025. This calculator covers Dubai's Salik only.

The VAT change is recent and was reported in the press before we could confirm it on Salik's own pages, so check the Salik variable pricing page if a price looks off.

Tips to spend less on Salik

• Shift your commute by 30 minutes where you can. Crossing at 10:05am instead of 9:55am saves AED 2.10 per trip.
• Plan Sunday drives. Sunday is a flat AED 4.20 all day, so there is no rush-hour penalty.
• Use the late-night window. Airport runs and long drives between 1am and 6am cost nothing at the gates.
• Check the metro for regular routes. For a daily commute, compare your weekly Salik and fuel cost with the Dubai Metro fare calculator.
• Learn the gate map. Our guide to Salik toll gates in Dubai shows where each gate is and which roads avoid them.