Wise is usable by UAE residents today, though its dedicated money-transfer license here is still pending rather than confirmed (more on that below). It doesn't have a single branch in the UAE — everything happens in the app. That's the whole model: no counter, no cash, no rate padded to hide the real cost.
The rate you get is the actual mid-market rate, the same one you'd see on Google or Reuters. Instead of shaving a margin off that rate the way exchange houses do, Wise charges an explicit fee — a small percentage that's lowest on major currencies like USD, EUR and GBP and higher on less liquid ones. You see the number before you confirm, not after.
One detail worth knowing: Wise lets UAE residents generate local account numbers in a handful of countries — a UK sort code, a US ACH number, a euro IBAN. If someone's paying you rather than the other way round, that avoids the incoming SWIFT fee most UAE banks charge.