Most business owners ask about price before they ask about anything else, and that’s fair. You’re trying to figure out whether getting help is going to save you money or just add another bill. The trouble is that “how much does a Virtual Assistant cost” gets you answers ranging from $10/hour for offshore support to well over $75/hour, and those numbers aren’t describing the same thing.
I’ve been running Virtual Assist USA since 2008, and I’ve had this conversation thousands of times (10 calls a week, 52 weeks a year, for 18 years…). What I can tell you is that the hourly rate is the least interesting number in the decision. What matters is what that rate includes, what it leaves out, and how much of your own time you’ll spend making it work.
The Short Answer on Virtual Assistant Cost
For a U.S.-based Virtual Assistant, you’ll generally see rates somewhere between $35 and $55 an hour. Offshore assistants are cheaper per hour. Companies that employ their assistants, supervise them and cover for them when they’re out tend to sit at the higher end, because you’re paying for the team and compliance behind the person as well.
So the clearest answer is that a Virtual Assistant costs less than a full-time hire and more than the cheapest option you’ll find online. Where you land depends on what you need that assistant to do.
What Drives the Price of a Virtual Assistant
Where the Assistant Lives and How They’re Employed
This is the biggest factor by far. A U.S.-based assistant who is a W-2 employee comes with payroll taxes, benefits, paid time off and a company that’s responsible for them. An independent contractor overseas comes with none of that, which is why the rate is lower. It’s also why you’re the one who absorbs the risk when they disappear for two weeks or take a better-paying client.
If you want to understand how the different models compare, our post on choosing between a virtual assistant, an employee and a freelancer walks through it in detail.
Experience and the Kind of Work You Hand Over
Someone who can schedule meetings will cost less than someone who can manage a CEO’s inbox, reconcile invoices in QuickBooks and follow up with vendors without being told. Our assistants have at least ten years of experience, and that shows up in the price. It also shows up in how little you have to explain.
How You’re Billed
You’ll run into three billing models: monthly subscriptions, prepaid hour packages, and straight hourly billing. Subscriptions often require you to commit to a set number of hours a month, and unused hours usually disappear. Packages let you buy a block of time up front, and whether those hours expire is worth asking about before you sign anything. Hourly billing is the most flexible and typically the most expensive per hour.
The Costs That Aren’t on the Rate Card
This is where most people get surprised. A low hourly rate can turn into an expensive arrangement for a few reasons.
The first is your own time. If you spend five hours a week correcting work, re-explaining tasks or checking whether something got done, that time costs you more than the assistant does. I’ve watched business owners hire cheap help and then quietly go back to doing the work themselves because it was faster.
The second is turnover. When a freelancer leaves, you start over. You re-post the job, re-interview, re-share your passwords and re-train someone on how you like your calendar handled. Nobody adds that to the hourly rate, but you pay it.
The third is coverage. If your assistant gets sick or goes on vacation, who handles your inbox that week? With a solo freelancer, the answer is usually nobody. With a managed team, a team supervisor steps in.
The fourth is security. Handing someone access to your email, client files and accounting software is a big deal. Ask any company you’re considering how they vet their people and protect your data. Ours is laid out on our security and data protection page.
Virtual Assistant vs Employee Cost
When people compare the cost of a Virtual Assistant to an employee, they usually compare an hourly rate to a salary. That leaves out most of what an employee costs you: payroll taxes, health insurance, paid time off, equipment, software licenses, office space and the time you spend recruiting and managing them. More recently, there are also costs for state-mandated benefits like paid parental leave or guaranteed sick time.
With a Virtual Assistant, you pay for the hours you use. That matters more than you think. You don’t pay for a slow week in August, and you don’t pay for forty hours when you only needed fifteen. For most small businesses, that’s where the savings come from.
How to Figure Out What You’ll Spend
Start with the work itself. Write down what you’d hand off this month if you could, and estimate how long each task takes you now. Be specific. “Admin” won’t help you, but “processing and filing 30 vendor invoices in QuickBooks, about four hours” will.
Add it up and you’ll have a working number of hours. If you’re not sure you’re ready at all, our post on when to hire a virtual assistant can help you decide and figure out what to delegate first.
Then compare what’s included. If you’re looking at other providers, ask whether the assistants are employees or contractors, whether they’re U.S.-based, whether hours expire, and what happens when your assistant is out. We put together a list of the best U.S.-based virtual assistant companies if you want a starting point, and if you’ve been looking at Belay specifically, our Belay alternatives comparison breaks down the differences.
What Our Pricing Looks Like
We keep our pricing simple because I don’t like surprises either. Our packages are prepaid hours, and your hours never expire. There’s no monthly subscription, no long-term contract and no onboarding fee.
- Starter: 20 hours for $885
- Core: 40 hours for $1,678
- Premium: 60 hours for $2,379
- Pay-as-you-go: $47.25 an hour, billed on the 1st of the month
Our assistants are U.S.-based W-2 employees with benefits and paid time off. Each one works under a team supervisor who covers when they’re out, and you can see the full breakdown on our pricing page.
FAQs
How much does a Virtual Assistant cost per hour?
It depends mostly on where the assistant is based and how they’re employed. U.S.-based assistants cost more than offshore contractors because they’re paid U.S. wages, and employees cost more than freelancers because their company covers taxes, benefits and supervision. At Virtual Assist USA, rates range from $39.65 to $47.25 an hour depending on the package.
Is a Virtual Assistant cheaper than hiring an employee?
For most small businesses, yes. You pay for the hours you use and skip payroll taxes, benefits, equipment and recruiting costs. An employee makes more sense once you have steady full-time work that needs someone in the office.
Why do U.S.-based Virtual Assistants cost more?
You’re paying for someone who works in your time zone, understands how American businesses operate, and is covered by U.S. employment and privacy rules. With a company like ours, you’re also paying for vetting, background checks and a supervisor who steps in when your assistant is out.
Do Virtual Assistant hours expire?
It depends on the company, so ask before you buy. Many subscription plans reset monthly and unused hours are lost. Our hours never expire, so you can use them at your own pace.
How many hours of VA help do I need?
The easiest way to find out is to list the tasks you’d hand off this month and estimate how long each one takes you now. If the total is small or you’re still unsure, a 20-hour package is a low-risk way to test it, especially when the hours don’t expire.
Ready to See What It Would Cost You?
If you have a rough idea of what you’d hand off, you’re ready to talk numbers. Tell us what’s taking up your week and we’ll match you with an assistant who fits. Get started with Virtual Assist USA and we’ll take it from there.
