Guide
How much does a virtual assistant cost? US, offshore, and in-house compared
Direct answer
A virtual assistant costs about $36 to $39 an hour from a US-based service like Time etc, or $390 to $2,160 a month depending on hours. Managed offshore assistants cost far less per hour: Wing lists $699 a month for 80 hours and $999 for 160 hours, and Stealth Agents lists $1,600 a month for a full-time Philippines-based assistant. For comparison, an in-house administrative assistant at the BLS median of $47,540 a year costs an employer about $61,300 once benefits are added. All vendor prices are as of October 2026.
Virtual assistant cost by provider
These come from each company's own pricing page, checked in October 2026. Per-hour figures in brackets are our math from the listed price and hours.
| Provider | Where assistants are based | Plan | Price | Effective hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time etc | US (dedicated U.S. assistant) | 10 hours | $390/mo | $39 (listed) |
| Time etc | US | 20 hours | $760/mo | $38 (listed) |
| Time etc | US | 40 hours | $1,480/mo | $37 (listed) |
| Time etc | US | 60 hours | $2,160/mo | $36 (listed) |
| Wing | Not stated on the pricing page | General VA, part-time, 80 hrs/mo | $699/mo | [~$8.74] |
| Wing | Not stated on the pricing page | General VA, full-time, 160 hrs/mo | $999/mo | [~$6.24] |
| Stealth Agents | Philippines | Executive assistant, core, 160 hrs/mo | $1,600/mo + one-time onboarding fee | [~$10] |
| Stealth Agents | Philippines | Senior executive assistant | $2,400/mo + onboarding fee | n/a |
| MyOutDesk | Philippines, Latin America, Africa | Tier 1 managed, full-time | from $1,988/mo | n/a |
| Fancy Hands | Not stated on the pricing page | 3 / 5 / 15 requests a month | $35 / $55 / $125 per month | n/a (requests up to 20 minutes each) |
A few notes so the table isn't misread:
- Time etc says unused hours roll over and you can switch plans or cancel any time.
- Wing's FAQ says its assistants are "located in California, and around the world," so ask where your assistant will be. (Wing FAQ)
- Stealth Agents lists a one-time onboarding fee but doesn't show the amount on the pricing page.
- MyOutDesk shows "starting at" prices. Its page doesn't list hours, so we didn't compute an hourly rate.
- Fancy Hands sells small tasks, not a dedicated person. A "standard request" is up to 20 minutes of work.
- BELAY, a well-known US-based service, doesn't publish prices on its site as of October 2026. You get a quote after a consultation.
US vs offshore: what the price difference buys
The per-hour gap is large. A US assistant at Time etc runs $36 to $39 an hour. A full-time managed assistant at Wing or Stealth Agents works out to roughly $6 to $10 an hour on the listed plans. That gap is real, and for a lot of routine work the offshore option is the better deal.
What you get for the higher US price, usually:
- Overlap with US business hours without asking someone to work nights.
- Native familiarity with US customers, phone etiquette, and local vendors.
- Easier fit for work that touches regulated data or US-specific processes.
What you get with offshore, usually:
- A dedicated full-time person for less than a US part-time block.
- Coverage for routine admin, inbox, scheduling, and data entry at volume.
What neither changes: you still train the assistant on how your business works, give them access to your accounts, and check their work. If your assistant leaves, what they knew about your business goes with them.
What an in-house assistant costs instead
BLS doesn't have a "virtual assistant" occupation. The nearest in-house role is 43-6014, Secretaries and administrative assistants (except legal, medical, and executive). In May 2025, BLS reported these national wages for it (BLS OEWS 43-6014):
| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $33,280 | $16.00 |
| Median | $47,540 | $22.86 |
| 90th | $66,350 | $31.90 |
Wages are only part of what an employer pays. The BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) release for June 2026, published September 9, 2026, found that private-industry employers spent $46.89 per hour worked on total compensation: $32.82 in wages and $14.07 in benefits, of which $3.54 was paid leave. (BLS ECEC news release)
ECEC counts paid leave as a benefit, but OEWS annual wages already pay for vacation and holiday hours. So we add only the other benefit costs: supplemental pay, insurance, retirement, and legally required costs like Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance. Those came to $10.53 an hour, or about 29% of wages plus paid leave ($36.36 an hour).
| Line item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median annual wage (BLS OEWS, May 2025) | $47,540 |
| Benefits and payroll costs (estimate: 29% of wage, BLS ECEC June 2026, all private industry, excluding paid leave) | ~$13,770 |
| Total compensation (estimate) | ~$61,310 |
| Per paid hour, 2,080 hours (estimate) | ~$29.47 |
The benefits line is our estimate, applying ECEC's private-industry average to this one role. Desk, computer, software, and hiring time come on top.
Put side by side: a full-time in-house assistant at about $29.47 an hour all-in is cheaper per hour than a US VA service, but you pay for 40 hours every week whether there's work or not. The VA service lets you buy 10 or 20 hours. Offshore plans are cheaper than both if the work suits them.
If you work as a virtual assistant
These prices are what clients pay the agency, not what the assistant takes home. Agencies cover matching, replacement, account managers, and their margin out of that. If you freelance directly, the agency rates above are a useful ceiling and floor for your own pricing. US assistants competing with $6 to $10 offshore plans do best by selling what offshore plans can't easily match: US-hours availability, specialized skills like bookkeeping or client onboarding, and owning whole processes instead of single tasks.
Which parts software can take, and which need a person
A lot of what owners hire a VA for is recurring admin: sorting the inbox, chasing unpaid invoices, following up on quotes, sending review requests, keeping the CRM clean. That's the work TeamShift's team of AI workers is built for. It works in the tools you already use, keeps a live picture of where each customer, job, quote, and invoice stands, and remembers your corrections, so you don't re-explain the business to a new person.
Anything that sends to a customer, moves money, publishes, deletes, or commits your calendar is prepared for your OK and goes out only after you approve it. Pricing is usage-based with no seats or subscription. Creating a workspace is free, work is billed at 3x its compute cost, every job gets a maximum quote before it starts, and you can set daily and monthly caps. See pricing.
Where a person still wins:
- Calls made for you and hard calls. TeamShift's AI answers inbound calls on your line, but it doesn't place calls for you, and a person handles delicate callers better.
- Errands and judgment in the physical world, like dealing with a vendor in person or handling a delicate customer conversation.
- One-off, unusual tasks that don't repeat and need someone to figure out the context from scratch.
Many owners end up with both: a part-time VA for the calls and the odd jobs, and an AI team for the recurring work. We go deeper on that split in AI team vs virtual assistant and on full staffing costs in what an AI front desk costs vs hiring one.
FAQ
How much does a virtual assistant cost per hour?
US-based assistants at Time etc cost $36 to $39 an hour depending on the monthly plan, as of October 2026. Managed offshore plans from Wing and Stealth Agents work out to roughly $6 to $10 an hour on their full-time plans.
How much does a virtual assistant cost per month?
Time etc ranges from $390 a month for 10 hours to $2,160 for 60 hours. Wing lists $699 for 80 hours and $999 for 160 hours. Stealth Agents lists $1,600 a month for a full-time assistant plus a one-time onboarding fee.
Is a virtual assistant cheaper than hiring an employee?
Usually, because you pay only for the hours you buy. An in-house administrative assistant at the BLS median costs about $61,310 a year in total compensation (our estimate using BLS ECEC data), while Time etc's 60-hour plan, at $2,160 a month, comes to $25,920 a year.
Why are offshore virtual assistants so much cheaper?
Wage levels differ by country. A full-time Philippines-based assistant at Stealth Agents is listed at $1,600 a month, while US services charge $36 to $39 an hour. Check time-zone overlap and how replacements work before choosing on price alone.
Can AI replace a virtual assistant?
For recurring admin like inbox sorting, invoice follow-up, and CRM cleanup, an AI team can take much of the work, with customer-facing steps waiting for your approval. For outbound calls, errands, and one-off judgment calls, a person is still the better choice.