“How much does a virtual assistant cost?”-has been a common query since the term “virtual assistance” became a hype.
Although we can see more and more global businesses recognizing the value of hiring a virtual assistant, they can not move forward with the idea as certain questions remain unanswered.
This includes differences in expectations and outcomes out of virtual assistant services. And so, the cost becomes a variable depending upon specific requirements. Nevertheless, a virtual assistant can still save you approximately 70% of your overhead costs.
To help you weigh the pros and cons before you even consider hiring a virtual assistant, this article will gradually guide you through the following topics:
Table of Contents
How Does a Virtual Assistant Help Your Business?
A lot of businesses, specifically startups, can benefit from virtual assistants in several ways:
Free up time and energy to focus on core business tasks
Filter out emails, phone calls, calendars, social media accounts, and organize verified information for accessibility
Create and store documents, including daily and monthly reports, client information, business documents, etc.
Identify areas for improvement and assist in creating a smooth operational system
Help with the financial management of the business to stay aligned with the financial goals
Although these may seem redundant to many, those with a precise business vision know-how non-core administrative tasks can throw you off course. Moreover, with over 23 types of virtual assistant services available in the market, there’s something for everyone to streamline their operations.
And since we’re already quite aware of cost constraints, finding an expert within the budget can be challenging but not impossible. ASL BPO, for example, conducts a rigorous screening process to provide the most efficient and specialized VA upon client demands.
Thus, the long-drawn-out process of VA recruitment, which may otherwise seem complex due to limited resources or knowledge regarding VAs, will be easier for your business.
Rise of Virtual Assistants in the Post-Pandemic Era
A virtual assistant is, more often than not, a cheaper option than an in-house employee. The COVID-19 pandemic and seemingly “house arrest” situation in 2020 forced most companies to adopt remote or hybrid working methods.
This left a generic message to all employers: a hybrid work model can be more useful when leveraged carefully with a well-thought-out plan.
What are the critical considerations of the plan that we faced back then?
Many businesses did not have any remote working setups. This caused both employees and employers to struggle to compete with the proceeding workflow and deadlines, affecting workers’ salaries and the business owners’ ROI. It's not a win-win situation for either party, leaving space for improvement.
Even after the pandemic, people no longer want to return to the traditional office system. They would much rather enjoy a flexible plan that allows them a satisfactory work-life balance.
This not only allows employees to remain happy and motivated to work but also eventually contributes to the business revenue as most employees may feel inspired to offer quality work. Consequently, ensuring both quality and quantity for your desired business outcomes.
Virtual Assistants vs. On-Site Employees: Which is Better?
Instead of simply announcing the verdict on your behalf, let us explain the possible scenarios so you can decide for yourself:
Let’s say you need your organization’s data entry tasks or SEO handled regularly and efficiently to ensure smooth operations. However, confusion surrounding the reliability, cost, and work model for outsourcing a virtual assistant over an on-site employee is definitely a logical concern.
Reliability of Virtual Assistance Services
Firstly, let’s focus on the benefits each has to offer:
Virtual Assistant | On-site employee |
Proven expertise in one or more industries | Proven expertise in one or more industries |
Relevant skills | Relevant Skills |
Recruitment done on an experience basis or client recommendations | Long recruitment-associated costs |
Zero in-house training cost | In-house training cost, unless specific work environment is a significant concern |
Employee benefits (Integrated or offered separately) |
|
Pay per hour or project | Fixed monthly salary |
Flexible working schedule with little micromanagement | Strict working hours |
May or may not require a home-office setup | Office space and equipment cost |
Why are virtual assistants cheaper than on-site employees? | Pay per hour pricing |
Replacement flexibility | |
No Training Cost |
This leads us to get acquainted about the major comparison facts that might make virtual assistants a cheaper option than on-site employees:
Pay Per Hour Pricing
Simply paying for the hours your remote worker has worked for, a flexibility that is unavailable for full-time on-site employees.
Replacement Flexibility
Although replacement factors entirely depend upon company policies and guidelines, virtual assistants may seemingly offer better flexibility. On-site employees require prior notice which provides them ample time to ensure job safety.
However, it’s necessary that you take ethical concerns into consideration before coming to a decision.
No Training Cost
In most cases, virtual assistants need little to no training sessions since they are known to have a decent grasp on their job responsibilities and expertise. Influencing factors such as gelling in with the team and maintaining consistent communication may seem concerning at first, but isn’t rocket-science.
On-site workers may need training sessions from time to time depending on the roles and responsibilities, unless they have previous work experience with mentionable performance and achievements.
Factors Affecting the Cost of a Virtual Assistant
Just as the salary of every employee is negotiated based on specific variables, the same applies to the cost of hiring a virtual assistant:
Experience
Experience is what sets an employee apart from the rest. This includes hands-on past employment or freelancing gigs, self-taught skills for consistent improvement, as well as adapting and improvising during difficult situations.
In a word, conventional degrees are surely a measuring factor while the aforementioned ones contribute to the whole judgment making process. In return, this contributes to the VAs continual thrive for success and companies acquire a fair benefit from their relentless efforts.
Thus, hiring an experienced VA might even cost you a bit over your budget sometimes. But in the long run, they will use their experience to get your tasks done in a professional, error-free manner, and with maximum return.
Service/Skills
The services offered or the skills required from an employee's end may cause the remuneration, either hourly, fixed, or contractual, to greatly vary.
For example, the cost of hiring a virtual assistant for data entry purposes and the cost of hiring for technical jobs differ, where VAs with technical skills require better pay.
Moreover, a few other employment factors may influence the decision making process:
Maintaining deadlines or work schedule
Ability to efficiently deliver quality work
Proper delegation of work
Upholding a teamwork spirit
Handling workload under pressure
Other soft and technical skills contributing to the role
Location
Geographical location plays a vital role in employment opportunities, often charged based on the living expenses of a VA.
For example, virtual assistants from Bangladesh may cost less than virtual assistants from the United States because of the comparatively lower living costs in Bangladesh. However, the advanced skill sets or learning curve offered upon your desired requirements may cause income-variability.
Contrarily, regular on-site jobs are offered with a fixed salary, irrespective of the employees location, making it quite stable and predictable.
Virtual Assistant Cost Chart on Industry-Basis
A typical virtual assistant in the United States may charge you $10-$60 per hour based on the type of service offered.
But given you consider offshoring, the cost may be lower depending on the various factors mentioned before.
Emerging business process outsourcing countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh can offer you virtual assistant services at a cheaper rate. Here is the cost comparison chart of virtual assistant assistants of different services to find how much a virtual assistant costs.
Note: All the costs are approximated based on the United States (US) market
Types of Services | Description | Cost Per Hour ( US Market ) |
A real estate virtual assistant is required to have certain industry knowledge. The cost of hiring differs due to the specialized qualifications. | $35 - $45 / Hour | |
Virtual Administrative Assistant | From data entry to schedule management, a virtual administrative assistant can carry out all the routine tasks you have on your plate that don’t require your expertise. | $18 - $35 / Hour |
A data entry virtual assistant sorts, curates, and manages all the data of a company. | $8 - $25 / Hour | |
Website Management Virtual Assistant | A website management virtual assistant makes sure all the tasks related to your website are performed seamlessly. | $20 - $40 / Hour |
Research Virtual Assistant | A research virtual assistant helps to conduct parts of the research work on behalf of the researchers. It helps to get fast, deliverable results. | $20 - 35 / Hour |
The cost of an eCommerce virtual assistant depends on the products and sales volume of the business. | $17 - $50 / Hour | |
Graphic design is a broad field. A graphic design virtual assistant may charge based on the number of designs, locations, and expertise. | $25 - $100 / Hour | |
Amazon provides the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service to enable independent sellers to automate their order fulfillment and shipping processes. Amazon VA and Amazon FBA cost approximately the same. | $22 - $100 / Hour | |
Accounting and bookkeeping in VA require specialized skills. Thus, the cost of hiring differs from other VAs. | $30 - $90 / Hour | |
A virtual assistant for digital marketing remotely handles marketing tasks for a business. Hiring a digital marketing VA is cheaper than hiring onsite marketing executives. | $20 - $80 / Hour | |
Professional healthcare VAs are able to revolutionize traditional healthcare systems. It costs only $6 if you wish to outsource to ASL BPO. | $10 - $90 / Hour | |
A travel VA hiring cost may differ subject to who is hiring- an individual or an agency. | $8 - $25 / Hour | |
Virtual Customer Support Assistant | Customer support comes in different varieties, like live chat, cold calling, email support, etc. All of these services have different pricing systems. | $8 - $25 / Hour |
Appointment Management Virtual Assistant | This type of VA is similar to virtual administrative assistants. | $8 - $25 / Hour |
Expense Management Virtual Assistant | Expense management VAs have tasks similar to accounting and bookkeeping VAs. They just have lesser responsibilities. | $30 - $90 / Hour |
Human Resource Virtual Assistant | HR virtual assistants help the HR department run smoothly. They help you get and manage candidates from a global talent pool. | $17 - $50 / Hour |
The best part about hiring a VA is the flexibility and scalability you can enjoy as an employer. While the hourly cost of virtual assistants varies depending on their expertise level, availability, location, and such, the general pricing plans include the following:
Types of Pricing Plans for a Virtual Assistant
We have provided a rough estimate of services offered in different pricing packages for hiring a virtual assistant, whether it’s a part-time gig, a full-time employment, or contractual ones:
Hour-Based Pricing Plan
Pay per hour is the most popular virtual assistant pricing plan. You only pay for the hours that your VA has worked for you. Per hour payment of a virtual assistant in the United States starts at $20- $100.
Project-Based Pricing Plan
Project-based VAs have no fixed price. They charge based on the time, duration, and requirements of the project. Your VA will have a time contract to work on the project within a certain range of payment. You can also pay your project-based VA on a pay-per-hour basis.
Full-Time VA Pricing Plan
If you have regular repetitive tasks, you should hire a full-time VA. A full-time VA in the United States costs $1200-$5000/monthly. They work as per usual office hours and standards.
How to Calculate the Cost of a Virtual Assistant?
To determine the cost of a virtual assistant, first, you have to fix a base pay rate. The base pay depends on whether you are going to pay your virtual assistant based on the time frame, expertise, or project-based.
The most preferred one is the hourly pay. Allow us show you an example,
Step 1: Base Rate
Hour: 8 hours/ day
Budget: $10
Weekend: 2 days
Monthly Budget: $1760/ Mo
Step 2: Overhead Costs
Media fee If you hire from a marketplace, the third-party provider may charge you from a few bucks to even a hundred dollars.
For example, Upwork charges 3% administration and processing costs from the overall payment.
Training cost If you hire an individual VA through a job posting, you might have to count the time to train them properly.
They will still get the hourly payment making it an overhead cost, unless of course, you’re hiring a professional with documented experiences.
Additional cost markups may be included in the invoice, although hiring from a BPO company will save you from such bindings.
For example, ASL BPO has no processing fee. Besides, they have an in-house training facility for the VAs. You will not be spending on training either. Thus, equalling to no indirect costs.
Step 3: Post-Hiring Costs
If your VA works for you more than the contractual or fixed hour, the extra hours will be calculated as overtime. You have to pay the overtime allowance accordingly.
Step 4: Formula for Calculation
$10* 176 hours = $ 1760.00
(+) Overhead cost 3% = $52.80
—---------------------------------
Budget of hiring= $ 1812.80
(+) Overtime ( 5 hours) = $50
—------------------------------------
The total cost of a VA = $ 1862.80
Number of VA = 2
—-------------------------------------
Total budget= $ 3725.60
[Postscript: Do not panic if you see the cost of hiring a virtual assistant exceeds your budget. Most companies offer discounts on full-time virtual assistant pricing.]
10 Well-Known VA Providers in the Global BPO Market
Now that we’re done looking at how the approximate costing is calculated, here, you can find a few virtual service providers and its related costs to acquire VA services from:
1. ASL BPO
ASL BPO, a startup established in Bangladesh in 2014, has pioneered the provision of intelligent technology-based virtual assistance on a global scale. Their services now span a large customer base located in the USA, Spain, Hungary, and Australia.
The most wallet-friendly BPO and VA service provider at $5/hr, without compromising on quality client support. You can even avail a 7-days free trial to tackle monetary concerns.
VAs are skilled in offering services in 5 different languages
ISO certifications to guarantee quality and privacy concerns
2. Upwork
A globally recognized online platform that serves as a robust marketplace for connecting businesses, employers and skilled freelancers. Regarding virtual assistance services, Upwork offers a diverse pool of professionals to be hired for full-time, part-time, or contractual work at your desired budget.
If you want to find experts from their marketplace, simply follow their guidelines and give it a try!
3. Prialto
Acquire dedicated support for your non-core administrative tasks from Prialto, a Portland-based virtual assistant provider with over 15 years of professional expertise.
Their unique subscriptions are easy-to-scale and starts from $1500 per month for each Prialto unit.
Service regions include Latin America, Africa, and Asia
Virtual assistance offered in 6 timezones and 2 languages (English and Spanish)
Average hourly rate of <$25/hr with a minimum project size of $1,000+
4. Time Etc
Time Etc is a virtual assistance provider to entrepreneurs, small businesses, and executives who are on the look for reliable and flexible administrative solutions from the USA.
Having served more than 22,000+ companies for streamlined services, working with global faces such as Google, Virgin, HermanMiller, Facebook, KFC, and others, have made them an unmatched competitor in the arena.
Each and every virtual assistant undergoes a 10-stage selection process for maximum client satisfaction
Average pay rate of >$38/hr globally with the freedom to switch plans or cancel any time
Avail free personalized task ideas to understand the importance of a VA and decide yourself
5. Boldly
Formerly known as Worldwide101, Boldly has more than a decade of experience in the bag. Starting from our childhood craze Nickelodeon to our adult fascinations Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz, Tiffany & Co., and many more have successfully collaborated with them since 2009.
Medium to large firms with project sizes between $50,000-$199,999 can acquire operational efficiency through them
Choose from standard virtual assistants or premium VAs to meet your business goals
Multilingual VAs who know French, German, Spanish, and many other major languages
Get in touch with skilled virtual assistants spanning different industries: E-Commerce, Legal, Healthcare, Insurance, and Hospitality, etc., and grow as you go with Remote CoWorker’s virtual assistance.
Big Outsource takes care of your administrative hassles and ensures 95% customer retention while letting you save up to 60% on organizational expenses. Explore their virtual assistance packages, which offer seamless scalability from 1 to 1000 agents, an unwavering commitment to legal and ethical compliance, and built-in redundancy measures.
They encompass various industries, such as Legal Services, Automotive, Education, Gaming and Entertainment, Logistics, SaaS and Tech, and others, from 2014
Client Referral Program lets your recommendations transform into rewards once your invitation accepts the referral. Here’s Shopify’s two cents on the topic.
Management experts hold over 2 decades of experience to provide business insights and consultation
A dynamic online platform to hire your virtual assistant without the inconvenience of training the candidates or committing to fixed contracts. Stay flexible and grow your business as Stellar Staff provides VA services across 38 time zones since 2022.
An affordable starting cost of $8.49 per hour, letting you save up to 70% of your payroll
The staff team is highly skilled and rigorously trained to serve the conglomerate. In fact, giant corporations like PayPal, VISA, Netflix, AT&T, and Citibank have given their VAs employment opportunities
Stern 10-step recruitment guarantees that the virtual assistants are meticulously skilled to scale up your business
9. LimTC
Backed by experience and incisive business foresight, Limitless came into being in 2017 and now offers virtual assistance to its clientele in 9 distinct languages. Their efforts are well-appreciated globally, owing to the 20% decrease in customer churn rate.
Small to medium enterprises worth $10,000 to $49,000 may hire virtual assistants without sweating about employee capacityF
With a Limitless+ subscription, you can gain access to dedicated office space, PM consultancy, and team leads
Guarantee quality assurance and a dedicated recruiter along with your analytics dashboard
10. Smith.ai
Formed almost two decades ago in 2015, Smith.ai offers personalized BPO services and virtual assistance by combining technologies and the sincere efforts of its staff members.
Bill by the minute for a transparent payment procedure
Virtual receptionist packages begin from as low as $285/month for 30 calls to make your entrepreneurial dreams come true, convertible to basic, pro, and custom plans
Avail monthly subscriptions and stay relaxed against chances of revenue loss
Back in 2023, LinkedIn stated that the Asia-Pacific business process outsourcing (BPO) market will grow at a CAGR of 8.6% during the forecast period of 2023 to 2030. And why is that? Here’s our summarized explanation:
BPO Companies Providing Virtual Assistance in Asia
While the average spending in the BPO industry in 2016 was $25.95 per employee, it stood at $40.02 in 2024. This not only depicts the rising demands for BPO services globally, but it also demonstrates the matter of increased pay.
However, to thrive in the competitive market and gain exposure, several countries in Asia are now offering affordable virtual assistants which are much cheaper than their European or American counterparts.
Since the Asian market is continually growing in the competitive global BPO industry, let’s look into a brief tabular description of three of the best BPO companies in each Asian region for your consideration:
South Asia has been one of the most prominent hubs for the growing BPO services industry. And thereby, becoming integral to global outsourcing operations.
An already pivotal region for outsourcing worldwide due to its multilingual workforce, competitive low labor pay, and advanced knowledge in tech.
Eastern Asia has been a dynamic landscape for outsourcing business services due to the inclusion of AI systems, big data, and self-learning apps.
The growing pool of skilled professionals in the BPO industry in western Asia has enabled the fostering of economic diversification and provided employment opportunities to the region.
Another Asian zone that shows a promising future in the business process outsourcing and IT services industry. The young and educated population is now increasingly leaning towards a tech-driven outsourcing region.
Company | Location | Founding Year | Clutch Rating | Employee Count | Average Hourly Rate |
Kazakhstan | 2008 | ⭐5.0 | 250-999 | $25-$49/hr | |
Kazakhstan | N/A | ⭐N/A | N/A | N/A | |
Uzbekistan | 2010 | ⭐N/A | N/A | N/A |
Without any further ado, allow us to guide you through the techniques of hiring and building a VA team for your company’s growth:
How to Hire a Virtual Assistant?
Every business owner faces the concern of getting their money’s worth when hiring a new recruit. Especially when it’s a virtual assistant, it may feel more troublesome as they will be working remotely with no direct supervision whatsoever.
So, here are a few key notes to follow:
Prepare a list of tasks that require attention and compile the documents
Compose a job posting that clearly indicates eligibility criteria, daily tasks and deadlines, ad-hoc responsibilities, salary and benefits, etc., to maintain transparency on both ends
Once you have received several applications and called in a few for official interviews, focus less on degrees and generic interview questions found through “Google Search.” Instead, you may focus on their strengths and what they can offer your company
Many BPO companies offer free trials so that you can dip your toes before committing fully. So, conduct a trial run firsthand and then move to hiring and delegating daily tasks to your preferred virtual assistant
How to Create the Strongest VA Team
Building a team is simply gathering all the ingredients for a recipe, each individual with unique skill sets that will shape the company’s future. And if that team is serving virtually from another geolocation, it’s necessary that you can entirely rely on their capabilities to run the operations.
But how do you create a virtual assistant team that can take responsibility head-on?
The solution is pretty straightforward:
Identify your organization’s mission and vision to set clear and achievable targets
Spend enough time to review applications and interview the potential candidates. This is the most crucial step that will decide your company’s direction
Delegate specific tasks to each team member based on their specialization and the skills they hold
Provide concise yet precise guidelines for company policy and communication to the virtual assistants
If needed, train them for a fixed term before leaving them with heaps of paperwork. Or a more straightforward solution: simply hire a VA from a BPO company that provides in-house professional training before recruitment
Maintain open communication through Slack, Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc., and arrange brief team huddles for a good working relationship at work
Give your team the space and time to grow into a capable workforce and contribute steadily to the organization. Meanwhile, it’s advised that their performance be evaluated promptly through tracking tools and such
Lastly, embrace the diversity in your VA team and incentivize the tough work they put in each month to keep them motivated and going!
To ensure that your VA’s monetary demands are met while your quality of work remains uncompromised, have a quick glance at one of the leading BPO companies in Bangladesh:
Hire a Cost-Effective VA from ASL BPO
At ASL BPO, we sternly believe that the right candidate can make a huge difference; thus we give our best to offer the most suitable virtual assistant for your growing business.
For any queries, don’t hesitate to reach out to our sales team or leave an email to schedule an appointment!