How much does a virtual assistant cost? The honest answer is that it depends on three things: how you hire, what the role involves, and how many hours you need. A part-time generalist for inbox and calendar work costs far less than a full-time bookkeeper or a medical billing specialist, and a freelancer found on a marketplace is priced differently from an assistant placed through a managed service.
Key Takeaways
- Through a managed service like Jobeelink, a dedicated virtual assistant starts at $700 a month part-time and $1,400 a month full-time.
- Price rises with specialization: medical, dental, insurance, legal and automation roles start at $1,300 a month part-time and $2,400 full-time.
- A U.S. administrative assistant earns a median of $48,310 a year, and benefits make up about 30% of private employers' total compensation costs.
- The lowest hourly rate isn't always the lowest total cost once you count hiring time, turnover, and management.
This guide breaks down virtual assistant pricing by hiring model and by role, explains what pushes the price up or down, and compares the cost of a remote assistant with a local hire using published U.S. wage and benefits data. If you already know you want help, our pricing page shows current rates for every role.
How much does a virtual assistant cost? Prices at a glance
Most businesses choose between four ways of getting assistant support. Each one prices the work differently and includes different things.
| Hiring model | How it's priced | What's included | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelance marketplace | Hourly or per-project rate set by each freelancer, plus platform fees | The work only. You vet, manage, and replace the person yourself | Short, well-defined projects |
| Shared task service | Monthly bundle of hours used by a pool of assistants | Coverage for simple tasks, with less continuity between assistants | Occasional errands and one-off tasks |
| Managed dedicated assistant | Monthly rate. At Jobeelink, from $700 part-time or $1,400 full-time | Vetting, matching, contract, payments, and a replacement guarantee | Ongoing work that needs one consistent person |
| Local in-house employee | Salary plus benefits, payroll taxes, and equipment | A full employee on your payroll | Roles that must be on site |
Hourly and monthly prices aren't directly comparable until you add up everything around them. A cheap hourly rate can end up costing more if you spend weeks screening applicants or have to rehire every few months.
What affects the cost of hiring a virtual assistant
Hours per week
Hours are the biggest single factor. Part-time support usually means about 20 hours a week, enough to cover one or two recurring workflows such as email and scheduling. Full-time means 40 hours a week. Starting part-time and moving up once you've found more work to hand over is a common approach.
Role and specialization
General admin work costs less than roles that need industry knowledge or technical skill. An assistant who reconciles accounts in QuickBooks, verifies insurance for a medical practice, or builds automations in Zapier brings expertise that commands a higher rate.
Experience level
An assistant with a couple of years of general admin experience costs less than one who has run an executive's calendar for six years. Match the experience to the job: paying for senior judgment only makes sense when the role requires it.
Hiring model
Freelance rates look lower because they cover only the work. Managed services build vetting, contracts, cross-border payments, and replacements into one monthly price, which removes costs you'd otherwise carry yourself.
Tools and extras
Software subscriptions, phone or SMS usage, and ad spend are usually billed separately by the tool providers. Budget for them on top of the assistant's rate.
Virtual assistant pricing by role
Here's how Jobeelink prices dedicated assistants. Each band shows the starting rate, and where a hire lands in the range depends on experience and scope.
| Role band | Part-time from | Full-time from | Example roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative & support | $700/month | $1,400/month | General VA, executive assistant, email, calendar, data entry, customer service, social media, lead generation, real estate, finance and bookkeeping, e-commerce |
| Specialized | $1,300/month | $2,400/month | Medical, dental, insurance, legal, automation |
For role-specific detail, see what a virtual bookkeeper, a medical virtual assistant, or a general virtual assistant typically handles.
Want an exact price for your role?
Tell us the work and hours you need, and we'll confirm your monthly rate on a free consultation call.
Virtual assistant vs. local hire: a cost comparison
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay for secretaries and administrative assistants at $48,310 a year as of May 2025, and $76,590 for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants. Salary is only part of the cost. In June 2026, benefits accounted for 30.0% of total compensation costs for private industry employers, according to the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release.
Using those two figures as a rough guide, a local administrative assistant at the median wage costs an employer around $69,000 a year once benefits are included, or about $5,750 a month. A full-time dedicated virtual assistant through Jobeelink starts at $1,400 a month, or $16,800 a year.
This is an illustrative estimate that applies the private-industry average benefits share to the median wage. The BLS benefits figure already includes legally required costs such as Social Security and Medicare. It leaves out recruiting fees, equipment, and office space, which would widen the gap further.
Outside the U.S.
The same logic applies in other markets. In the UK, employers pay Class 1 National Insurance at 15% on earnings above £5,000 a year for 2025 to 2026, on top of pension contributions and holiday pay. In Australia, employers pay the superannuation guarantee, currently 12% of ordinary earnings. A remote assistant contracted through a service doesn't add those costs to your payroll.
Hidden costs to watch for
- Platform fees on freelance marketplaces, which can add a meaningful percentage to every invoice.
- Your own time spent screening, interviewing, and testing applicants before anyone starts.
- Rehiring when a freelancer takes a bigger client or stops responding.
- Training time for someone who doesn't already know your tools.
- Time zone gaps that leave urgent work waiting overnight.
- Rework when quality slips and you have to fix the output yourself.
How to get the most from your budget
- 1Start part-time and expand once you've proven which tasks work remotely.
- 2List everything you want to hand over before you hire. Our task list is a good starting point.
- 3Choose a specialist when one type of work fills most of the week, and a generalist when the work is varied.
- 4Write short checklists for recurring tasks so your assistant needs fewer questions and less supervision.
- 5Review the arrangement after 30 days and adjust hours based on what you've actually delegated.
The bottom line
A virtual assistant costs anywhere from a small monthly bundle of hours to the price of a specialist, and the right number depends on the work you need done. For ongoing, dedicated support, expect to start around $700 a month part-time and $1,400 a month full-time for administrative roles, with specialized roles costing more. Compared with a local hire, the savings usually come less from the hourly rate and more from avoiding benefits, payroll costs, and the time spent recruiting.
Sources
Written by
Jobeelink Team
Jobeelink's hiring team vets, matches, and supports remote professionals for businesses worldwide. Guides like this one come from the questions and mistakes we watch come up across real hiring processes.
