Virtual assistant companies supply remote assistants to businesses in three ways: agencies match and manage one for you, executive-assistant services place a full-time EA, and marketplaces let you hire directly. We read the official sites of 10 of them on 25 September 2026 and wrote down what each one charges, how it vets assistants and what the contract asks of you.
DonutJobs is one of the ten and is listed first because this is our page. Where another option fits you better, we say so. No star ratings, no paid placements, and every entry links to its source.
Most comparisons mix agencies and marketplaces in one ranked list. They work differently, and the difference decides your real cost and how much of your own time the hire takes.
A marketplace or hiring platform gives you access to candidates. You screen, hire, pay and manage the assistant yourself.
A managed VA agency recruits the assistant, matches them to you and usually handles contracts, payroll and cover. You pay one fee that includes the wage.
An executive-assistant service places one dedicated, full-time EA with a senior leader and may add coaching on how to delegate.
Starting price is the lowest monthly price each company publishes for a VA service. Every row was checked against the company's own site in Sep 2026.
Sources are linked under each company below. Upwork and Fiverr block automated checks, so their fee rates are linked rather than quoted. Checked Sep 2026.
Want to see a scored candidate pipeline for your own role?
Same day, same method, the companies' own pages. Last checked 25 September 2026.
We picked companies that recur in search results and industry lists for "virtual assistant companies", then made sure each model (marketplace, managed agency, EA service) had real representatives.
On 25 September 2026 we read every company's own pricing page, FAQ or homepage and recorded its model, starting price, vetting claims, contract terms and location. The source links sit under each entry.
The starting price is the lowest monthly price the company itself publishes for a VA service. If a company shows no price, we write "Not published" instead of repeating a figure from a third-party site.
Acceptance rates such as "top 1%" are the company's own claims. We did not hire through the agencies, so we report what they say and whether they publish evidence.
Upwork and Fiverr block automated page checks, so for those two we describe how the fees work and link the official fee pages rather than quote a rate we could not re-read.
There are no star ratings or overall scores on this page, and no company paid to appear. DonutJobs is listed first because this is our page. The rest are grouped by model, then by published entry price, with per-payment and unpublished prices last.
What each one sells, what it costs, how it vets, who it suits and what to check before you sign.
Hiring platform and talent pool. You post a role, review scored candidates and hire them directly.
DonutJobs is a hiring platform and talent pool for virtual assistants and remote operators. You post a role, candidates apply, and each profile can carry scores from up to four skill checks. An applicant pipeline, screening forms and in-app chat are built in. You agree terms with the person you hire and pay them directly, so the platform fee stays the same whatever the wage.
Best for
Businesses that want to hire an assistant themselves, see test scores before the first call, and keep the platform cost flat while the wage goes straight to the person.
Watch out for
You do the interviews, onboarding, payroll and day-to-day management yourself. The checks are optional: as of Sep 2026, 32% of profiles had completed the internet, English and typing checks and 14% had completed all four. Free job posts wait for a human review of up to 48 hours; paid posts go live immediately.
DonutJobs also runs a managed option: a dedicated assistant for $629 a month (80 hours) or $899 a month (160 hours), with no setup fee and no minimum term. See managed virtual assistants. Platform plans are on the pricing page.
Job board for hiring Filipino remote workers directly, with no agency in between.
OnlineJobs.ph is a job board for hiring Filipino virtual assistants directly. You pay a monthly subscription to contact workers, then hire and pay them yourself. It is simple and cheap, and it leaves every step of screening to you.
Best for
Employers who want a large Filipino talent pool, are happy to screen applicants themselves, and want no markup on the wage.
Watch out for
All screening is on you, and the free account cannot contact anyone. Its Terms of Use exclude some industries, including companies connected to the adult or OnlyFans industry.
Global freelance marketplace. Freelancers send proposals, and contracts and payments run through Upwork.
Upwork is a large general freelance marketplace and a common first stop for a first virtual assistant. You post a job, freelancers pitch, and you choose. It shines when the work is a defined project, and it gets expensive in time and fees when the same role runs for months.
Best for
One-off or specialist projects where you want escrow on fixed-price work, a very large global supply and reviews from past clients.
Watch out for
You screen the proposals yourself on every role, and the fees apply to every payment for as long as the contract runs.
Gig marketplace. You buy a defined service from a seller at a listed price.
Fiverr sells packaged services. It is fast when you know exactly what you want delivered, and awkward when you need someone to own a workload week after week.
Best for
A defined one-off task with a clear deliverable, such as a slide deck, a data clean-up or a logo.
Watch out for
It is built for orders, not for a person in a seat for months. A fee lands on every order and the relationship runs through Fiverr.
Managed agency with dedicated US-based assistants, sold in monthly hour blocks.
Time etc sells small, flexible blocks of time with a dedicated US assistant. It has the lowest published entry price of the agencies here, which makes it an easy way to try delegating.
Best for
Founders and small teams with 10 to 60 hours of admin a month who want a US assistant without a long commitment.
Watch out for
The largest listed plan is 60 hours a month, and at $36 to $39 an hour it costs far more per hour than an offshore assistant you hire directly.
Managed agency. Most assistants work from India on US business hours; a US-based tier exists.
Wishup places managed assistants, most of them in India working night shifts to cover US hours. Prices are published per plan, and a dedicated VA manager and replacement are included.
Best for
Businesses that want a managed assistant working a full US day at a mid-range price, with a replacement if the fit is wrong.
Watch out for
Check the billing period before you sign: the pricing page defaults to quarterly billing. The "top 0.1%" figure comes without published test data.
Managed outsourcing. Full-time staff in the Philippines, Latin America and Africa, with recruiting, payroll and HR included.
MyOutDesk recruits and employs full-time offshore staff for you and bills one monthly rate. It argues openly for full-time seats over hour blocks, and prices reflect that.
Best for
Businesses that want one full-time offshore team member with recruiting, payroll and HR handled, including in real estate, healthcare and insurance roles.
Watch out for
It is full-time only, so it does not fit a light workload, and contract terms are only discussed on a call.
Premium subscription staffing. Staff in North America or Europe, employed by Boldly.
Boldly employs experienced assistants and rents their time by subscription. Its full price list is published, down to the hourly rate for specialist tasks.
Best for
Companies that want a senior assistant employed in North America or Europe and will pay a premium for experience and compliance.
Watch out for
It has the highest published hourly rate here, and the smallest plan is $2,600 a month.
Managed agency with US-based assistants, matched by a person rather than an algorithm.
BELAY is a US agency that places assistants, bookkeepers and other specialists, all US-based. It sells a flat monthly fee but keeps the number off its site.
Best for
US businesses that want a US-based executive or admin assistant matched for them and can commit to 45 or more hours a month.
Watch out for
You cannot see a price before a sales conversation, and the 45-hour monthly floor rules out very light workloads.
Executive-assistant service. One dedicated, full-time EA, employed and trained by Athena.
Athena is built for executives rather than task lists. You get one full-time EA plus a structured delegation process, at a single published price.
Best for
Founders and executives who want a full-time EA across work and personal life, with coaching on how to delegate.
Watch out for
There is one full-time price and a 90-day commitment, so there is no part-time or trial option.
Only plans whose source states both a monthly price and the hours it includes are here, so the hourly figure is plain division, not a guess.
| Company and plan | Per month | Hours | Per hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time etc, 10 hours | $390 | 10 | $39.00 |
| Time etc, 60 hours | $2,160 | 60 | $36.00 |
| Boldly, 40 hours | $2,600 | 40 | $65.00 |
| Boldly, 100 hours | $6,500 | 100 | $65.00 |
| DonutJobs managed, 80 hours | $629 | 80 | $7.86 |
| DonutJobs managed, 160 hours | $899 | 160 | $5.62 |
On a platform you pay the wage plus the platform. At the median asking rate on DonutJobs ($5 an hour, 1,482 profiles, as of Sep 2026), 80 hours a month is $400 in wages. Add the $99 Agency plan and the month costs $499, about $6.24 an hour.
What that leaves out: your own time to screen, interview, onboard and manage, and cover when the assistant is away. Those are what agencies charge for.
Wishup prices by hours per day ($1,299 for 4 hours a day), and MyOutDesk ($1,988) and Athena ($3,000) price a full-time seat. Their pages do not state monthly hours, so we leave them out of the per-hour table rather than estimate. BELAY publishes no price.
The asking rate is self-stated. The current signup screen offers $2, $3, $5 and $8 shortcuts and says most jobs pay $2 to $5 per hour, so answers cluster on those values.
Agencies describe their pools in adjectives. Here are measured numbers from the DonutJobs database, with the sample size next to each one, so you know what you are filtering when you hire directly.
26,888
candidate profiles
in 143 countries
8,672
completed three checks
32% of profiles
31
median typing WPM
n = 12,680
17
minutes to first application
median, n = 1,489 jobs that got one
| Measure | Value | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| Candidate profiles | 26,888 | All non-demo profiles |
| Countries represented | 143 | 78.5% of profiles in the Philippines |
| Completed internet, English and typing checks | 8,672 (32%) | n = 26,888 |
| Completed all four checks, including voice | 3,798 (14%) | n = 26,888 |
| Median typing speed | 31 WPM | n = 12,680 typing tests |
| Median English test score | 73% correct | n = 10,854 English tests |
| Median download speed | 68.7 Mbps | n = 11,008 speed tests |
| Median asking rate | $5/hr | n = 1,482 profiles created on or after 25 Aug 2026 |
| Median hourly rate in job posts | $3/hr | n = 1,262 hourly posts, 767 also pay commission |
| Median time from job going live to first application | 17 minutes | n = 1,489 jobs that got an application (of 1,537) |
Read-only aggregate queries on the DonutJobs app database, 25 September 2026. English scores are percent correct on the DonutJobs test, not an official certificate. Internet speeds are entered by candidates from the in-app speed test.
DonutJobs suits owners who want to hire and manage their own assistant at a low, flat cost. If any of these describe you, another company on this list is the better call.
DonutJobs is a platform: you interview, onboard and manage the person. If that is the work you want to hand off, a managed agency such as Time etc, Wishup or MyOutDesk fits better, or DonutJobs' own managed option.
DonutJobs managed assistantsThe DonutJobs pool is global but 78.5% of profiles are in the Philippines (as of Sep 2026). For a US-based assistant, look at Time etc or BELAY; for staff employed in North America or Europe, look at Boldly.
See BoldlyFor a logo, a spreadsheet clean-up or a one-time research task, a gig marketplace is faster. Fiverr and Upwork are built for that.
See FiverrDonutJobs does not run payroll or escrow. You pay your hire directly through Wise, Payoneer, Deel or your own setup. Upwork handles payments inside the marketplace.
See UpworkThe four checks cover internet speed, English, typing and voice. Skills such as bookkeeping are self-reported tags, and as of Sep 2026 only 14% of profiles had completed all four checks. Specialist roles still need your own test task.
See the pool dataIf the job is running a founder's calendar, travel and household at a senior level, an EA service such as Athena is designed for exactly that.
See AthenaHiring yourself? Post the role free and compare applicants.
7 steps, in the order that cuts the list fastest.
If you will screen and manage the assistant, use a platform and keep the savings. If you will not, pay an agency to do it. This one choice removes half the list.
Under about 20 hours a month suits hour blocks such as Time etc. From about 80 hours a month, compare part-time or full-time seats and direct hires: on the published prices above they cost far less per hour than small hour blocks.
Agency prices include the assistant. Platform prices do not, so add the wage before you compare. The cost-per-hour table above does that sum for the published hour plans.
Assistants based in the US cost more and share your working day. Offshore assistants cost less; check how many of your hours they overlap and how cover works when they are away.
A "top 1%" claim is not a test result. Ask for English and typing scores, a voice or video sample and a paid test task that looks like your real work.
Look for minimum monthly hours (BELAY), an upfront commitment (Athena), the billing period (Wishup) and card fees (Boldly). The contract row in each company entry above lists them.
Use a trial where one exists: Time etc does a first task free, Boldly lets you meet staff before paying, and the DonutJobs Free plan takes 10 applications with no card.
Virtual assistant companies are businesses that supply remote assistants to other businesses. Agencies such as Time etc, BELAY and Boldly match and manage an assistant for a monthly fee. Marketplaces such as DonutJobs, Upwork and OnlineJobs.ph let you hire the assistant yourself, and executive-assistant services such as Athena place one full-time EA with a leader.
Published prices we checked in Sep 2026 run from $390 a month for 10 hours (Time etc) to $6,500 for 100 hours (Boldly). Full-time offshore seats start at $1,988 at MyOutDesk, and a full-time EA at Athena is $3,000. Marketplaces charge a smaller platform fee, and you pay the wage on top.
An agency recruits, screens and manages the assistant and bundles their pay into one monthly fee. A marketplace gives you access to candidates, and you screen, hire, pay and manage them yourself. Agencies cost more per hour but save your time. Marketplaces cost less but put the hiring work on you.
It depends on hours and budget. For under 20 hours a month of admin with a US assistant, Time etc has the lowest published agency entry price at $390. For a full-time assistant on a tight budget, hiring directly through DonutJobs or OnlineJobs.ph costs least. If you want the work managed, compare Wishup, MyOutDesk and DonutJobs managed.
Most agencies describe selective hiring, such as BELAY's top 3% or Wishup's top 0.1%, but none of the agency pages we checked shows the test data behind those figures. Ask for real scores or work samples before you sign. On DonutJobs, candidates can complete English, typing, internet and voice checks, and the scores sit on their profiles.
Usually, in cash terms. As of Sep 2026, the median hourly rate DonutJobs candidates asked for was $5 (1,482 recent profiles), so 80 hours costs about $400 plus the platform fee. The US and European agency hour plans we found cost $36 to $65 an hour, but they include recruiting, management and cover.
Because DonutJobs publishes this page and is one of the options, and we would rather say so than hide it. The others are grouped by model and then by published entry price, not by a score, and none of them paid to appear. Every entry links to the page we checked, so you can verify each price yourself.
Yes. The Free plan lets you post 1 job and receive up to 10 applications, with no credit card and no expiry. Free posts are checked by a person before they go live. Paid plans start at $99 a month, publish posts immediately and add talent pool search and outreach.
Post 1 job free and receive up to 10 applications, no credit card. Candidates can show internet, English and typing scores and a voice sample on their profiles, and you pay your hire directly with no per-hire fee. Paid plans start at $99 a month.
Rather not hire yourself? See managed virtual assistants.
