The Best Virtual Assistant Services of 2024
- Fancy Hands: Best for quick requests
- Time etc: Best for entrepreneurs
- Uassist.ME: Best for bilingual
- Prialto: Best for large teams
- WoodBows: Best for customer satisfaction
Best for Quick Requests
Fancy Hands
Starting price
$35 per month for three requests
U.S.-based VAs
Yes
$35 per month for three requests
Yes
Editor's Take
Fancy Hands was founded by Ted Roden in 2010 to help people get stuff done faster without the headaches of doing all the research of things themselves. The company works on a per-task basis with a minimum of three tasks subscribed to per month. Each task is valued at 20 minutes, so if a task takes longer than that, the subscriber is notified ahead of time about how many subscribed tasks the order will take.
The company prides itself on quick action, being able to fulfill tasks quickly on demand. The website touts that all VAs are U.S.-based, making communication much easier. The website has a map of all logged-in VAs and their locations. This makes the company very transparent about the workers it hires. The downside is that a subscriber may not always get the same VA since the tasks are accepted by those logged into the system at the time of the request. Unused requests roll over to the next month as long as you remain a member.
Its schedule of fees is as follows:
- Three requests:$35 per month
- Five requests:$55 per month
- 15 requests:$125 per month
Who should use it:
Fancy Hands is ideal for someone who needs simple tasks done quickly without the back and forth of excess negotiating for prices. It is designed to be an on-demand solution, providing quick action.
Pros & Cons
- Simple pricing structure
- Performs personal and professional tasks
- On-demand results
- No consistency with VA
- Expensive for more complex tasks
Best for Entrepreneurs
Time etc
Starting price
$380 per month for 10 hours
($38 per hour)
U.S.-based VAs
Yes
On Time etc's Website
Editor's Take
Time etc was founded in 2007 using no external funding to get started. The company has grown to offer services of over 500 remote freelancers. All freelancers are based in the U.S. or U.K. Time etc bases services on an hourly rate.
The pricing structure is simple:
- 10 hours: $380 per month, or $38 per hour
- 20 hours: $740 per month, or $37 per hour
- 40 hours: $1,440 per month, or $36 per hour
- 60 hours: $2,100 per month, or $35 per hour
The more hours you subscribe to, the lower the hourly rate is. Assistants have an average of 12 years of experience as an assistant, giving them the tools to get any job or task done. One of the benefits of Time etc is that the VA gets assigned to your subscriptions, so you have the consistency of working with the same person on all of your tasks. You can request a new VA if you aren’t satisfied with the assigned one.
VAs take tasks from email, text and phone to make communication work the way you prefer.
Who should use it:
Time etc was founded by Barnaby Lashbrooke, who was inspired by Penni Pike, a VA for the famous entrepreneur Richard Branson. She prides herself on finding and training VAs who will help entrepreneurs save time and personal resources.
Pros & Cons
- Can give assistant company-branded email
- Expertly matched to VAs skills
- Can share assistant with team
- 10-hour minimum
- May take time to find VA you gel with
Best for Bilingual
Uassist.ME
Starting price
Schedule a consultation
U.S.-based VAs
No
Schedule a consultation
No
Editor's Take
Uassist.ME is an El Salvador-founded company now based in Miami Beach, Florida. It prides itself on “near shore” assistance, most of which are bilingual VAs who speak both English and Spanish. The company was founded in 2009 to help business owners with common tasks, such as administrative and marketing solutions.
VAs are vetted and paired with small and medium-sized businesses(SMBs) based on their background. It has VAs with backgrounds in business, marketing, customer service, finance, lead generation, sales and design and development.
Uassist.ME strives to partner with its business clients, touting that it is a two-hour flight to major U.S. cities. This means that you can schedule meetings or in-person services if needed, making the service more dynamic.
The company wants to place a VA as a part-time or full-time assistant to you and your company. As such, the pricing is based on part-time and full-time needs. You need to schedule a consultation to review your needs and get a quote.
Who should use it:
Uassist.ME is a VA solution for small- to medium-sized businesses with bilingual VAs who can work in any time zone needed.
Pros & Cons
- Bilingual VAs
- Consistent VA assigned to you
- Specialized VA experience
- Fees not disclosed
- Commitment to at least part-time VA
Best for Large Teams
Prialto
Starting price
$1,500 per month for 55 hours
U.S.-based VAs
No
On Prialto's Website
$1,500 per month for 55 hours
No
Editor's Take
Eric Taussig founded Prialto in 2010 in Silicon Valley after he had traveled throughout Asia and Latin America meeting college grads stuck in unsatisfying jobs. He founded the company to help executives “crumbling under a load of administrative work forced on them by technology that replaced administrative assistants.”
With a global workforce, he created a VA product at a price point that executives could afford. VAs are brought into the Prialto team, where they are trained and managed as full-time employees. VAs are then assigned to executives or teams to provide support for the executive and his team.
Pricing is based on whether you need help yourself or as a team or organization. The pricing structure is as follows:
Yourself: One VA with 55 hours of monthly support for $1,500 per month
Your Team: Three VAs with over 165 hours of monthly support for $4,500 per month
Your Organization: Eight VAs with over 440 hours of monthly support (inquire for pricing)
Who should use it:
Because Prialto can establish a team environment for clients, it can serve the bigger needs of entire teams and organizations.
Pros & Cons
- Tech-savvy VAs
- Sales, operations and administrative support
- Back-up assistants available
- Can get expensive
- No U.S.-based VAs
Best for Customer Satisfaction
WoodBows
Starting price
$499 per month for 40 hours monthly
(or $12.48 per hour)
U.S.-based VAs
Yes
$499 per month for 40 hours monthly
(or $12.48 per hour)
Yes
Editor's Take
WoodBows offers VA help from offices in the U.S., India and the Philippines. The company boasts a 98.4% retention rate, offering regular services to repeat customers seeking to lighten their administrative load.
The type of work that WoodBows offers varies. You can get help with administrative tasks, graphics and web design, digital marketing, customer support, app development, software development, content writing and data entry. It offers dedicated professionals so that you are always working with the same VA for your job needs. This leads to consistency in work and understanding of workflow.
Price models depend on how many hours per month you need service. The price models are:
- 40 Hours Monthly:$499 per month, or $$12.48 per hour
- 80 Hours Monthly:$699 per month, or $8.74 per hour
- Full-Time Plan (160 hours per month):$1,299 per month, or $8.11 per hour
- US-Based VA (160 hours per month):$27 per hour
VAs will work based on your time zone and are available for communication by phone, email, text and video chat. There are no contracts, and you can cancel at any time.
Who should use it:
Those seeking to get a great VA from the start can’t go wrong with the customer satisfaction and retention rate that WoodBows boasts.
Pros & Cons
- Cost-effective solutions
- 98% client retention rate
- Specialized task assignment
- May not get U.S.-based support
- May need different VA for specialized tasks
Methodology
We took a look at the most popular virtual assistant services on the market. We first considered the baseline price of services and whether or not the company offered U.S.-based VAs as part of its subscriptions. We then dove into the details about the company and how the subscriptions worked. It was important that there was transparency about how the process of task assignment worked:
- Pricing and affordability
- Services
- Location
- Flexibility and turnaround time
- Reviews and ratings
What You Need To Know About Choosing a Virtual Assistant
When hiring a virtual assistant, of course, you’ll be concerned about the price of the labor. However, that isn’t the only thing you should consider. You’ll want to assess whether or not it is important to you to have a U.S.-based or English-fluent VA on your team. This is especially important if they will be working with clients or other team members.
Communication is critical and should not be difficult. Another aspect of communication to consider is how the VA will communicate with you. The best VA services offer a plethora of communication options so that you can assign tasks and go back and forth in a way that works best for you. This may be via email, phone, text or Zoom call.
It is also critical to find a VA who specializes in the tasks that you need done. You don’t want an administrative VA working on marketing tasks. You want someone who is versed in what you need so the job gets done quickly and correctly.
Featured Partners
Advertisem*nt
1
Prialto
Designed for
Busy Executives and Teams
Main Benefit
Prialto enhances your productivity; 750,000+ hours saved
Key Features
Full support team, Highly trained, Deep business experience, No overage charge
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What services does a virtual assistant offer?
Services vary by VA but you can expect help with administrative tasks, such as scheduling appointments, making phone calls and travel arrangements. Some VAs will also manage social media accounts and handle marketing or content writing.
How many hours does a virtual assistant work?
Virtual assistants usually have packages for working as few as 10 hours per week. This varies by VA service provider. Some VA service providers offer a task-based solution that charges for tasks, not hours.
What is the average cost of a virtual assistant?
The VA Handbook says that a VA based in the U.S. can cost as much as $60 per hour. Costs do vary based on the experience, location and services of the VA.
Do I need a nondisclosure agreement?
Depending on the nature of your business, you should be prepared to ask your virtual assistant to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA). Many of the best virtual assistant services will even provide an NDA tailored to your business for you to have the VA sign.
Is using a virtual assistant service cost-effective, even for a small business?
Because VAs work on an as-needed basis and are not on your payroll, they save you money overall. Additionally, by not being employees, there are no peripheral costs to using a virtual assistant, such as paying for insurance, vacation, equipment and similar out-of-pocket expenses. You can choose to use them when needed.
