We checked the pricing pages of US virtual assistant services on October 14, 2026. Published plans cost $36 to $65 an hour, from $390 a month for 10 hours. Here is how that compares with freelancers, an in-house hire and AI tools.
Updated October 14, 2026. Every price below was checked on October 14, 2026 on the vendor’s own pricing page, linked in each row. Dooza sells an admin assistant service (Dooza Managed), so we are not neutral; our method and every source are listed so you can check us. Prices change: confirm on the vendor’s page before you buy.
A US virtual assistant service costs $36 to $65 an hour on published plans, so expect $390 a month for 10 hours at the low end and $599 to $2,600 a month for most small-business plans (prices checked October 14, 2026). Freelance VAs on Upwork have median rates of $10 to $20 an hour. An in-house administrative assistant’s median wage is $23.23 an hour, before taxes and benefits. For written admin work only, Dooza Managed costs $200 a month: AI does the work and a real person checks it, first 7 days free.
| Service | Plan | Price | Hours included | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time etc | 10 / 20 / 40 / 60 hours | $390 / $760 / $1,480 / $2,160 a month | 10 to 60 | $39 down to $36 an hour; US assistant; unused hours roll over |
| Zirtual | Entrepreneur / Grow / Small Business / Team | $599 / $899 / $1,199 / $1,699 a month | 12 / 20 / 30 / 45 | 1 to 4 users; US assistants; no setup fee; hours don’t roll over |
| Prialto | One unit | $1,500 to $1,600 a month | 55 | $250 set-up fee; 90-day minimum per unit |
| Boldly | 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 hours | $2,600 / $3,900 / $5,200 / $6,500 a month | 40 to 100 | $65 an hour on every plan |
| BELAY | Virtual assistant | Not published | n/a | “Request Pricing” only |
| Upwork (freelancers) | Hourly | $10 to $20 an hour | You choose | Upwork’s stated median VA rates; you hire and manage the person |
Divide each published plan by its hours and the range is clear:
Bigger plans are cheaper per hour, but only if you actually use the hours. Zirtual, for example, does not roll unused hours over.
Twenty hours a month (about one hour a working day) is a common starting point for a small business. On published prices:
The US median wage for secretaries and administrative assistants was $48,310 a year, or $23.23 an hour, in May 2025 (BLS). That is wage only: payroll taxes, benefits, equipment and the time to hire come on top. Even with those added, a hire is usually cheaper per hour than a VA service at $36 to $65. What the VA premium buys: no hiring, no payroll, cover when someone is out, and the freedom to buy 10 hours a month and cancel. Few people take a job for 10 hours a month. If you need someone most of the week, in the office or on your phones, hire.
For written admin work, partly. AI assistants are far cheaper per month, but you do the asking, checking and sending yourself:
What AI tools don’t do: decide what to work on, notice when a draft is wrong, or follow up next week without being asked. That is the gap a human VA, or a service where a person checks the AI’s work, fills.
Dooza is an AI-native company that builds AI products and services for small businesses. Dooza Managed is an admin assistant for $200 a month, with the first 7 days free: AI does the written admin work, and a real person checks it before it reaches you. You send tasks by email and they are done by the next business day, with a weekly report of what got done.
What it covers: email drafts and follow-up sequences, documents and forms, spreadsheets and data entry, and research. What it does not cover: phone calls or texts to your customers, logging into your accounts, payments, and legal, tax or insurance advice. If you need those, a human VA from the table above is the better fit, and we will tell you so on a call.
Start Dooza Managed, 7 days free or book a 15-minute call to check it fits your work first. We take 3 new businesses this month.
On October 14, 2026 we opened the pricing page of each service and recorded the plan, monthly price, included hours and terms, reading the numbers from the page itself (Zirtual, Upwork and BLS through a browser, because they block automated requests). Per-hour figures are our division of the published price by the included hours. We left out prices that appear only on third-party sites, and services that do not publish prices are marked “not published”. Fancy Hands and Wishup were checked but left out: Fancy Hands’ page did not load for us, and Wishup’s page did not make clear which hours its prices cover. Spot an error or a price change? Email achilles@dooza.org with the public pricing page and we’ll update this page.
US virtual assistant services that publish prices charge $36 to $65 an hour, so the cheapest monthly plan is $390 for 10 hours (Time etc) and most plans run $599 to $2,600 a month (Zirtual, Prialto, Boldly). Freelance VAs on Upwork have median rates of $10 to $20 an hour. Prices checked on each vendor’s own page on October 14, 2026.
On published plans checked October 14, 2026: Prialto about $27 to $29 an hour ($1,500 to $1,600 for a 55-hour unit), Time etc $36 to $39, Zirtual about $38 to $50, and Boldly $65. Upwork lists median freelance VA rates of $10 to $20 an hour. The US median wage for an in-house secretary or administrative assistant was $23.23 an hour in May 2025 (BLS), before payroll taxes and benefits.
Not per hour: VA services charge $36 to $65 an hour against a $23.23 median wage for an in-house admin assistant (BLS, May 2025). Even after payroll taxes and benefits, a hire is usually cheaper per hour. A VA service is worth the premium when you need only a few hours a week, want cover without hiring or managing anyone, or can cancel month to month.
For written admin work (email drafts, documents, spreadsheets, research), AI tools cost $18 to $50 a user a month (Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, Lindy), but you run them yourself. Dooza Managed costs $200 a month with the first 7 days free: AI does the work and a person checks it. For calls, scheduling and anything needing your logins, a human VA is still the right choice.
Some do. Prialto has a $250 set-up fee and a 90-day minimum per unit. Zirtual has no setup fee but does not roll over unused hours and cancellations take effect the next month. Time etc rolls over unused hours. Check terms on the vendor’s page before you sign.
US virtual assistant services that publish prices charge $36 to $65 an hour, so the cheapest monthly plan is $390 for 10 hours (Time etc) and most plans run $599 to $2,600 a month (Zirtual, Prialto, Boldly). Freelance VAs on Upwork have median rates of $10 to $20 an hour. Prices checked on each vendor’s own page on October 14, 2026.
On published plans checked October 14, 2026: Prialto about $27 to $29 an hour ($1,500 to $1,600 for a 55-hour unit), Time etc $36 to $39, Zirtual about $38 to $50, and Boldly $65. Upwork lists median freelance VA rates of $10 to $20 an hour. The US median wage for an in-house secretary or administrative assistant was $23.23 an hour in May 2025 (BLS), before payroll taxes and benefits.
Not per hour: VA services charge $36 to $65 an hour against a $23.23 median wage for an in-house admin assistant (BLS, May 2025). Even after payroll taxes and benefits, a hire is usually cheaper per hour. A VA service is worth the premium when you need only a few hours a week, want cover without hiring or managing anyone, or can cancel month to month.
For written admin work (email drafts, documents, spreadsheets, research), AI tools cost $18 to $50 a user a month (Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, Lindy), but you run them yourself. Dooza Managed costs $200 a month with the first 7 days free: AI does the work and a person checks it. For calls, scheduling and anything needing your logins, a human VA is still the right choice.
Some do. Prialto has a $250 set-up fee and a 90-day minimum per unit. Zirtual has no setup fee but does not roll over unused hours and cancellations take effect the next month. Time etc rolls over unused hours. Check terms on the vendor’s page before you sign.
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