Alternatives
Magic alternatives
Magic alternatives fall into three camps: managed monthly providers such as Wing and Wishup, hour-bank services such as TaskBullet, and US-based agencies such as Time etc and Zirtual. AssistBPO sits apart with employed assistants who answer phones in four markets. Every entry below carries a published price or says none exists.
· Reviewed by Nimra Khalid
- Checked on their own site
- Dated and sourced
- No ratings or rankings
Overview
People who shop around after reading Magic's weekly plans usually want one of four things changed. Some want a monthly invoice instead of a four-week billing cycle. Some need hours to bank rather than expire, because the workload arrives in bursts. Some want a US-based assistant for client-facing calls and correspondence. Some need a person on the phones in UK, Canadian or Australian hours, which very few assistant firms staff. Magic remains a sensible pick for a founder who wants a dedicated person with no minimum term and an on-demand layer behind them, so nothing here is ranked and none of it is called best. The seven providers below are described from their own published pages or the 2026 industry roundups named in the sources, with the month each figure was checked. AssistBPO is first because this is our site.
How does Magic compare with AssistBPO?
The same ten rows on every comparison page, so two providers can be read against each other without re-learning the layout.
| AssistBPO | Magic | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billing rhythm | Monthly staffing plan per desk, agreed before the assistant starts | Weekly rate billed every four weeks | getmagic.com/pricing, Sep 2026 |
| Published price | Published rate card, plus a costed staffing plan within 1 business day | $270 a week for 20 hours; $540 a week for 40 hours | getmagic.com/pricing, Sep 2026 |
| Live phone answering | Front desk and reception are core desks, answered in your business name | Calling sits inside assistant tasks; a staffed reception line is not listed | getmagic.com, Sep 2026 |
| Markets and hours | US, UK, Canadian and Australian business hours, staffed by shift | 20 or 40 hours a week, with an on-demand layer on full-time plans | getmagic.com/pricing, Sep 2026 |
| Continuity | Named assistant, trained backup and a team lead who runs a weekly review | Dedicated assistant with pooled on-demand support behind it | getmagic.com, Sep 2026 |
Magic facts as published on the dates shown. The AssistBPO rate card is published too, from $400 a month, and the staffing plan is what sets where on it you land. Spotted a change? Tell us and we update the row with a new date.
Who should choose AssistBPO, and who should choose Magic?
Choose AssistBPO if
- The role includes a phone line, not only an inbox and a calendar
- You want employed, background-checked staff with a substitute already briefed
- Your week runs across more than one of the US, UK, Canadian and Australian clocks
Choose Magic if
- A published weekly figure and no minimum term matter more than phone duty
- Overflow tasks land at unpredictable hours and an on-demand pool suits that
- You want to start small and change the arrangement between billing cycles
Which companies are the main Magic alternatives?
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AssistBPO
Dedicated virtual assistants, receptionists, support agents and back-office staff employed by SS Support Network LLC. Each engagement has a named assistant, a trained backup and a team lead who scores calls and runs a weekly review. Desks are scoped by function rather than sold as a bucket of tasks.
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Wing Assistant
Monthly subscription with a dedicated assistant, a customer success manager and a task app for assigning and tracking work. Positioned for founders and small teams who want predictable billing and simple scoping.
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TaskBullet
Sells hours in buckets rather than as a weekly commitment. Hours roll over for 90 days, there is no contract, and an account manager sits on every bucket. Philippines-based by default with a US-based option.
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Time etc
A network of experienced US-based freelance assistants sold in monthly hour bundles. Unused hours roll over, there is no setup fee, and you can add a second assistant or share one across a team.
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Zirtual
US-based, college-educated dedicated assistants on monthly hour plans that several people in the same company can share. No setup fee, unused hours do not roll over, and plan changes take effect the following month.
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Prialto
Team-delivered executive assistance: a primary assistant, a trained teammate as backup and an engagement manager who documents your processes. More than a million hours delivered, with a 90-day minimum per engagement.
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Wishup
Dedicated assistants marketed as the top 0.1 percent of applicants and trained on more than 120 AI tools. Wishup also publishes the annual industry report that many 2026 cost guides cite.
How does AssistBPO work?
A discovery call, then a named assistant proposed within 72 hours. That person works your hours inside your tools through your own user accounts, sends an end-of-day report, and is covered by a trained backup when they are off. A team lead runs a 20-minute weekly review with you and scores calls and tickets monthly. Assistants are employees of the group, never freelancers, and you never co-employ them. Plans start at $400 a month for 40 hours, at $10 an hour, and rates improve as you add assistants. Get a staffing plan within 1 business day.
Keep comparing
- Magic vs AssistBPOThe head-to-head table for Magic
- Fancy Hands alternativesManaged offshore provider
- Staffify alternativesManaged offshore provider
- Somewhere alternativesManaged offshore provider
- Oceans Talent alternativesManaged offshore provider
- All comparisons, by familyIncluding the rest of the managed offshore and staffing firms
What this desk actually does
- Dedicated virtual assistant services for the work that eats your dayService
- Tickets resolved by agents who learn your productService
- Executive & admin deskThe desk this sits on
- What moves a staffing planThe rate card, and the six things that move a plan off it
Frequently asked questions
Is AssistBPO cheaper than Magic?
Plans depend on hours, desks and coverage. Get a staffing plan within 1 business day. Magic publishes $270 a week for 20 hours a week and $540 a week for 40 hours, billed every four weeks (getmagic.com/pricing, September 2026). Put that beside the AssistBPO plan for the same hours, then read what sits inside each figure. Phone duty, a trained backup and a team lead's weekly review are part of an AssistBPO desk rather than extras.
Which Magic alternative is best for phones?
AssistBPO is the only provider on this list that staffs reception as a core desk, with assistants who answer, transfer and book in your business name. Wing, Wishup, TaskBullet, Time etc, Zirtual and Prialto concentrate on inbox, calendar, research and CRM work, and none of them lists a staffed answering service on the pages checked in September 2026. If calls are more than a quarter of the job, ask each shortlisted provider for a recorded sample and the QA process.
Which of these alternatives publish their prices?
Time etc ($390 to $2,160 a month), TaskBullet ($210 to $1,099 per bucket), Wing (from $499 a month), Wishup ($1,299 a month) and Zirtual (from $549 a month) all publish figures, as does Magic itself. Prialto quotes after a call, and AssistBPO sends a staffing plan within one business day instead of a rate card. Every number here carries the page and month it was checked, so verify before you budget; providers change plans without notice.
Do any of these cover UK, Canadian or Australian hours?
AssistBPO staffs all four markets in local business hours, with Australian Eastern shifts on request. Time etc operates in the US and the UK. Wing, Wishup, TaskBullet, Zirtual and Prialto are US-focused and may be able to match another time zone on request, so ask each one to commit to an exact shift in writing rather than accepting a general claim about global coverage. A shift written into the agreement is what you can hold someone to.
Why is Magic not one of the alternatives listed?
Because the page exists to show the other options. Magic is a good fit for a founder who wants a dedicated assistant with no minimum term and an on-demand layer for overflow, and the head-to-head with AssistBPO lives on the AssistBPO vs Magic page. We do not rank providers, publish star ratings or quote reviews we cannot verify. Each entry is a short factual summary taken from the provider's own pages or the 2026 roundups in the sources.
Sources
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