Research report · Dataset and article
Virtual Assistant Rate Index 2026
Virtual assistant rates 2026: employed US assistants average $19.45 an hour on PayScale and $27.15 on Indeed, managed offshore assistants run $7 to $15 an hour or $640 to $2,400 a month full-time, premium onshore agencies charge about $28 to $79 an hour, and human answering plans start around $235 a month, according to the published sources compiled in this index.
- 41 sourced ranges
- Four markets, local currency
- CSV download
UK, Canadian and Australian ranges are below in local currency. None of these is an AssistBPO price.
United States
| Segment | Published range | Unit | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employed virtual assistant pay, PayScale average | 19.45 | USD per hour | PayScale via Wishup | 2026 |
| Employed virtual assistant pay, PayScale range | 12 to 30 | USD per hour | PayScale via Wishup | 2026 |
| Employed virtual assistant pay, Indeed average | 27.15 | USD per hour | Indeed via Wishup, Marblism | 2026 |
| In-house executive assistant, loaded cost | 4700 to 9100 | USD per month | PayScale and Indeed via Wishup, Marblism, Cherry Assistant | 2026 |
| In-house receptionist, median pay | 38010 | USD per year | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 | 2025 |
| Managed offshore assistant, typical hourly | 7 to 15 | USD per hour | Wishup, Cherry Assistant, Zedtreeo, VantaStaff | 2026 |
| Managed offshore assistant, Philippines | 4 to 17 | USD per hour | Wishup, Cherry Assistant, Zedtreeo, VantaStaff | 2026 |
| Managed offshore assistant, Latin America | 8 to 30 | USD per hour | Wishup, Cherry Assistant, Zedtreeo, VantaStaff | 2026 |
| Managed offshore assistant, South Africa | 4 to 15 | USD per hour | Wishup, Cherry Assistant, Zedtreeo, VantaStaff | 2026 |
| Managed offshore assistant, full-time | 640 to 2400 | USD per month | Wishup, Cherry Assistant, Zedtreeo, VantaStaff | 2026 |
| Managed offshore assistant, part-time 20 hours a week | 350 to 1300 | USD per month | Wishup, Cherry Assistant, Zedtreeo, VantaStaff | 2026 |
| Premium onshore agency, Boldly (40 to 60 hours a month) | 2600 to 3900 | USD per month | Boldly published pricing via Magic, MyOutDesk, Prialto, Nacho, Staffify roundups | 2026 |
| Premium onshore agency, Boldly hourly (specialists at the top) | 65 to 79 | USD per hour | Boldly published pricing via 2026 roundups | 2026 |
| Premium onshore agency, Athena executive assistant | 3000 to 3600 | USD per month | Athena published pricing via 2026 roundups | 2026 |
| Premium onshore agency, Time etc | 28 to 36 | USD per hour | Time etc published pricing via 2026 roundups | 2026 |
| Subscription assistant, Wing (entry plan) | 499 | USD per month | Wing published pricing via 2026 roundups | 2026 |
| Subscription assistant, Zirtual (entry plan) | 549 | USD per month | Zirtual published pricing via 2026 roundups | 2026 |
| Freelance marketplace, Upwork median | 13 | USD per hour | Zedtreeo, Catalyst, Nacho | 2026 |
| Human answering service, Ruby (50 to 500 minutes) | 235 to 1095 | USD per month | OnceHub, September 2026 | 2026 |
| Human answering service, Ruby overage | 4.70 | USD per minute | OnceHub, September 2026 | 2026 |
| Human answering service, Smith.ai Live (entry plan, 30 calls; 9.75 per extra call) | 292 | USD per month | OnceHub, AIRA, NextPhone | 2026 |
| Human answering service, AnswerConnect (100 minutes; 2.95 per extra minute) | 325 | USD per month | OnceHub, AIRA, NextPhone | 2026 |
| Human answering service, Abby Connect (top plan) | 1380 | USD per month | OnceHub, AIRA, NextPhone | 2026 |
| AI receptionist, flat plans | 25 to 300 | USD per month | AIRA, NextPhone | 2026 |
United Kingdom
| Segment | Published range | Unit | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK-based virtual assistant or PA, freelance and agency | 25 to 45 | GBP per hour | Society of Virtual Assistants surveys, agency pricing pages | 2026 |
| Freelance virtual assistant, survey typical | 28 to 35 | GBP per hour | Society of Virtual Assistants surveys | 2026 |
| Employed virtual assistant pay, PayScale average | 15.33 | GBP per hour | PayScale UK | 2026 |
| Agency, Virtalent (1,680 for 60 hours, rollover) | 28 | GBP per hour | Virtalent published pricing | 2026 |
| Agency, SmartPA (entry plan, 10 hours) | 330 | GBP per month | SmartPA published pricing | 2026 |
| Agency, Pink Spaghetti (no retainer) | 35 to 40 | GBP per hour | Pink Spaghetti published pricing | 2026 |
| Agency, AVirtual (entry rate) | 27 | GBP per hour | AVirtual published pricing | 2026 |
| Managed offshore assistant, full-time | 900 to 2000 | GBP per month | UK agency and provider pricing pages | 2026 |
| UK-based assistant, full-time | 3000 to 5000 | GBP per month | UK agency and provider pricing pages | 2026 |
| Experienced executive assistant, salary | 46000 | GBP per year | UK salary surveys | 2026 |
Canada
| Segment | Published range | Unit | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada-based virtual assistant | 25 to 60 | CAD per hour | Canadian agency and job-board ranges | 2026 |
| Toronto and Vancouver executive assistants (top of range) | 75 | CAD per hour | Canadian agency and job-board ranges | 2026 |
| Managed offshore assistant, typical SMB plan | 699 to 899 | USD per month | Virtual Gurus, VantaStaff, Remote CoWorker, Wing published pricing | 2026 |
Australia
| Segment | Published range | Unit | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Managed offshore assistant, agency published | 8 to 35 | AUD per hour | Virtual Coworker, DotVA and agency pricing pages | 2026 |
| Onshore virtual assistant | 39.90 to 65 | AUD per hour | Australian agency pricing pages | 2026 |
| Agency retainer | 800 to 3000 | AUD per month | Australian agency pricing pages | 2026 |
| Full-time offshore assistant | 22000 to 35000 | AUD per year | Australian agency pricing pages | 2026 |
| Local employee, loaded cost (from) | 91000 | AUD per year | Australian agency cost comparisons | 2026 |
Third-party figures as published; ranges, not AssistBPO prices.1 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.
How should you read these numbers?
- Employed pay is what an assistant earns; loaded cost adds employer taxes, benefits, software and overhead, which is why the in-house executive assistant row is several times the pay row.
- Managed offshore figures are what a provider charges for an employed, managed assistant, not what the assistant is paid. Country rows show where the spread comes from.
- Premium onshore agencies are usually fractional and priced per hour or per block of hours; hours often expire at month end.
- Answering services price per minute or per call; the overage rows matter more than the entry plan once volume grows.
- AI receptionist plans are flat monthly fees for scripted answers and are listed so the phone decision can be read on one page.
The first-party dataset
This edition is built on published third-party data only. The next edition adds an anonymized AssistBPO engagement dataset, aggregated across client desks with a minimum cell size so no single client can be identified: hours per desk, share of desks with phones, coverage zones and the models chosen, published as bands rather than exact figures.
Download: virtual-assistant-rate-index-2026.csv (market, segment, low, high, unit, source, year).
Methodology
- Scope: published hourly, monthly and annual figures for assistant, executive assistant and receptionist work in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, in the currency the source used. No conversion, no averaging across sources.
- Segments: employed pay, in-house loaded cost, managed offshore assistant, premium onshore agency, subscription assistant, freelance marketplace, human answering service, AI receptionist.
- Sources: pay surveys (PayScale, Indeed, BLS), provider pricing pages as quoted in dated 2026 roundups, and industry reports (Wishup 2026). Each row names its source and year.
- Exclusions: AssistBPO figures (plans depend on hours, desks and coverage), unsourced figures, and rates for licensed work such as legal, medical or tax advice.
- Cadence: refreshed quarterly on the striking-distance review; the CSV carries the edition year and superseded editions stay linked.
Guides that apply this index
Written from the same sources, with the arithmetic worked through on a real decision.
- Virtual assistant statistics 2026: adoption, cost and market dataVirtual assistant statistics for 2026: market size and growth, adoption by US businesses, workload mix, pay by market and published receptionist pricing.
- How much does a virtual assistant cost in 2026? (US, UK, Canada, Australia)Virtual assistant cost in 2026 across the US, UK, Canada and Australia: hourly rates, monthly plans, in-house comparisons and what moves a quote.
- Per-minute vs dedicated receptionist pricing: the maths behind Ruby, Smith.ai and AnswerConnect plansAnswering service per minute pricing worked at 100, 300, 800 and 1,500 minutes on published Ruby, Smith.ai and AnswerConnect plans, with the crossover.
How do you cite this index?
AssistBPO, Virtual Assistant Rate Index 2026, assistbpo.com/research/virtual-assistant-rate-index/, edition 2026. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Please link to this page and keep the edition year. Corrections are welcome through the contact page and get a new date.
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