Hiring a virtual assistant comes with a wide range of advantages. Find the right professional, and you get to hand off important but time-intensive administrative tasks to qualified assistants who can help your business run smoothly.
Of course, it’s not as simple as putting a job posting out there and hoping for the best. You likely don’t have the budget to hire a full-time assistant, and managing an independent contractor can be as time-intensive as the tasks themselves. That’s where virtual assistant companies come into play.
The right virtual assistant provider can do wonders for a growing business just looking for some administrative help. Of course, it has to be the right one. This guide will help you choose from the hundreds of options available today to find the best virtual assistant company for your needs.
What Virtual Assistant Companies Do
In short, virtual assistant companies take the guesswork out of the equation. On the backend, they work with a cadre of VAs, ensuring their qualifications and making sure they’re available for the right clients. For their clients, they take care of paying the VA and organizing schedules in exchange for what’s typically a flat fee.
If you decide that you want to hire a virtual assistant, going through a company comes with a few distinct advantages:
- A higher chance of working with qualified professionals, since they have been pre-selected before you engage them.
- Less paperwork, especially compared with hiring your own VA or independent contractor(s).
- Longer-term engagement, since you’re not bound to the whims of an individual freelancer but rely on a company instead.
- A wider range of potential services, since you’re not relying on a single professional to provide them all.
Most importantly, though, you get accountability. A VA service takes the onus of working with both you and the assistant if something goes wrong. That, in turn, leads to a more consistent workflow and the ability to more reliably move important work onto the assistant.
Best Virtual Assistant Companies
With a basic understanding of what makes a virtual assistant company a good choice, let’s dive into your options. There are hundreds, potentially thousands of services available across all industries and for all business sizes. From these, we’ve picked 10 that have consistently garnered high reviews and can provide all the advantages mentioned above.
These 10 are listed below, in no particular order. Instead, we’ve outlined exactly where they shine, what services they offer, and what budget they charge. From there, you can select an option that’s perfect for your needs. Let’s dive in.
TaskBullet
TaskBullet may be the biggest name out there, and the company has made a name for itself for great customer service. Sign up, and you get 24/7 service from a dedicated project manager who outsources individual tasks to any one of their Phillippines-based, English-speaking assistants.
Best for:
TaskBullet makes sense if you’re looking for flexibility and affordability. Instead of monthly subscriptions, it allows you to purchase buckets of hours which you can use over three months. You can use these hours in any way you deem sensible, no long-term commitment or specialization in services required.
What they offer:
Virtual assistants hired through TaskBullet can perform a wide range of tasks:
- Administrative support
- Website management
- Data entry
- Social media management
- Customer service
- Market research
- Sales support
What they charge:
TaskBullet offers three “buckets” of hours that you can replenish as needed, at affordable rates:
- A starter bucket of 20 hours, for $200 ($10 per hour)
- A light bucket of 60 hours, for $480 ($8 per hour)
- An expert bucket of 240 hours, for $1,440 ($6 per hour)
The prices are straightforward and transparent, without hidden charges or fees.
Fancy Hands
Looking for US-based virtual assistants? Fancy Hands might just be a great partner. The company, founded in 2010, is based in New York and only hires native speakers from its home country. And yet, through an extensive support system that even includes the ability to request a task via text message, you can get quick help any time of day.
Best for:
If you’re new to the virtual assistant market and are looking for help with those countless quick but annoying tasks, Fancy Hands is a great fit. You will find better companies for more strategic, in-depth tasks, especially since each request should only take 20 minutes or less. But for those quick and mundane administrative and personal tasks, look no further.
What they offer:
- Email management
- Event planning
- Reservation management
- Meeting scheduling
- Basic research
- Travel arrangements
What they charge:
For its quick tasks, despite its US-based workforce, Fancy Hands offers some great deals. You pay monthly, based on how many requests (of up to 20 minutes) you need:
- $29.99 for five requests per month, or $6 per request.
- $74.99 for 15 requests per month, or $5 per request.
- $199.99 for 50 requests per month, or $4 per request.
OkayRelax
This company is a lot like FancyHands, in that it can help you take care of those little tasks that always seem to take up the most time. Once you select a plan, you get matched with an account. Send your tasks through the platform, and get notified when they’re ready for you to be checked out.
Best for:
It’s all about those simple tasks. Especially if you have routine items on your to-do list that just keep seeming to pop up, OkayRelax is perfect to take them off your hand and—as the name of the company suggests—just relax for a little more.
What they offer:
- Travel management
- Product and competitive research
- Customer service
- Social media management
- Email management
- Scheduling and calendar management
- Outgoing phone calls
- Basic reporting
- Presentation creation
What they charge:
Clients at OkayRelax can choose between three basic plans. All of them are based on tasks that take 30 minutes or less, but differ in volume:
- The Starter plan gets you five tasks per month at a cost of $29.95 per month. Unlike the other plans, you don’t get a dedicated assistant.
- The Professional plan gets you 25 tasks per month at a cost of $99.95 per month. It does include a dedicated assistant.
- The Executive plan gets you 100 tasks per month at a cost of $299.95 per month, also including a dedicated assistant.
BELAY
Belay started its business a decade a goal, helping churches outsource their administrative tasks. It’s grown significantly since then, but still offers virtual administrative help with an entirely US-based workforce. Maybe the most established VA company on this list, it’s gained endorsements all the way up to the Fortune 500.
Price:
Pricing varies depending on your needs. Based on a month-to-month contract, there’s a minimum of 10 hours per week and up to 40 hours a week. Fees range in price from $38-$43 an hour.
Best for:
Work with Belay if you’re looking for comprehensive, bespoke VA services—and you’re not afraid to pay for them. You get top-end service through a dedicated client success consultant that acts as your go-between, with support even for the most complex assistant tasks you can imagine.
What they offer:
- Travel management
- Marketing support
- Calendar management
- C-level support
- Complex data presentations
- Building a virtual business front door
- Proofing and editing written content
- Client and team member coordination
What they charge:
Unlike most of the services on this list, Belay does not offer a selection of pricing plans or tiers on its website. Instead, you’ll need to ask for a custom quote. Based on other reviews, you can sign up for plans between 10 and 40 hours per week for a price of $35 to $45 per hour.
MyOutDesk
If you’re in the real estate business, you might have heard about these guys. They’ve served more than 6,000 clients in that industry, including famous names like Keller WIlliams, Coldwell Banker, and Re/Max.
Best for:
It’s a VA business that only makes sense for real estate clients, their exclusive focus. As a result, you get especially dedicated professionals who can help you save costs and drive revenues. Offload those repetitive tasks and focus on the actual property buying and selling instead.
What they offer:
- Virtual reception services
- Transaction coordination
- Loan processing assistance
- Telemarketing services
- Inside sales
- Help desk and customer service
- Marketing assistance
- Social media management
What they charge:
Like Belay, MyOutDesk does not offer straightforward pricing plans. Instead, interested clients are asked to request a free consultation to select a plan that works for them. The company does boast that working with its VAs means only paying 60% of the cost of a full-time assistant.
WoodBows
WoodBows is perhaps best known for its breadth. While most companies on this list focus on either foreign-based freelancers at low rates or US-based freelancers for a premium, here, you can get both. You also get an onboarding process that gest you started almost as soon as you sign up.
Best for:
Close supervision and peace of mind. With WoodBows, you get a dedicated account manager along with a daily status update that always lets you know where you stand. That, plus a 200% money-back guarantee, plays a large part in its 98% client retention rate.
What they offer:
- Social media maintenance
- Website maintenance
- Customer support
- Lead generation assistance
- Cold calling
- Personal assistant services
- CRM management
- Digital file conversion
- Bookkeeping assistance
- Calendar management and scheduling
What they charge:
WoodBows offers 4 basic plans, but changes the pricing of these plans based on whether you want to work with VAs based in the US or the Phillippines:
- 4 Hours/week ($49.90 per week for VAs in the Phillippines; $149.90 per week for VAs in the US)
- 10 Hours/week ($99.90 per week for VAs in the Phillippines; $299.99 per week for VAs in the US)
- 20 Hours/week ($199.90 per week for VAs in the Phillippines; $599.90 per week for VAs in the US)
- 40 Hours/week ($359.60 per week for VAs in the Phillippines; $999.60 per week for VAs in the US)
24/7 Virtual Assistant
With this company, the name doesn’t just mean you have help available at all times. It also means you can get help on a wide range of areas, both personal and professional. The result is a great compromise between flexibility and the types of services you can expect.
Best for:
Companies and entrepreneurs who need help with a wide range of tasks, but aren’t necessarily willing to commit immediately. Yet, this service is also comprehensive enough that you can stick with it, all the way to a full-time virtual assistant supporting you.
What they offer:
- Personal assistant services
- Sorting and filing
- Photocopying and collating
- Record keeping
- Word processing
- Customer service, including live support
- Bookkeeping, including software like Quickbooks and Freshbooks
- Data mining
- Email marketing
- HR tasks
- Web development
What they charge:
With 24/7 Virtual Assistant, you don’t have a minimum limit of hours. You do save money as you sign up for its higher-range plans, though:
- Pay by the hour at $15/hour
- The Entrepreneur plan, 30 hours per month at $299.
- The Professional plan, 60 hours per month at $499.
- The Executive plan, 120 hours per month at $799
- The VIP plan, 160 per month at $999 (the equivalent of a full-time, 40 hour/week VA).
Task Molly
To call Task Molly a VA company almost does it a disservice. This is a company ready to provide you comprehensive, in-depth project management services. But it doesn’t ignore the more administrative tasks either, landing it on this list.
Best for:
Companies who are looking for more than just some help with routine to-do items. Task Molly is not cheap, but you get a great return on them. Some clients even hire them as project and IT consultants, showcasing their expertise.
What they offer:
- Project management
- Vendor relationship management
- Hiring and recruitment support
- Software and IT consulting
- Bookkeeping
- Data entry
- Travel coordination
- Digital marketing and sales support
- Social media management
- Marketing and business automation
What they charge:
Task Molly’s most comprehensive services rely exclusively on custom quotes. The company does offer three pricing tiers for its more routine tasks:
- Petite: $425 per month for 12 monthly hours
- Plus: $825 per month for 24 monthly hours
- Pro: $1,225 per month for 36 monthly hours
Heads-up: hours that you don’t spend in a given month don’t roll over, making it important to track exactly what you need done and how many hours you have left.
GetFriday
Executives from Google to Esquire Magazine have endorsed GetFriday, a virtual assistant company promising to “help you with your mundane tasks.” The company offers professionals with VA expertise in industries ranging as far as education, healthcare, IT, real estate, and retail.
Best for:
A 14-year history with 14,000 clients across the globe has made GetFriday the best option for anyone looking for breadth of experience. It also means you can rely on 24/7 support and even a backup system that has you covered should your primary VA be out of commission.
What they offer:
- Customer support
- Sales and marketing support
- Writing and content creation
- Virtual receptionist services
- Legal, accounting, and bookkeeping assistance
- Website design and development help
- Order processing
- Logistics
What they charge:
With GetFriday, you have more than just a few options. A simple $5/month plan offers a baseline in which you pay $15 for every hour you need. From there, plans range from $65 for 5 hours/month to $1,120 for 160 hours/month, with the ability to add additional hours at a relatively low price.
Zirtual.com
We’d be remiss not to start this list with our own services. That’s not out of bias, but because we believe (and, more importantly, our clients believe) that we can compete with the strongest firms in the business. Here’s why.
Best for:
At Zirtual, you get comprehensive assistant services from pre-vetted and trained, college-educated professionals based in the United States. Look towards our model if you want VAs who work with you become an extension of your own workforce, integrating closely into your daily tasks and helping you become more productive in the process.
What they offer:
The services our VAs can provide might just be broader than any other service in this guide:
- Email inbox management
- Calendar management
- Expensing and invoicing
- Social media strategy and maintenance
- Research
- Data entry
- Content marketing
- Event planning
- Travel booking
- Website maintenance
What they charge:
Our plans are based on a monthly subscription:
- The Entrepreneur Plan at $449 per month, which includes 12 hours of work and one platform user.
- The Startup Plan for $749 per month, including 24 hours of work and two platform users.
- The Small Business Plan at $1,099 per month, including 36 hours of work and three platform users.
- The Team Plan at $1,499 per month, including 50 hours of work and five platform users.
For that price, you get dedicated and comprehensive VA services. Ready to learn more? Request a consultation today.