Ask five providers what a virtual assistant costs and you will get five different answers. Some quote by the hour, some by the month, some by the task. This guide puts the numbers in one place so you can compare them fairly and work out what you would actually pay.
The short answer
In 2026 a virtual assistant costs anywhere from about $5 to $75 an hour. Where your VA is based accounts for most of that gap.
- Offshore virtual assistants: roughly $5 to $20 an hour through a managed provider.
- US-based virtual assistants: roughly $30 to $75 an hour.
- Reachout Central: dedicated VAs from $4.90 an hour, billed weekly, with no setup fee and no long-term contract.
For comparison, ZipRecruiter puts average US virtual assistant pay at $24.40 an hour, and that is wages only, before any employer costs.
What decides the price
1. Location
This is the biggest factor. The same inbox, calendar and data entry work costs several times more when it is done by someone in a high-cost city. Offshore VAs cost less because their cost of living is lower. It says nothing about the quality of the work.
2. The role
General admin support sits at the bottom of the range. Bookkeeping, IT help desk, recruiting and marketing roles cost more because the skills take longer to build. At Reachout Central the rate depends on the category you choose (Admin, Sales and Customer Support, IT Help Desk, Social Media and Marketing, HR and Recruitment, Accounting and Finance, eCommerce or Real Estate) and the experience level within it.
3. Weekly hours
Full-time usually carries the lowest hourly rate. Our plans run at 10, 20, 30 or 40 hours a week, and you can adjust the hours later as the workload changes.
4. Freelancer or managed service
A freelancer can look cheaper on paper. What the hourly rate leaves out is the time you spend finding, vetting and replacing people. A managed service does the matching for you and replaces the VA if the fit is wrong. With us that replacement is free.
What you are really comparing it to
Most owners compare a VA’s hourly rate to an employee’s hourly wage. That comparison undercounts the employee.
The Small Business Administration’s rule of thumb is that an employee costs 1.25 to 1.4 times their salary once you add payroll taxes and benefits. The employer share of Social Security and Medicare alone is 7.65% of wages. Then come health coverage, paid time off, equipment, software seats, desk space and the cost of recruiting.
With a Reachout Central VA you pay the agreed service rate. We do not bill you for payroll taxes, benefits, recruiting or equipment. That is how clients cut payroll costs by up to 60% for the roles they move to a VA.
A worked example
A full-time Associate Admin VA with Reachout Central starts at $4.90 an hour.
- 40 hours a week at $4.90 comes to $196 a week.
- No setup fee to get started.
- Your approved rate is locked for 12 months from your first purchase.
Part-time plans, specialist roles and higher experience levels are priced differently, so treat $4.90 as the starting point and not the quote. You can see the exact weekly figure for your role in about two minutes with our VA pricing tool.
Costs people forget to ask about
- Setup or onboarding fees. Some providers charge one. We do not.
- Minimum terms. A six or twelve month commitment changes the real cost if the fit is wrong. Our service is weekly, with no long-term contract.
- Replacement. Ask what happens if the VA does not work out and who pays for the second search.
- Coverage outside standard hours. Evenings, overnight, weekends and holidays are usually priced separately. Ours are quoted on a Discovery Call.
- Your own time. Any new hire needs direction in the first few weeks. Budget a little time for handover, whoever you hire.
How to decide if it is worth it
Write down the tasks you or your team repeat every week: inbox, scheduling, follow-ups, order processing, data entry, invoicing. Put a rough hourly value on the person doing them now. If that number is well above the VA rate, and the work can be done remotely with clear instructions, a VA will usually pay for itself in the first month.
If the role needs someone physically on site, or needs legal authority to sign on your behalf, keep it in-house.
Common questions
How much does a full-time virtual assistant cost per month?
It depends on the role and provider. A full-time Associate Admin VA with Reachout Central starts at $196 a week, which is about $850 a month. US-based full-time support commonly runs several thousand dollars a month.
Is there a contract?
Not a long-term one. Service is weekly, and you can change your hours as your needs change.
What if my VA is not the right fit?
We replace them at no charge.
Can I start with a few hours a week?
Yes. Plans start at 10 hours a week.
See your exact price
Every business needs a different mix of role, experience and hours, so a range only gets you so far. Use the pricing tool to see your weekly figure, or book a 30-minute Discovery Call and we will walk through it with you. Reachout Central has supported more than 400 businesses since 2019 from our office in Sugar Land, Texas.
Find the right VA and see the exact weekly price.
Choose your support and weekly hours to see your price, or book a call to discuss the work.
