How much does a virtual assistant cost in 2026?
A full-time virtual assistant costs about $480 to $2,000 a month hired direct in the Philippines, or $999 and up through an agency. Rates by country and role.
By Anyro, founder of StaffPickPublished 8 min read
Contents
The cost of a virtual assistant comes down to three things: where they live, how you hire them, and how much of the hiring work you want someone else to do. This guide puts the published numbers side by side, with the source and date for each, so you can budget before you post a job.
Every figure here is one of two kinds. A freelance rate is what a VA charges clients, usually by the hour. A local salary is what employers in the VA's own country advertise. They are different markets, and mixing them up is how cost comparisons go wrong.
The short answer
A full-time virtual assistant costs roughly $480 to $2,000 a month if you hire one directly in the Philippines, $999 to about $2,000 a month through a managed agency, and $1,680 to $3,360 a month on a freelance marketplace at typical rates. A US administrative assistant costs about $4,030 a month in wages alone.
| How you hire | How you pay | A month |
|---|---|---|
| Direct, in the Philippines | A monthly salary you agree, plus $69 to $99 a month for a job board while you search | $480–2,000 full-time |
| Freelance marketplace (Upwork) | $10–20 an hour typical, plus a 5% marketplace fee | $1,680–3,360 for 160 hours |
| Managed agency | One flat monthly price | $999 at Wing (160 hours), from $1,988 at MyOutDesk |
| Agency by the hour (Time Etc, US) | Blocks of 10 to 60 hours at $36–39 an hour | $390 for 10 hours, $2,160 for 60 |
| US employee | Median wage $23.23 an hour | About $4,030, before payroll taxes and benefits |
The Philippine salaries come from OnlineJobs.ph's salary guide, last updated April 2026, which reports what full-time Filipino remote workers on its site earn, from beginner to expert. The marketplace line uses Upwork's typical range for virtual assistants. Agency prices come from each agency's own pricing page as of October 2026. The US figure is the Bureau of Labor Statistics median for secretaries and administrative assistants: $48,310 a year in May 2025, or about $4,030 a month.
Want a number for your own role and hours? Pick them below; every figure keeps its source and date. It also lives on its own page as the VA cost calculator.
What they earn at 40 hours a week
OnlineJobs.ph salary guide
$480–2,000 a month full-time, beginner to expert, as workers report them.
OnlineJobs.ph salary guide, updated April 2026
$480–2,000/month
Upwork, all virtual assistants
$13 an hour median, $10–20 typical. Upwork says Philippines-based freelancers often sit at the lower end of that range for general admin work.
Upwork, Philippines VA page, checked Oct 2026
$2,250/month
Marketplace, all in, a month
Their pay from the first line above, plus each published fee.
Upwork
5% marketplace fee on Basic, up to 7.99% per its help center, plus $0.99–$14.99 per new contract.
Upwork pricing, as of Oct 2026 · Upwork Help Center, as of Oct 2026
$500–2,160/month
Fiverr
5.5% service fee on each order, plus $3.50 on orders under $200.
Fiverr Help: paying for orders, as of Oct 2026
$510–2,110/month
OnlineJobs.ph
Pro $69 or Premium $99 a month to contact workers, then you pay them yourself.
OnlineJobs.ph pricing, as of Oct 2026
$550–2,100/month
The same job in the US
US employee, median
$23.23 an hour for secretaries and administrative assistants, before benefits and payroll taxes.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 data
$4,020/month
How it's worked out: an hourly rate times your hours times 4.33 weeks; full-time salaries are scaled to your hours. Each line keeps its own source's range, so there's no single average. Nothing you choose here leaves your browser.
What moves the price
Where they live. Living costs set what a VA can accept. On Upwork, VAs in Nigeria list $8–12 an hour and VAs in Mexico $10–16 (table below).
How you hire. Hiring direct is the cheapest route and the most work for you. Agencies charge more because they find, pay and replace people for you. Marketplaces sit in between.
Experience and skills. In OnlineJobs.ph's guide, a Filipino VA with five or more years' experience reports $1,200 to $2,000 a month, against $480 to $900 for a beginner. Specialist work such as bookkeeping or video editing has its own range.
Hours and commitment. A full-time monthly salary usually works out cheaper per hour than a freelance hourly rate, because the VA gets steady income in return.
Your time zone. If you need cover during US business hours, a VA in Manila works through their night: 9 pm to 5 am Manila time while New York is on daylight time. VAs in Bogotá or Mexico City work your day instead. Our guide to hiring in the Philippines has the full hours table.
Rates by country
These are the hourly rates virtual assistants list on Upwork, by country, as of October 2026. They are asking rates on profiles, not what clients ended up paying, so treat them as a starting point.
| Where the VA lives | Typical rate on Upwork |
|---|---|
| Philippines | Often the lower end of $10–20 for general admin |
| Colombia | $9–15 an hour |
| Mexico | $10–16 an hour |
| South Africa | $5–20 an hour |
| Kenya | $6–15 an hour |
| Nigeria | $8–12 an hour |
| All countries | $10–20 an hour, $13 median |
For the Philippines, monthly salaries tell you more than hourly rates, because most VAs there work full-time for one client. OnlineJobs.ph's April 2026 guide reports these full-time salaries for general VAs:
| Experience | A month (USD) |
|---|---|
| Beginner, up to a year | $480–900 |
| Intermediate, one to five years | $800–1,100 |
| Expert, five years or more | $1,200–2,000 |
For contrast, Philippine companies hiring VAs at home advertise about ₱27,225 a month on Indeed Philippines (October 2026). That is a local salary from a local employer, usually with local benefits. It is not what foreign clients pay, and it is not a target. The legal floor in Metro Manila is ₱755 a day since 26 September 2026 (Wage Order NCR-28). A minimum wage tells you about the local economy; it is not a pay guide for skilled remote work.
You can see tested Filipino VAs with their own rates on StaffPick, or read the full guide to hiring in the Philippines.
Rates by role
"Virtual assistant" covers anything from inbox work to bookkeeping, and the price follows the skill. Here are Upwork's typical worldwide hourly ranges next to OnlineJobs.ph's full-time monthly ranges for the Philippines, from beginner to expert.
| Role | Freelance rate, worldwide (Upwork, per hour) | Full-time, Philippines (OnlineJobs.ph, per month) |
|---|---|---|
| General virtual assistant | $10–20 | $480–2,000 |
| Customer service | $10–19 | $400–900 |
| Appointment setter | $10–20 | Not listed |
| Bookkeeper | $11–25 | $600–2,000 (listed as accountant) |
| Social media manager | $14–35 | $500–1,200 |
| Video editor | $6–25 | $350–1,000 |
| Graphic designer | $15–35 | Not listed |
| Web developer | $15–50 | $500–3,000 |
Two cautions. Upwork's virtual assistant page also quotes $18–35 an hour, but that figure is for North American freelancers with over 1,000 hours on the platform, so don't compare it with the rows above. And the wide ranges are real: in OnlineJobs.ph's guide, the top of the expert range is about four times the beginner floor for a VA, and six times for a web developer.
If you know the role, our virtual assistant hiring page shows tested people and what they charge.
One full-time VA for a year
Here is what 12 months of one full-time VA costs on each route, at the published prices above. It assumes 160 hours a month and leaves out your own time.
| Route | A year | What the price covers |
|---|---|---|
| Direct, Philippines | $5,760–24,000, plus a job board while you search | The salary. You find, contract, pay and replace them yourself |
| Direct, through a placement firm | Salary plus $695 once (Virtual Staff Finder) | Someone else finds the person; you pay them directly after |
| Upwork, typical rates | $20,160–40,320 | The rate plus a 5% fee. Upwork handles payment; you find and manage people |
| Wing, full-time plan | $11,988 | A dedicated VA for 160 hours a month, free replacement |
| MyOutDesk | From $23,856 | Recruiting, payroll and HR admin, an account manager, free replacement |
| Employer of record | Salary plus $5,508–8,388 | A formal local employment contract and payroll, from Multiplier's $459 (billed yearly) to Oyster's $699 a month |
| US employee, median | $48,310 in wages | Wages only, before payroll taxes, benefits and equipment |
Time Etc is left out of this table because it sells hours rather than people: $390 for 10 hours a month up to $2,160 for 60. It suits a few hours of help a week. Deel and Remote charge from $599 per employee a month for an employer of record; BELAY and Hire With Near don't publish prices.
The gap between the cheapest and the dearest route is mostly work you'd otherwise do yourself. A direct hire costs the salary and nothing else, so finding, testing, paying and replacing the person is your job. An agency's price includes that work. We compare the providers in detail in where to hire a virtual assistant.
Costs people forget
Platform fees. On its Basic plan, Upwork adds a 5% marketplace fee to what you pay freelancers (its help pages say it can be up to 7.99%), plus a contract initiation fee of $0.99 to $14.99. Business Plus carries a 10% fee. Fiverr adds a 5.5% service fee, plus $3.50 on orders under $200. OnlineJobs.ph charges $69 or $99 a month, and its free plan can't contact applicants. Our pages on Upwork alternatives and OnlineJobs.ph set the fees side by side.
Payment costs. Sending money abroad costs a transfer fee and an exchange-rate margin, and both vary by provider, so compare a few before your first payday. If you'd rather not handle contractor payments yourself, Remote (from $29 per contractor a month) and Deel (from $49) offer contractor plans.
Tools. Your VA needs logins: email, your project tool, a password manager, perhaps a phone line. Budget for an extra seat on each paid tool you share.
Your time. The first month costs the most. Writing down how you want things done, answering questions and checking early work all come out of your week. It's the cost most budgets leave out, and the one that decides whether the hire works.
Turnover. If a hire doesn't work out, you pay for the search again, and for another first month. Wing and MyOutDesk include free replacement. Hiring direct, you are the replacement plan.
Testing. A short paid sample task before you commit costs an hour or two of their rate and tells you more than a CV. Our guide on how to hire a virtual assistant has the tests and interview questions.
Against a US hire
The BLS puts the median US secretary or administrative assistant at $23.23 an hour, $48,310 a year (May 2025 data). That is wages alone. Payroll taxes, benefits, paid leave and equipment come on top.
An expert Filipino VA at the top of OnlineJobs.ph's range, $2,000 a month, costs $24,000 a year: about half that wage. At the beginner end, $480 a month, it's about an eighth.
The trade isn't only price. A remote VA needs clearer written instructions, gives you less overlap with your working day unless you plan hours around it, and won't be in the office. In return you get a wider pool of people and a lower cost for the same hours. For many small businesses that trade works; for a role that needs someone on site, it doesn't.
How StaffPick pricing works
StaffPick is one of the routes above, so here is exactly what it costs. Browsing profiles and getting an AI shortlist are free. Every listed person has passed English, typing and role tests plus an ID check, and each profile shows the person's own rate.
When you want to hire, there are two plans:
- Hire Direct, $79 a month. Request intros to the people you like, then hire and pay them directly at the rate you agree.
- Done For You, the worker's pay plus $399 a month. We pay them for you and handle the paperwork, and if it doesn't work out, the replacement is free.
On a $1,000-a-month VA, a year of Done For You costs $12,000 in pay plus $4,788 in fees. With Hire Direct, it's the $12,000 plus $79 for each month you keep the plan.
Questions people ask
How much should I pay a Filipino virtual assistant?
For full-time work, OnlineJobs.ph's salary guide (April 2026) reports $480 to $900 a month for beginners, $800 to $1,100 with one to five years' experience, and $1,200 to $2,000 for experts. Upwork says Philippines-based freelancers often sit at the lower end of its $10 to $20 typical hourly range for general admin work. Specialist roles such as bookkeeping cost more.
How much does a virtual assistant earn in dollars?
Upwork puts typical virtual assistant rates at $10 to $20 an hour, with a $13 median. Full-time VAs in the Philippines report $480 to $2,000 a month depending on experience (OnlineJobs.ph, April 2026). In the US, the median secretary or administrative assistant earns $23.23 an hour, or $48,310 a year (BLS, May 2025 data).
Is $5 an hour fair for a virtual assistant?
$5 an hour for a full-time month of 160 hours is $800. That sits at the top of the beginner range ($480 to $900) and the bottom of the one-to-five-years range ($800 to $1,100) in OnlineJobs.ph's April 2026 guide for Filipino VAs, and below Upwork's $10 to $20 typical worldwide range. It can be fair for a beginner. For an experienced VA or specialist work, expect to pay more.
Sources
Each figure in this guide comes from one of these pages, checked on 27 Oct 2026. Prices and rules change, so open the source before you rely on a number.
- 1OnlineJobs.ph: virtual assistant salaries in the Philippines (salary guide, last updated April 2026)blog.onlinejobs.ph
- 2Upwork: hire virtual assistants in the Philippines (typical VA rates and median)upwork.com
- 3Upwork: virtual assistant costupwork.com
- 4Upwork: customer service representative costupwork.com
- 5Upwork: bookkeeper costupwork.com
- 6Upwork: video editor costupwork.com
- 7Upwork: social media manager costupwork.com
- 8Upwork: appointment setter costupwork.com
- 9Upwork: web developer costupwork.com
- 10Upwork: graphic designer costupwork.com
- 11Upwork: virtual assistants in Colombiaupwork.com
- 12Upwork: virtual assistants in Mexicoupwork.com
- 13Upwork: virtual assistants in South Africaupwork.com
- 14Upwork: virtual assistants in Kenyaupwork.com
- 15Upwork: virtual assistants in Nigeriaupwork.com
- 16Indeed Philippines: virtual assistant salaries (local job postings)ph.indeed.com
- 17National Wages and Productivity Commission: NCR minimum wage ratesnwpc.dole.gov.ph
- 18US Bureau of Labor Statistics: secretaries and administrative assistants (pay, May 2025)bls.gov
- 19Time Etc: plans and pricing (US)timeetc.com
- 20Wing Assistant: pricingwingassistant.com
- 21MyOutDesk: pricingmyoutdesk.com
- 22Virtual Staff Finder: checkoutvirtualstafffinder.com
- 23OnlineJobs.ph: employer pricingonlinejobs.ph
- 24Upwork: client pricing and feesupwork.com
- 25Fiverr Help Center: paying for orders (service fee)help.fiverr.com
- 26Deel: pricingdeel.com
- 27Remote: pricingremote.com
- 28Multiplier: pricingusemultiplier.com
- 29Oyster: pricingoysterhr.com