VIRTUAL ASSISTANT RATES GUIDE
Virtual assistant rates: what to charge in 2026
What US virtual assistants charge by the hour and by the month, how the rate climbs with the specialty and the years, what agencies bill for the same hours, where the offshore floor sits — and a free calculator that turns the figures into a price list for your website.
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The short answer
A US-based virtual assistant typically charges $25 to $45 an hour, against $4 to $20 for assistants based in India or the Philippines (Wishup's comparison of 14 providers, updated September 2026). A second agency guide puts US and Canadian assistants at $25–$75 an hour, with entry-level work at $10–$14, mid-level at $14–$22, senior at $22–$35 and specialist work at $25–$60 across all regions (Stealth Agents, July 2026).
The specialty sets the rate: administrative tasks $10–$20 and up, essential bookkeeping $15–$25 and up, executive support $35–$40, high-end accounting and finance $40–$50 and high-skilled work $50–$75 an hour, with some assistants at $100 (Apploye, August 2026). Sold by the month, a part-time assistant of about 80 hours runs $500–$3,000 and a full-time one of about 160 hours $1,000–$5,000 or more (Wishup).
Agencies price the same hours for clients: Time etc bills $39 an hour on a 10-hour plan ($390 a month) down to $36 on a 60-hour plan ($2,160) for a dedicated US assistant (Time etc's pricing page); Wishup's own part-time plan is $1,299 a month for 80 hours, and Boldly charges $79 an hour for specialist tasks (Wishup's comparison, September 2026). An independent assistant's rate sits between the employee wage and the agency price.
The employee benchmark: Payscale's average base hourly rate for a virtual assistant is $19.71, with the 10th to 90th percentiles at $12.84 to $30.16 (260 profiles, September 2026), and Indeed's average from job postings is $23.25, in a range of $13.75 to $39.31 (505 salaries, October 2026). Put your rates on your website: “how much does a virtual assistant cost” is Googled about 260 times a month and put to AI assistants about 230, and “virtual assistant rates” is Googled about 320 (DataForSEO, October 2026).
AT A GLANCE · NOVEMBER 2026
Virtual assistant rates at a glance
| The job | Typical US price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly rate, US-based virtual assistants | $25–$45 an hour | Wishup, September 2026 |
| Specialist | $25–$60 | Stealth Agents, July 2026 |
| Executive support | $35–$40 | Apploye, August 2026 |
| High-skilled tasks | $50–$75 | Apploye, August 2026 |
| Part-time, about 80 hours a month | $500–$3,000 | Wishup, September 2026 |
The same published figures as the full rate table below; the calculator works out a price for your own job.
FREE PRICE CALCULATOR
What should I charge for this client?
Price the hours at the US rate, or pick your level or your specialty, or a monthly retainer, then see where an offshore competitor sits. The range uses the published US figures in the table below.
Suggested price
$500–$900
US-based virtual assistant, per hour, 20 hours
A starting range from published US figures — not your rate until you've priced the specialty you sell and the hours a client really takes. Say in every package how many hours it covers and what sits outside it.
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Put your virtual assistant prices where customers look
Add your town, and Zarla builds your virtual assistant website from this one line. Then tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your prices, and change them any time.
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RATES · NOVEMBER 2026
Virtual assistant rates (2026)
Typical US prices by the hour, by level, by specialty and by the month. The US hourly range and the monthly retainers are Wishup's (September 2026), the experience tiers Stealth Agents' (July 2026) and the specialty rates Apploye's (August 2026); agency plan prices are in the formula below.
| The job | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| US-based virtual assistant, per hour | $25–$45 per hour · about $500–$900 for 20 hours · Wishup |
| Hourly rate by experience (an agency's tiers, all regions) | Entry level, under two years: $10–$14 · Mid level, two to five years: $14–$22 · Senior, five to eight years: $22–$35 · Specialist: $25–$60 · Stealth Agents |
| Hourly rate by specialty (US pay scale) | Administrative tasks: $10–$20+ · Essential bookkeeping and finances: $15–$25+ · Executive support: $35–$40 · High-end accounting and financial services: $40–$50 · High-skilled tasks: $50–$75 · Apploye |
| Monthly retainer by hours | Part-time, about 80 hours a month: $500–$3,000 · Full-time, about 160 hours a month: $1,000–$5,000+ · Wishup |
| Hourly rate, US-based virtual assistants | $25–$45 an hour · Wishup |
Rates read off each publisher's page in November 2026. The calculator above uses exactly these numbers, rounded to whole dollars and to the nearest $5 from $100 up. Full source list below.
ADD-ONS AND ADJUSTMENTS
What the offshore floor looks like
The multiplier is our arithmetic from Wishup's US and offshore hourly ranges (September 2026) — the price a US assistant is quoted against, not a rate to match.
| What | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Where the assistant is based: india or the philippines | Wishup's $4–$20 offshore range ÷ its $25–$45 US range · Wishup figures |
Where a row shows a sum (a rate × a quantity, or a percentage worked out from published dollar ranges), the arithmetic is ours and the inputs are the publisher's.
THE PRICING FORMULA
How to set your virtual assistant rates
Six steps from the employee wage to a monthly package a client can compare with an agency's.
Know the employee benchmark
Payscale's average base hourly rate for a virtual assistant is $19.71 (10th–90th percentiles $12.84–$30.16, September 2026); Indeed's average from job postings is $23.25 (October 2026). An independent assistant's rate sits above both because the software, the insurance, the taxes and the unbilled hours are hers.
Price the specialty, not the hour
Administrative tasks $10–$20 and up, essential bookkeeping $15–$25 and up, executive support $35–$40, high-end accounting $40–$50, high-skilled work $50–$75 (Apploye, August 2026). The same hour is worth three times as much when it carries a skill the client can't hire cheaply.
Read the agency price
Time etc bills $39 an hour on a 10-hour plan down to $36 on 60 hours for a dedicated US assistant (its pricing page); Wishup's part-time plan is $1,299 for 80 hours and Boldly bills $79 an hour for specialist tasks (Wishup's comparison, September 2026). A client who would pay an agency $36–$39 will pay an independent assistant a little less for the same hours and more attention.
Sell the month, not the hour
Part-time retainers of about 80 hours run $500–$3,000 and full-time ones $1,000–$5,000 or more (Wishup). A retainer paid at the start of the month turns an hourly rate into a predictable income — and a limit on hours keeps it honest.
Know the offshore floor
Assistants based in India or the Philippines are listed at $4–$20 an hour (Wishup), $8–$15 by region (Stealth Agents). A US assistant is not competing on that price; she is competing on the specialty, the time zone and the trust — say so on the website.
Raise the rate with the years
Stealth Agents' tiers climb from $10–$14 for entry-level work to $22–$35 for senior assistants and $25–$60 for specialists (July 2026). Reprice every client at the anniversary, and move new clients to the new rate first.
The rate, worked through
A client takes 20 hours a month of inbox, calendar and travel. At $35 an hour — inside Wishup's $25–$45 US range and Apploye's $35–$40 executive-support band — that is $700 a month. Time etc would bill the same client $38 an hour on its 20-hour plan, $760; the independent assistant's $700 is the lower price with the more senior hands.
Move the same client to a part-time retainer of 40 hours at $1,400 and the hour is still $35; add bookkeeping at Apploye's $40–$50 high-end band for five of those hours and the month is $1,425–$1,475. A Philippines-based assistant quoted for the same 40 hours at $4–$20 would be $160–$800 — a different product at a different price.
So “virtual assistant support from $35 an hour, part-time retainers from $700 a month” is a fair first line for your price list. The figures are the publishers'; the sums are ours.
What to charge where your clients are
The work is remote, so the client's city sets the rate more than yours does: Indeed's job-posting averages run $30.10 an hour in New York, $27.97 in Phoenix, $26.06 in Los Angeles, $23.98 in Houston and $23.20 in Chicago (October 2026). The Bureau of Economic Analysis's 2024 regional price parities put California at 110.7 and Arkansas at 86.9 against a US average of 100 (released February 2026) — about $39 and $30 for a $35 hour.
In the US, whether a client engagement counts as contracting or employment, and whether your state taxes the service, is set by federal and state rules; check your state's rules and confirm with a tax adviser.
Outside the US, treat the dollar figures as a shape, not a price: a rate by specialty, a retainer by hours and a floor you don't compete with hold everywhere. Check what the assistants near you publish.
Put your prices on your website
A price list — even “from” prices — answers a customer's first question before they pick up the phone, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote when someone asks what a virtual assistant costs near them.
If you build your site with Zarla, tell the editor “add a pricing section: virtual assistant support from $35 an hour, part-time retainers from $700 a month” and your prices go on the site, in a section you can edit any time. Want to see a finished site first? Browse virtual assistant website templates or see how Zarla builds virtual assistant websites.
Still setting up? Write your virtual assistant business plan, and when the prices are set, read how to get your business on Google. Raising prices you set a year ago? The price increase letter tells customers a month ahead.
Virtual assistant rates: common questions
A US-based virtual assistant typically charges $25–$45 an hour (Wishup, September 2026); a second agency guide puts US and Canadian assistants at $25–$75 (Stealth Agents, July 2026). The calculator above prices the hours, the level, the specialty or a monthly retainer.
Stealth Agents' entry tier for under two years is $10–$14 an hour and its mid tier $14–$22, across all regions (July 2026). A US-based beginner doing administrative work sits at $10–$20 and up on Apploye's scale, and Payscale's entry-level average is $16.90.
Part-time retainers of about 80 hours run $500–$3,000 a month and full-time ones of about 160 hours $1,000–$5,000 or more (Wishup). Set the hours the package covers and the rate for anything over them.
Time etc bills $39 an hour on a 10-hour plan ($390 a month) down to $36 on 60 hours ($2,160) on its pricing page; Wishup's part-time plan is $1,299 for 80 hours and Boldly charges $79 an hour for specialist tasks (Wishup's comparison, September 2026). That is the price your client compares you with.
Assistants based in India or the Philippines are listed at $4–$20 an hour (Wishup) and $8–$15 by region (Stealth Agents), against $25–$45 for a US-based assistant. Different hours, time zone and specialty — price yours on what the client gets, not the floor.
Payscale's average base hourly rate is $19.71 (September 2026) and Indeed's job-posting average $23.25, in a range of $13.75–$39.31 (October 2026). An independent assistant charges more per hour because the overhead and unbilled time are her own.
Yes — a “from” rate and a package price answer the first question before the call, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote. On a Zarla site, tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your packages, and change them when your rates do.
Where these numbers come from
Every range on this page is read off a published source, dated below. They're US figures for what virtual assistants charge by the hour and by the month, what agencies bill for the same hours, and what employed assistants earn — typical, not a rule; your costs and your market come first.
- Wishup — How Much Does a Virtual Assistant Cost in 2026? (Neelesh Rangwani; a VA agency's comparison of 14 providers; published 30 September 2026) — dated September 2026, read November 2026
- Stealth Agents — Virtual Assistant Pricing Guide 2026 (a VA agency's guide; updated 21 July 2026) — dated July 2026, read November 2026
- Apploye — Virtual Assistant Hourly Rate & Costs in 2026 (Hasan Abir; updated 19 August 2026) — dated August 2026, read November 2026
- Time etc — Pricing (dedicated US assistant plans, 10 to 60 hours a month) — no date on the page, read November 2026
- Payscale — Virtual Assistant Hourly Pay in 2026 (260 salary profiles; updated 14 September 2026) — dated September 2026, read November 2026
- Indeed — Virtual assistant salary in United States (505 salaries from job postings; updated 29 October 2026) — dated October 2026, read November 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — regional price parities by state, 2024 — dated February 2026, read September 2026
Put your rates on your website
Add your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line. Your packages go in a pricing section you edit by chat.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.