A virtual assistant company is simply a firm that provides outsourcing services.
Many are located internationally (India and the Philippines are popular spots), but you’ll find a growing number of virtual assistant companies in the US and Europe.
Why’s that?
Well, the demand for qualified remote workers just continues to increase! Over the next 10 years, hiring managers expect nearly 40% of their workforce to be working remotely.
As more companies get on board with the idea of a virtual team, that means the virtual assistant industry is booming — and that’s great news for you.
Advantages of Working With a Virtual Assistant Company
There are several advantages of hiring through an established VA company vs. making a direct hire, and especially over making a local hire.
Recruiting
First, the company does the bulk of the recruiting and screening legwork for you, which can be a huge time saver.
As the demand for remote work has increased, so has the supply. And I get that. I mean, I’ve been working from home for over 10 years — it’s awesome.
But what that means for virtual assistant companies is that they can afford to be extremely picky with who they bring on board. In fact, on my VA company sites, you’ll find material on their hiring process and how they only accept the top 1-3% of candidates.
If you’ve ever tried to make a traditional job posting and screen candidates, you know that recruiting is incredibly time-consuming.
Backups and Replacements
Next, if and when your VA leaves, gets sick, or gets promoted, you’re not scrambling to replace them.
You’ll still have to train your new worker, but at least you won’t have to go out and source them completely on your own.
A Team of Assistants Under One Virtual Roof
And finally, many virtual assistant companies offer a cool hybrid model where you have a dedicated assistant for most of your tasks, but have access to the company’s broader talent pool for more specialized requests.
This allows you to amplify your productivity and keep all the communication and delegation under one roof.
Simple Accounting
Hiring through a VA company can also make for a simpler relationship come tax time too.
The fees you pay to the firm are a quick line-item deductible expense and you don’t have to stress about whether a freelance contractor you hired is technically an employee in the eyes of the IRS.
Here’s a quick profile of some of the top-rated companies. You can check them out or browse the full directory below.
| Online VA Team | Time Etc | Remote CoWorker | Tasks Expert | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Established | 2014 | 2007 | 2013 | 2017 |
| Location | USA and The Philippines | USA and UK | USA | US and India |
| Customer Rating | ||||
| Hourly Rate | $7+ | $27-29 | $5.99-8.00 | $4.50 |
| Minimum Package | $250 for 20 hours | $390 for 10 hours | $139 for 20 hours | $169 for 20 hours |
| Dedicated Assistant | ||||
| Team Access | ||||
| Rollover Hours | *Per policy | |||
| Free Trial | ||||
| Learn More | Learn More | Learn More | Learn More |
Drawbacks to Virtual Assistant Companies
The biggest disadvantage I see to working with virtual assistant companies is you’re paying a premium for:
- Their recruiting and training
- Their company overhead and infrastructure
- A management layer
In each case, those might not be a huge benefit for you. You could potentially go out and find a better skills and cultural fit by hiring directly.
The training an assistant receives through a company will probably be helpful — but it might not be directly applicable to your business.
If your VA is working from a dedicated call-center type of office, the rent, electricity, equipment, and Internet are all baked into your price.
And finally, virtual assistant companies have a management layer you’re also paying for — but unless something goes wrong — you might not need.
How Much do Virtual Assistant Companies Cost?
You’ll find virtual assistant companies with task-based plans starting around $30 a month. For that price, you’ll be able to delegate a handful of small requests.
Dedicated services begin in the $100-300 a month range for part-time support.
Overseas, you can hire a full-time VA through a virtual assistant company for $800-1500 a month. For assistants in the US or Western Europe, you can easily spend double or triple that.
My Experience with Virtual Assistant Companies
I’ve worked with several virtual assistant companies over the last decade, starting with my first dedicated assistant from Pakistan.
These companies, and increasingly specialized virtual agencies, are an important part of my virtual assistant “stack.”
(A specialist agency is a company that does just ONE thing, like graphic design, podcast editing, or bookkeeping.)
What I see as the biggest benefits are the team access and the VA replacement.
Over the last few years, there have been quite a few instances of my assistant getting promoted or taking a new job. And instead of me being stranded and stuck without support, a new qualified VA took their place seamlessly. In one case, I didn’t even know the change had happened for a couple weeks!
And similarly, when a company has lots of different skills under one roof, it’s been really helpful to send over a random request and have that taken care of.
For example, maybe your regular assistant does social media and content marketing for you — but you occasionally need some technical website stuff done. It’s a big time saver to just have one company able to handle it.
Which Virtual Assistant Company is Right For You?
What you should look for in a VA company, aside from positive customer reviews, is:
- professionalism (can you picture this person or company working for you?)
- response time (did they reply promptly to your inquiry?)
- price (will the work justify the expense?)
Related: 13 Questions to Ask a Virtual Assistant Company
Check out the top-rated VA companies below, see what other customers have to say, and narrow down your options.
| Overall Rating |   |
| Quality of Work | |
| Communication | |
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Use Per Wish is a virtual assistant company based in Kolkata, India. The company started operations in 2017. The Use Per Wish team has a great infrastructure, project management team, and the executives on their team have a minimum of […]
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Clear Desk is a US-based virtual assistant company that provides virtual assistants to entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized businesses all over the world. The company is headquartered in California, US. Their assistants work remotely from locations based all over the […]
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AVirtual is a virtual assistant company based in Cape Town, South Africa. The company has been in business since 2014 and targets customers in the UK. The company was founded by a UK based entrepreneur with years of experience in […]
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AskSunday.com is one of the most well-known virtual assistant companies, earning an endorsement from Tim Ferris in the wake of the massively popular 4-Hour Workweek. The company received boatloads of positive press, was named one of Time Magazine’s top 10 websites […]
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UrbanTimer is a virtual assistant company based in Kolkata, India. The company was founded in February, 2016. Although the company is a fairly new addition to the virtual assistant space, UrbanTimer was founded by two individuals with considerable experience in […]
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YourDailyTask is a virtual assistant company based in Mumbai, India. The firm was established in 2008 and has grown to a team of 200+ virtual assistants serving over 6000 clients worldwide. They’re open 24/7, and target a more business-oriented client […]
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My Virtual Assistant is a virtual assistant company providing virtual assistant services to small and medium-sized businesses all over the world. The company’s headquarters is in London. They also have offices in Johannesburg and are planning to open an office […]
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Virtual Latinos is a US-based virtual assistant company operating out of San Diego. They started operations around the middle of 2018 and specialize in supplying virtual assistants from across the Latin American countries. FREE Consultation call with their team! About […]
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UPDATE: It appears Global Max Line is out of business. Please consider one of these alternatives or see below. Founded in 2012 by SJ Josenna, GlobalMaxline.co.uk is a virtual assistant company in India with sales offices in the United States and London. The […]
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VA Staffer is a Digital Marketing and Virtual Assistant Company with the majority of it’s team in their Makati City (Metro Manila) office, Philippines. The marketing, project success and consulting is operated in the USA, and VA Staffer has also […]
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LongerDays is a team-based virtual assistant company located in Michigan. LongerDays’ business clients communicate with a Team Lead who delegates tasks seamlessly with specialist VAs on the team. LongerDays unique model allows them to deliver a broader array of services […]
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TaskBullet was founded in 2013 and has quickly become a leader in the virtual assistant industry. The company is owned and operated in the United States with the staff based in the Philippines. TaskBullet uses a unique “Bucket System” of […]
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Digi Media Infotech is a virtual back office solution for businesses and entrepreneurs worldwide. The company is headquartered in Udaipur, India, and has been in operation since 2010. Today, dozens of Digi Media virtual assistants serve hundreds of clients from their […]
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Uassist.ME is a virtual assistant company and business process outsourcing company (BPO) with offices in Miami and El Salvador. The company was founded in 2009 with the idea of providing remote administrative services to clients in the US and around […]
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Efficise is a virtual assistant and business outsourcing firm based in Karachi, Pakistan. The company launched in 2012, with the goal of helping people all over the world enhance their efficiency and productivity. Since then, Efficise has grown into one […]
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VAFromEurope is a virtual assistant company with their headquarters in Austin, Texas, and their team of virtual assistants are based in Lviv, Ukraine. Alternatively, you may see or hear the company referred to as European Virtual Assistant Agency or EVAA. […]
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UPDATE: It looks like Habiliss may be shut down as of June 2018. They’ve “gone dark” and social media and have been unresponsive to customer requests. Please consider one of these alternatives or see below. If you own this listing or this […]
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Remplo enables small business owners and entrepreneurs to outsource tasks to their team of virtual assistants. The company has a large team of hand-picked virtual assistants (primarily based in Sri Lanka) with a range of skills to meet their clients’ […]
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Online VA Team was founded in 2014 to serve a client base from single entrepreneurs to entire divisions of companies needing managed staffing solutions to reduce overhead and move existing local staff to where they perform best. Online VA Team […]
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Get Friday is an outsourcing company that is based in Bangalore, India. They are best-known as the virtual assistant division of Your Man in India (YMII), the famous personal concierge company. Get Friday caters to the needs of individuals who […]