The best virtual assistant company for a busy executive is the one that supplies a management layer, not just a person. Wing Assistant leads this list because it pairs a dedicated assistant with supervision, structured backup and published pricing from $699 a month, the lowest entry point of any managed provider here.
That matters more than hourly rate. An assistant without oversight becomes another thing on your plate, and the executives who get least from delegation are usually the ones managing the assistant themselves.
Below are twelve providers ranked on what an executive actually needs: who manages performance, what happens when your assistant is away, and whether you can find out the price without a sales call.
Key takeaways
- The management layer is the differentiator. Ask who supervises the assistant and who covers absence.
- Hour bundles and dedicated blocks are different products. Twelve hours a month of task work is not a dedicated assistant on an eight-hour daily schedule.
- Minimum commitments vary sharply, from cancel-anytime to a ninety-day floor.
- Confirm rollover, overage rates and setup fees before comparing monthly figures.
What to check before comparing price
Four questions separate providers that look similar on a pricing page.
- Who manages performance? A named account or engagement manager changes how much work lands back on you.
- What happens during absence? Structured backup cover is different from a promise to find a replacement.
- What hours are covered? A daily block, a monthly hour bucket and a request pool are three different products.
- What is the minimum commitment, and do unused hours roll over? Both change the effective rate considerably.
Every figure below comes from the provider’s own published pages. Where a provider does not publish pricing, or where its own pages disagree, that is stated rather than smoothed over.
The 12 best virtual assistant companies
1. Wing Assistant
Best for: executives who want managed support with published pricing and the widest role coverage.
Wing Assistant is a managed service rather than a talent marketplace. You get a dedicated assistant plus a Customer Success Manager who monitors quality, and structured backup so coverage does not depend on one individual. Assistants go live within 48 hours, and a poor fit is replaced within 24 hours at no extra cost.
The General Virtual Assistant line runs $699 a month for 80 hours part-time and $999 for 160 hours full-time, both including the dedicated assistant, free replacement, the Customer Success Manager and the Wing Workspace app. Coverage defaults to eight hours a day, five days a week with you choosing the window, and 8/7, 16/5, 16/7, 24/5 and 24/7 options are available on request.
Depth is the other reason it ranks first. Wing lists 155 specialist roles across 27 industries, so a virtual executive assistant can be joined later by sales, finance or customer service support under the same managed model. The company reports 10,000+ businesses served, a 4.8 average across 200+ verified reviews, and an executive assistant line positioned as reclaiming 10 to 15 hours a week at a flat rate 65 to 80 percent below a comparable local hire.
Watch for: the part-time plan caps file sharing and storage at 10 GB. Specialist roles are priced above the general assistant line, so quote the actual role rather than the headline figure.
2. Prialto
Best for: executives who want a fractional managed team rather than a single assistant.
Prialto sells in units. One unit is 55 hours a month with a dedicated assistant, an Engagement Manager and a trained backup, with no overage fees for occasional spillover. Full-time dedicated support starts at $3,600 a month for 165+ hours, and assistants work 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday across US and UK time zones from offices in the Philippines, Kenya and Guatemala.
Watch for: Prialto’s own pricing page carries two figures for a unit, showing $1,600 a month on the plan cards and $1,500 in the FAQ, so confirm the current rate. There is also a $250 setup fee in the first month, waived on an annual agreement, and a 90-day minimum per unit.
3. Boldly
Best for: leaders who want an employed assistant rather than a contractor.
Boldly places US and Europe-based staff as its own W-2 employees, which removes contractor compliance risk entirely. Staff typically bring 10 to 15 years of experience, you meet your assistant before committing, and a trained backup covers holiday and sickness.
Subscriptions start from 40 hours a month, and specialist work such as project management, design or web development is billed separately at $79 an hour.
Watch for: Boldly’s published plan rates have moved and different pages of its site have shown different figures for the same 40-hour plan, so take the current quote in writing.
4. Double
Best for: executives who want to start small and scale hours without a contract.
Double publishes a clean four-tier rate card with no long-term commitment: Starter at $549 for 10 hours a month, Grow at $999 for 20 hours, Build at $1,899 for 40 hours and Scale at $2,799 for 60 hours. Additional hours can be purchased on every tier.
Matching speed improves as you move up, and Grow and above add a dedicated Customer Success Manager plus guaranteed cover when your assistant is away.
Watch for: these are hour buckets rather than a dedicated daily schedule, so heavy weeks burn through a tier quickly.
5. Delegated
Best for: executives who need US-based assistants and occasional phone cover.
Delegated uses only full-time US-based W-2 employees and does not outsource overseas. Plans run Lite at $1,200 for 25 hours a month, Ramp at $2,400 for 50 hours and Pro at $3,600 for 75 hours, with unused time rolling over for 30 days and a 14-day money-back guarantee. A virtual receptionist add-on starts at $260 a month for 90 minutes of call handling and scales to $1,875 for 750 minutes.
Watch for: extra hours beyond your plan cost $60 each, so consistent overruns are cheaper solved by upgrading.
6. Time etc
Best for: executives who want US-based help in small, predictable blocks.
Time etc sells monthly hour bundles at $390 for 10 hours, $760 for 20, $1,480 for 40 and $2,160 for 60, each with a dedicated US-based assistant who can be shared across a team at no extra cost. There is no setup fee, and unused hours roll over on the 20-hour plan and above.
Watch for: at roughly $36 to $39 an hour this is premium pricing, justified only if you specifically need US-based talent.
7. Zirtual
Best for: solo executives and small teams wanting a dedicated US assistant on a light plan.
Zirtual runs four tiers: Entrepreneur at $599 for 12 hours and one user, Grow at $899 for 20 hours and two users, Small Business at $1,199 for 30 hours and three users, and Team at $1,699 for 45 hours and four users. Assistants are US-based and college-educated, with matching by time zone, and a separate outbound calling track is available.
Watch for: the entry plan is genuinely light at 12 hours a month, which is about 40 minutes a working day.
8. InboxDone
Best for: executives whose bottleneck is specifically the inbox.
InboxDone is narrower than the rest of this list by design, focusing on email and the workflows attached to it. Published plans run from $1,395 to $4,995 a month depending on hours and complexity, assign two dedicated assistants rather than one, and start on a standard tier for the first 30 days to cover onboarding.
Watch for: define upfront which messages the assistants can answer independently and which need your eyes, because that boundary is the whole service.
9. BELAY
Best for: US-based support where scope is genuinely bespoke.
BELAY places US-based assistants, accounting professionals and marketing support through a personalised rather than algorithmic matching process. It does not publish rates, stating that solutions are priced by scope and level of support.
Watch for: you cannot compare it against the published rate cards above without a sales call. Ask for included hours and the process for changing scope in the same conversation.
10. Athena
Best for: founders who want a premium executive assistant and a performance manager above them.
Athena pairs a dedicated EA with an Athena manager who oversees performance, training and development, and the work extends past calendar and inbox into travel, off-sites and recurring operational execution.
Watch for: it sits at the premium end and does not publish a rate card worth quoting. Ask about the initial commitment period as well as the monthly figure.
11. Fancy Hands
Best for: occasional small tasks rather than an ongoing relationship.
Fancy Hands is request-based. You submit small, clearly defined jobs to a pool rather than working with one person, with a standard request capped at roughly 20 minutes of work. Unused requests accumulate while you remain a member.
Watch for: this is not an executive assistant model. Work that depends on knowing your business, your contacts or your preferences will not suit a pooled request queue.
12. MyOutDesk
Best for: executives who want a full-time dedicated assistant at an offshore rate.
MyOutDesk sells one thing: a full-time dedicated professional at 40 hours a week on a flat monthly retainer, with the provider handling HR, payroll and compliance. The published rate is $1,988 a month month-to-month, falling to $1,848 on a six-month commitment and $1,788 on a twelve-month one. Replacements are included at no extra cost, and a US-based Client Success Manager handles oversight.
Assistants are primarily based in the Philippines, and the company states SOC 2 audited and HIPAA verified operations.
Watch for: there is no part-time plan, so lighter workloads still pay the full monthly fee.
Side by side
| Provider | Entry price | What you get | Management layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wing Assistant | $699/mo | 80 hours, dedicated assistant | Customer Success Manager, structured backup |
| Prialto | $1,500 to $1,600/mo | 55 hours per unit | Engagement Manager, trained backup |
| Boldly | From 40 hrs/mo | Employed US or Europe staff | Trained backup, meet before signing |
| Double | $549/mo | 10 hours | CSM from Grow tier up |
| Delegated | $1,200/mo | 25 hours, US W-2 staff | Dedicated assistant, rollover |
| Time etc | $390/mo | 10 hours, US-based | Expert matching |
| Zirtual | $599/mo | 12 hours, 1 user | Dedicated assistant plus specialists |
| InboxDone | $1,395/mo | Email-focused, two assistants | Managed onboarding |
| BELAY | Quote only | US-based, bespoke scope | Personalised matching |
| Athena | Not published | Executive assistant | Athena performance manager |
| Fancy Hands | Request-based | ~20 min per request | Pooled, no dedicated assistant |
| MyOutDesk | $1,988/mo | Full-time, 40 hrs/week | US-based Client Success Manager |
How to pilot without wasting the first month
Delegation fails on scoping far more often than on talent. The discipline behind outsourced support strategies transfers directly: define the scope, define what good looks like, then measure against it.
List up to ten tasks that recur weekly, that you can explain on one page or in a short screen recording, and that sit inside clear boundaries. For each one, write down what a finished result looks like and when the assistant should stop and ask.
Agree a short end-of-day update covering what was completed, what is blocked and what needs your decision. Give access only to the accounts the work requires, and add responsibilities only once the first handover runs without correction.
Measure the pilot on net time saved, counting the hours you spend briefing and reviewing, then check rollover, overage rates and notice periods before expanding.
FAQ
What is the best virtual assistant company for a busy executive?
How much should an executive expect to pay?
Is a dedicated assistant better than an hour bundle?
What should I never delegate?
The providers are more alike than their marketing suggests. What separates them is who is accountable when something is missed.
