Most guides answer this by naming three channels and calling it a day. Freelance sites, staffing agencies, virtual assistant companies, pick one.
That framing hides the thing that actually decides your cost, which is who employs the assistant. Sort providers by employment model instead of by channel and the price gaps stop looking random. Below are ten places to hire an executive assistant, with current pricing and the model behind it.
Every provider was checked against its own website in August 2026, not against other listicles. Where a company does not publish rates, that is stated plainly rather than guessed at.
We prioritized options that disclose where their assistants are based and what happens if the match fails. Two do-it-yourself routes are included, because for some budgets a marketplace beats a managed service.
Providers were assessed on employment model, published cost, replacement terms and time from brief to shortlist.
[IMAGE 1: A founder reviewing executive assistant candidate profiles on a laptop at a desk]
| Provider | Model | Published cost | Best for |
| Remote Leverage | Direct-hire recruiting, one-time fee | $6 to $10 per hour to the assistant, fee on request | Owning the hire outright |
| Athena | Managed, EA employed by Athena | $3,000 per month | Founders wanting zero admin |
| Boldly | Subscription staffing, US team employed | Not published, 40 hour monthly minimum | Compliance-sensitive teams |
| Time etc | Hour bundles, US assistants | $390 to $2,160 per month | Under 60 hours a month |
| BELAY | Managed, US assistants | Not published | US-only requirements |
| Prialto | Managed units of 55 hours | $1,500 per month per unit | Predictable fractional support |
| MyOutDesk | Managed full-time offshore | From $1,988 per month | Full-time cover on a budget |
| Robert Half | Traditional staffing, you employ | $58,250 to $86,750 starting salary | In-office or hybrid roles |
| Upwork | Freelance marketplace | Up to 7.99% client fee | Short projects and trials |
| OnlineJobs.ph | Job board, you hire directly | $69 to $99 per month | Hands-on hirers in the Philippines |
Remote Leverage is a recruiting agency rather than a staffing subscription, which is the structural difference that drives everything else. You hire the executive assistant directly and pay a one-time flat fee only after you choose someone. The hourly rate you agree goes to the assistant in full with no monthly markup.
Rates sit at $6 to $10 per hour for most roles, rising to $11 to $15 for highly experienced hires, against a stated saving of around 70% versus a US employee. The one-time placement fee is quoted on consultation rather than published.
Assistants come from Latin America, the Caribbean, the Philippines, South Africa and Egypt, and work your time zone and your hours.
The process is built for speed. You get four to six pre-vetted candidates within 48 to 72 hours and interview as many as you want at no charge. Every hire carries a 12-month replacement guarantee with a dedicated Customer Success Manager attached.
The minimum engagement is 20 hours a week, and a partner company handles payroll, tax and compliance.
More than 2,500 assistants have been onboarded across 2,000-plus businesses, and future hires are discounted 30%.
Athena employs the executive assistant itself and charges $3,000 a month for one dedicated full-time EA, billed monthly after an initial 90-day commitment. Assistants are matched algorithmically, device-equipped by Athena and managed by a Partnership Manager.
Vetting is the selling point. Athena states it receives 30,000 to 60,000 applications a month and accepts roughly 1%, and it holds SOC 2 Type II certification.
Boldly runs a subscription staffing model and lets you choose North America or Europe-based staff. Its US team are employees rather than contractors, which removes the misclassification question, and every plan includes a trained backup for vacation and sickness cover.
Staff carry 10 to 15 years of experience and plans run from 40 hours a month up to 160 on request. Rates are not shown on the site, and work outside executive assistance is billed at $79 an hour.
Time etc sells bundles of hours rather than a person, from $390 a month for 10 hours to $2,160 for 60 hours, which works out at $39 down to $36 an hour. Assistants are US-based and dedicated to you.
There is no setup fee and unused hours roll over on the 20 hour plan and above. Billing is tracked to the second. You can also send a first task free before committing.
BELAY places US-based assistants from a bench of nearly 2,000 professionals, averaging about a week to match, and pairs each client with a Client Success Consultant. Assistants work Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 in their own time zone.
BELAY does not publish a rate card. Its own FAQ puts the wider market for US-based assistants at $30 to $75 an hour, then says BELAY charges more than that, so treat any figure quoted elsewhere as secondhand until you have it in writing.
[IMAGE 2: An executive assistant managing a shared calendar and inbox on a dual monitor setup]
Prialto sells “units” of 55 hours a month at $1,500, with a $250 setup fee waived on a one-year agreement and a 90-day minimum per unit. A fully dedicated full-time assistant is $3,600 a month.
The structure is unusually team-based. Every client gets a US-based Engagement Manager plus trained backup assistants, while day-to-day support comes from offices in the Philippines, Guatemala and Kenya.
MyOutDesk starts at $1,988 a month for a full-time assistant working eight hours a day, five days a week, with a specialized tier from $2,500 and custom pricing above that. Talent comes from the Philippines, Latin America and Africa, and recruiting, payroll, benefits and HR admin sit inside the one rate.
The trade-off is that the model does not flex downward. MyOutDesk states plainly that it builds every placement as full-time, so there is no part-time option, though it will rematch you at no extra cost if the fit fails.
Robert Half is the traditional route where you employ the executive assistant yourself. Its own 2026 starting salary projections put a US executive assistant at $58,250 to $86,750 nationally, rising to $76,750 to $97,250 for senior EAs and as high as $118,414 in New York.
Add benefits, payroll tax and equipment on top. Robert Half does not publish its own fee, so ask for that in writing, and choose this route when the role has to sit in an office or handle physical documents.
Upwork is a marketplace, so you do the vetting while the platform handles contracts and payments. Clients on the free Basic plan pay a Marketplace fee of up to 7.99% on payments to freelancers, plus a contract initiation fee of $0.99 to $14.99.
The floor for hourly contracts is $3.00. Fine for testing a scope, weaker for a long-term executive assistant where continuity matters.
OnlineJobs.ph is a job board for Filipino talent where you search the resume database, interview off-platform and pay the assistant directly with no commission taken from their wage. Pro is $69 a month or $299 a year and lets you contact 75 workers a month. Premium is $99 a month or $349 a year, adding 500 contacts, unlimited background data checks and AI matching.
A free plan lets you post up to three jobs but not contact anyone. Most employers subscribe for a month or two, hire, then cancel, which makes this the cheapest route if you will run vetting yourself. Weighed against wider digital operations decisions, the real cost here is your own screening time.
If you want to pay the assistant directly with no recurring agency margin, a direct-hire recruiter is the cheapest route to a senior person. If you want someone else to own hiring, training and cover, a managed service earns its premium.
Everything else is a variation on that one decision.
Where can I hire an executive assistant quickly?
Recruiting agencies shortlist fastest. Remote Leverage presents four to six vetted candidates within 48 to 72 hours, while Athena takes one to two weeks to match and onboard.
How much does an executive assistant cost per month?
At Remote Leverage’s $6 to $10 an hour, a full-time offshore hire works out to roughly $1,000 to $1,700 a month plus a one-time placement fee. Managed services run $1,500 to $3,000, and a US employee costs $58,250 to $86,750 a year before benefits.
Is it cheaper to hire an executive assistant directly or through an agency?
Direct hiring is cheaper over time because you pay once instead of a recurring markup. Subscription services cost more but absorb payroll, replacement and management.
Can I hire a part-time executive assistant?
Yes, though minimums vary. Time etc starts at 10 hours a month, Boldly starts at 40 hours a month and Remote Leverage sets a floor of 20 hours a week. MyOutDesk is full-time only.
What happens if the executive assistant is not a good fit?
Terms vary and this is worth confirming in writing. Remote Leverage offers a 12-month replacement guarantee at no extra cost, Athena rematches you through your Partnership Manager and marketplaces leave the risk with you.
