Executives, leaders, and teams are calling on virtual assistants (VAs) to help them tackle their admin work and grow their businesses while reducing overhead and streamlining operations.
And it makes sense. We live in a global economy, and the chances are good that you’re already working with freelancers, agencies, staff, and vendors all over the world. Virtual assistant companies give you access to global talent—trained administrative professionals—without the burden of hiring, managing, training, and overhead.
Your virtual assistant can manage your email and calendar, payroll, social media, CMS, and so much more. However, not all virtual assistant companies offer the same structure and benefits.
That’s why we broke down the best virtual assistant companies of 2025, so you can make the best decision for your unique business needs.
1. Prialto
Prialto Overview
Prialto was the first truly managed virtual assistant service on the market. All virtual assistants are full-time Prialto staff—trained, managed, and given full-benefit. As a fully-managed service, members get a dedicated virtual assistant, backup support, an engagement manager, and a full-team of background support staff including internal management and QA. Prialto offers fractional services in 55-hour a month units or full-time dedicated assistants.
Prialto provides enterprise-grade security and is SOC-2 type 1 compliant. All assistants undergo a four-week training program and ongoing in-house training and mentorship. They can provide various administrative support tasks to leaders and teams in executive leadership, sales and marketing, operations, finance, and HR.
- Founded in: 2008
- Services: Full time and fractional VAs
- Staffing type: Staff are in-house employees
- Starting price: $1,500 per month for 55+ hours
- Staff locations: Oregon, Philippines, Guatemala, Kenya
- Model: Managed virtual assistant service
Prialto Pros & Cons
Pros
- Consultative approach: Prialto provides more than just task completion. Your VA and engagement manager can also help you build, optimize, or fix your processes.
- Only SOC-2 Type 1 compliant service: As of April 2025, Prialto is the only enterprise-grade, SOC-2 complaint virtual assistant service.
- Full Team & Backup Support: Both fractional and full-time assistant packages offer full team support, including backup coverage and a dedicated engagement manager.
- No overage fees: Prialto is familiar with the ebbs and flows of business. Packages are sold month-to-month after the initial onboarding period and there are no overage fees.
Cons
- Packages: Prialto is designed for businesses who are building and scaling processes and workflows. This is not the right service for one-off projects or small-scope VA needs.
- Not HIPAA compliant: While Prialto is SOC-2 Type 1 compliant, assistants currently cannot provide HIPAA-compliant services.
- Limited specialized services: While Prialto assistants can provide a wide range of services (it’s always worth asking), assistants are not trained sales or marketing professionals. They can provide the admin side of these roles (CRM management, scheduling, etc.) but are not specialists.
2. BELAY
BELAY Overview
BELAY is a U.S.-based virtual assistant service. It offers a range of specialized services in accounting, social media, and website management as well as broad-based executive assistant services. BELAY matches its customers with a dedicated, contract virtual assistant. It vets and matches customers and assistants based on experience, industry, and personality fit.
- Founded in: 2010
- Services: Full time and fractional VAs
- Staffing type: Contractors
- Starting price: $1,380 per month for 30 hours
- Staff locations: U.S.-based
- Model: non-managed staffing agency
BELAY Pros & Cons
Pros
- Strong onboarding process: BELAY is well known for its rigorous matching process and ongoing customer support.
- Specialized offerings: BELAY offers a wide range of specialized services, emphasizing its financial service offerings.
- No long-term commitments: BELAY operates strictly on a month-to-month basis.
Cons
- Matched with contractors: BELAY’s assistants are all contractors, not BELAY employees, which means they may not get PTO or benefits, which can cause turnover.
- Employees exclusively work from home: Employees are U.S.-based but exclusively work remotely from their own devices, which could cause quality or security concerns.
- Limited geographic coverage: BELAY assistants are all in the U.S., which could make them a poor fit for international or multi-national organizations.
3. Delegated
Delegated Overview
Delegated, formerly Red Butler, is also a U.S.-based virtual assistant company. It offers exclusively fractional assistant services. Its virtual assistants are college-educated and supported by backup coverage. Delegated offers front office, back office, and personal support packages ranging from 25 to 75 hours a month.
- Founded in: 1990
- Services: Fractional VAs
- Staffing type: Staff are in-house employees
- Starting price: $1,200 per month for 25 hours
- Staff locations: U.S.-based
- Model: Managed virtual assistant service
Delegated Pros & Cons
Pros
- Roll-over & à la carte hours: Delegated allows you to purchase additional hours in a given month and roll over unused hours.
- Assistants are in-house W-2 staff: All assistants are full-time Delegated staff with benefits.
- Your hours coverage: Delegated assistants work 8 am – 5 pm your hours.
Cons
- Higher price-point: All Delegated’s assistants are college-educated U.S.-based assistants, which means they have one of the highest virtual assistant price points. You may be able to get the same quality of service without the high price if your tasks don’t require specialized education.
- Only offers fractional assistants: Delegated does not offer options for full-time virtual assistants, though you can purchase additional hours with your assistant.
- No engagement manager: Delegated does offer backup support, but you don’t have access to a dedicated engagement manager or customer support rep to help you proactively develop your administrative processes.
4. Athena
Athena Overview
Athena offers full-time outsourced executive and personal assistant services. Its exclusive full-time packages are designed for entrepreneurs, executives, and business leaders. Athena emphasizes its assistants’ training, education, and AI prowess. Their assistants are full-time Athena staff members.
- Founded in: 2018
- Services: Full-time VAs
- Staffing type: Staff are in-house employees
- Starting price: $3,000 per month for full-time coverage
- Staff locations: Philippines, Guatemala, Kenya, India
- Model: Managed virtual assistant service
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Provides in-house training: Athena has a rigorous hiring and training process that emphasizes proficiency testing and skill evaluations.
- No long-term commitments: Athena charges a flat month-to-month fee for services.
- Dedicated Client Partnership Manager: Athena’s client partnership manager will help facilitate onboarding and delegation.
Cons
- Only offer full-time assistants: Athena’s service is only available full-time, they don’t offer fractional assistants, making it less flexible than some VA services.
- Backup support: Athena does not state anywhere on their website that they provide backup support or coverage.
- Higher priced solutions: Athena’s service starts at $3,000, a high initial price point.
5. Boldly
Boldly Overview
Boldly, formerly known as Worldwide101, offers U.S.-based fractional virtual assistant services. Like Prialto, it offers a managed model with built-in backup support and in-house assistants, not contractors. It primarily offers traditional executive assistant services, but does offer additional specialized services at a premium fee of $79/hour.
- Founded in: 2012
- Services: Fractional VAs
- Staffing type: Staff are in-house employees
- Starting price: $2,520 per month for 40 hours
- Staff locations: U.S.-based
- Model: Managed virtual assistant service
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Dedicated account manager: Boldly provides a dedicated account manager to facilitate long-term support and VA integration into the team.
- Provide backup support: All customers get a trained backup assistant who will step in for their primary assistant in case of vacation or emergencies.
- Offer multilingual EAs: Boldly offers assistants who speak multiple languages including English, French, German, and Spanish.
Cons
- Only offers fractional support: While you can hire multiple fractional assistants, they don’t currently offer an option to hire a single full-time (40 hours a week) assistant.
- High starting price with no roll-over hours: Boldly’s lowest-tier plan is $2,520 a month for 40 hours, which may be too expensive for some businesses. Hours do not roll over from one month to the next.
- Charges a higher rate for more specialized tasks: Boldly charges $79 an hour for all tasks outside their executive assistant umbrella.
6. MyOutDesk
MyOutDesk Overview
MyOutDesk provides full-time virtual assistant support out of the Philippines. Its assistants have college degrees, and the company is HIPAA verified. MyOutDesk emphasizes personality and culture matching when selecting virtual assistants for its customers. They specialize in general admin, marketing, and CRM support.
- Founded in: 2008
- Services: Full-time VAs
- Staffing type: In-house Staff
- Starting price: $1,988 per month for an unknown number of hours
- Staff locations: The Philippines
- Model: Managed virtual assistant service
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Focus on a culture mesh: MyOutDesk’s process includes DISC personality matching to ensure assistants are a strong fit for the team they’re working with.
- FBI-grade background checks: While it isn’t clear exactly what they mean by this, MyOutDesk claims on its website that its assistants undergo intensive background checks.
- Full-time W2 employees: All assistants are W2 employees with benefits, PTO, and internal training. This helps them maintain assistants’ skills and happiness.
Cons
- Only offers full-time VAs: MyOutDesk only offers full-time assistants, making it less flexible and scalable than some other solutions. You can only scale the service when you need additional full-time support.
- All assistants are in a single location: All MyOutDesk assistants are located in the Philippines, which means they’re only tapping into a single talent pool.
- Time zone challenges: Since all staff is located in the Philippines, they may have trouble staffing some time zones adequately.
Direct Freelance Hire
Overview
Your other choice is to hire a virtual assistant directly through a website like Upwork or Fiverr. These websites offer various candidates with different skills at different price points.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- The ability to be selective: When you hire directly through an online talent workplace, you have ultimate control over who you hire. You can find talent specializing in almost anything on these websites.
- Control: Since you aren’t working through a service, you can up- or downscale your hours with your assistant whenever needed.
Cons
- You don’t get backup support: When you hire directly, you don’t get backup support or replacement staffing should your assistant leave. You have to fill any gaps that arise yourself.
- You're responsible for management: Outsourcing on these platforms is cheaper than hiring in-house staff but still comes with extra costs. You have to train and managed your outsourced staff members. You have to monitor this staff yourself to ensure work is getting done adequately, provide feedback, and manage tasks.
- You don’t get the same security guarantees: You can’t always know the security of your outsourced staff. They often work from home on unsecured equipment on unsecured networks.
How to Choose the Best Virtual Assistant Service for Your Needs
There is no one-size-fits-all perfect virtual assistant service. The best virtual assistant company for you is going to depend on a number of factors, including:
- Your ideal price point, what you can afford
- The number of hours you need
- The specialization you need
- Your working hours
- The tasks you need them to perform
- Whether you need backup support
- And so much more
If you want to learn more about Prialto and how our managed virtual assistant service works, set up a consultation call. We’ll walk you through it!
