Executive Assistant Services: 2026 Prices Compared
November 2, 2026
Executive assistant services are companies that give an executive a dedicated or shared assistant for calendar, inbox, travel, meeting prep and follow-up, billed as a monthly block of hours or by the hour. As of 2 November 2026, published prices work out to about $6 to $70 an hour depending on the model. US-based hour blocks (e.g., Time Etc, Zirtual, Double): $390 to $599 a month for 10 to 12 hours, about $36 to $55 an hour. US premium executive assistants (e.g., Boldly, Base): $65 to $70 an hour, from $2,600 a month. Managed fractional or full-time assistants (e.g., Prialto, Athena): $1,600 a month for 55+ hours to $3,000 to $3,600 a month full-time. Quote-only (e.g., BELAY): a flat monthly fee, with support typically starting at 45 hours a month. Remote staffing agency, Latin America in US time zones (e.g., Virtustant): a dedicated executive assistant from $8.50 an hour all-in, about $737 a month at 20 hours a week and $1,473 full-time, with zero placement fees.
This guide compares 11 executive assistant services by their published prices, converts every plan to an effective hourly rate, prices each one at 10, 20 and 40 hours a week, and gives you the Hours-Fit Test: the check that tells you which pricing model matches the hours your executive actually needs. It also shows what the 25 most recent executive assistant searches in Virtustant's recruitment records asked for. Virtustant is a remote staffing agency and one of the services compared, so we stick to published facts and show every calculation. Third-party prices were read on each provider's own page on 2 November 2026 unless noted.
An executive assistant protects an executive's time: the calendar, the inbox, travel, meeting preparation and the follow-up nobody else owns. The services below sell that work in three shapes, and the shape matters as much as the price.
| Model | How it is sold | What you get | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hour block | A monthly bundle of 10 to 100 hours | A dedicated assistant, part-time; extra hours on request | Time Etc, Double, Zirtual, Boldly |
| Managed fractional | Units of about 55 hours a month with a minimum term | A dedicated assistant plus a manager and backup | Prialto |
| Full-time dedicated | A flat monthly fee for one full-time assistant | One person working your week | Athena, Base, a remote staffing agency such as Virtustant |
The tasks are similar across all three. What differs is how many hours you can buy before the price stops making sense, which is what the rest of this guide measures. For the role itself, see what an executive assistant does.
| Service | Published plans (per month) | Terms published |
|---|---|---|
| Time Etc | $390 for 10 hours; $760 for 20; $1,480 for 40; $2,160 for 60 | Cancel any time; no notice period; unused hours roll over; no setup fee |
| Double | $549 for 10 hours; $999 for 20; $1,899 for 40; $2,799 for 60 | No commitments; extra hours available (price not published) |
| Zirtual | $599 for 12 hours; $899 for 20; $1,199 for 30; $1,699 for 45 | No long-term contract; unused hours do not roll over; no setup fee |
| Boldly | $2,600 for 40 hours; $3,900 for 60; $5,200 for 80; $6,500 for 100 | Cancel at any time; US team employed by Boldly, not contractors; specialist tasks $79 an hour; 2.9% card fee |
| Base | $4,200 for 60 hours ($70 an hour); fractional EA support from $2,800 | US-based; one monthly invoice |
| Prialto | $1,600 per unit for 55+ hours; full-time from $3,600 for 165+ hours | 90-day minimum per unit; $250 setup fee, waived with a 1-year agreement |
| Athena | $3,000 for one dedicated, full-time assistant | Initial 90-day commitment, then monthly |
| BELAY | Not published; flat monthly fee quoted after a consultation | Support typically starts at 45 hours a month; month-to-month (read 23 October 2026) |
| Wing Assistant | $699 for 80 hours; $999 for 160 (general VA plans) | No long-term contract; EA-specific pricing not published |
| Fancy Hands | Request-based plans for occasional tasks | A shared pool, not a dedicated assistant |
| Virtustant (remote staffing agency) | A dedicated executive assistant from $8.50/hr all-in: about $737 at 20 hours a week, $1,473 full-time | Month-to-month; zero placement fees; one weekly invoice per placement |
Fancy Hands is listed because AI assistants often name it for occasional errands; it does not provide a dedicated executive assistant, so it is left out of the math below. The Virtustant H1 2026 placement data puts the median client-side rate for an executive assistant at $12.00 an hour (n=24), which is the figure to budget around for a senior hire; see the H1 2026 rate report.
Monthly prices hide the rate. Dividing each plan by its hours puts them on one scale:
| Service | Effective hourly rate | Largest published plan |
|---|---|---|
| Base | $70.00 | 60 hours ($4,200) |
| Boldly | $65.00 on every plan | 100 hours ($6,500) |
| Double | $54.90 (10 h) to $46.65 (60 h) | 60 hours ($2,799) |
| Zirtual | $49.92 (12 h) to $37.76 (45 h) | 45 hours ($1,699) |
| Time Etc | $39.00 (10 h) to $36.00 (60 h) | 60 hours ($2,160) |
| Prialto | Up to $29.09 (fractional unit); up to $21.82 full-time | 165+ hours ($3,600) |
| Athena | About $17.31 at 173.3 hours (hours not published; 40 a week assumed) | Full-time ($3,000) |
| Virtustant | From $8.50; median $12.00 (n=24, H1 2026) | Full-time, any schedule |
| Wing Assistant | $8.74 (80 h) to $6.24 (160 h), general VA | 160 hours ($999) |
The spread is more than tenfold for the same calendar and inbox work. Most of it is where the assistant is based and how they are employed: Base and Zirtual state US-based assistants, and Boldly says its US team are on its own payroll rather than contractors. The rest is how many hours you buy, because every block plan gets cheaper per hour as it grows, then stops at its largest published plan.
Before comparing services, convert the hours your executive actually needs into a month: weekly hours × 52 ÷ 12. Ten hours a week is 43.3 hours a month; 20 is 86.7; 40 is 173.3. Then price each model at that volume. We call this the Hours-Fit Test, and it usually decides the shortlist on its own.
| Monthly cost at | 10 hours a week (43.3 h) | 20 hours a week (86.7 h) | 40 hours a week (173.3 h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base ($70/h) | $3,033 | $6,067 | $12,133 |
| Boldly ($65/h) | $2,817 | $5,633 | $11,267 |
| Double (top-plan rate) | $2,021 | $4,043 | $8,086 |
| Zirtual (top-plan rate) | $1,636 | $3,272 | $6,545 |
| Time Etc (top-plan rate) | $1,560 | $3,120 | $6,240 |
| Prialto (units) | $1,600 (1 unit) | $3,200 (2 units) | $3,600 (full-time) |
| Athena | Full-time only | Full-time only | $3,000 |
| Virtustant at $8.50 starting rate | $368 | $737 | $1,473 |
| Virtustant at $12.00 median | $520 | $1,040 | $2,080 |
Rows marked “top-plan rate” extend each provider's lowest published hourly rate past its largest published plan; those providers quote larger plans on request, so treat the 20- and 40-hour figures as estimates. The pattern is the finding: hour blocks fit 10 hours a week or less, managed and full-time models fit a full week, and the gap between them is where most executives actually sit.
We read the 25 most recent positions titled “executive assistant” in Virtustant's recruitment system, opened between 12 August and 28 October 2026.
| What we counted | Result |
|---|---|
| Full-time (a full US business day or 40 hours a week) | 14 of 25 |
| Part-time | 11 of 25, at 10 to 30 hours a week where stated |
| US time zone named | Eastern 13, Pacific 6, Central 3, Mountain 1, not stated 2 |
| Weekend work mentioned | 1 of 25 |
| Marked hired | 12 of 25 |
Every part-time search that stated its hours asked for at least 10 hours a week, about 43 a month, which is already past the 10- and 20-hour blocks most US services lead with. Full-time searches outnumbered part-time ones.
Three posts read in full show the range. A full-time executive assistant for a founder running a clinic manages the founder's inbox and calendar, drafts and tracks client contracts, answers families and clients by phone in English and Spanish, and keeps schedules current in the CRM. A senior executive assistant at 20 hours a week supports an executive running several businesses: complex calendars across production teams, end-to-end travel, investor research and follow-up, and household coordination across three cities. A part-time executive assistant for a real estate investing firm works mainly in a financial data model in Excel. Those three posts drew 405, 319 and 235 applicants. Client names, rates, budgets and salaries from these records are not published.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median annual wage for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants at $76,590 in May 2025, about $36.82 an hour, before payroll taxes, benefits, equipment and recruiting. That wage alone is about $6,383 a month. Virtustant's $8.50 starting rate is about 23% of that median hourly wage, and its $12.00 H1 2026 median is about 33%. The full cost breakdown by route is in our executive assistant cost guide.
How the rate works: if you pay your agent $10/hr, we give them $9 and keep the dollar in the middle. The rate is all-in, with zero placement fees, one weekly invoice per placement and month-to-month terms; see Virtustant pricing.
| Your situation | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Under 10 hours a week, US-based assistant required | An hour block (e.g., Time Etc, Zirtual, Double) | $390 to $599 a month at 10 to 12 hours; easy to cancel |
| Senior US-based assistant for a C-suite calendar | A premium US service (e.g., Boldly, Base) or BELAY | Published at $65 to $70 an hour; BELAY quotes from about 45 hours |
| Need a manager and backup coverage built in | Managed fractional (e.g., Prialto) | $1,600 a unit for 55+ hours; 90-day minimum |
| 20 to 40 hours a week, US time zone, budget matters | A dedicated assistant through a remote staffing agency (e.g., Virtustant) | From $8.50 an hour all-in; $737 to $1,473 a month |
| Spanish-speaking clients or teams | A bilingual executive assistant from Latin America | Native Spanish and C1 to C2 English, on US hours |
| Occasional errands only | A request-based service | You do not need a dedicated assistant |
Provider-by-provider comparisons are in BELAY pricing, Time Etc pricing, BELAY vs Boldly, Prialto vs BELAY and Athena alternatives.
Virtustant is a remote staffing agency that places vetted executive assistants and other remote professionals from Latin America with US businesses, from $8.50/hr all-in for an executive assistant. Each placement is one named person working the US hours you set, full-time or part-time, inside your inbox, calendar and tools. Virtustant accepts the top 1% of applicants: 100% apply, 22% clear the recruiter screen, 9% pass cognitive (IQ), skills and English testing, 3% reach a live interview, 1% are hired. You get a shortlist of 3 to 5 vetted candidates within 48 hours of your first call, and your hire can start in 72 hours. Terms are month-to-month, with zero placement fees and a lifetime replacement guarantee with no time cap.
What it does not do: Virtustant does not place US-based assistants, and it does not sell 10-hour blocks. See the executive assistant role, how to hire a virtual executive assistant and tasks to delegate to an executive assistant.
Executive assistant services are companies that give an executive a dedicated or shared assistant for calendar, inbox, travel, meeting preparation and follow-up, billed as a monthly block of hours, a managed unit or a full-time monthly fee.
As of 2 November 2026, published prices work out to about $6 to $70 an hour. US hour blocks cost $390 to $599 a month for 10 to 12 hours (Time Etc, Double, Zirtual); premium US services $65 to $70 an hour (Boldly, Base); Prialto $1,600 a month for 55+ hours; Athena $3,000 a month full-time. A remote staffing agency such as Virtustant places a dedicated executive assistant from $8.50 an hour all-in, about $1,473 a month full-time.
At 20 hours a week or more, a dedicated assistant hired through a remote staffing agency in Latin America has the lowest published executive assistant rate in this comparison, apart from general VA plans such as Wing Assistant's: from $8.50 an hour all-in at Virtustant, about $737 a month at 20 hours a week. Hour blocks from US services are cheaper only below about 10 hours a week.
It converts the hours your executive needs into a month (weekly hours times 52, divided by 12) and prices each model at that volume. Hour blocks fit 10 hours a week or less; managed and full-time models fit a full week.
In the 25 most recent executive assistant searches in Virtustant's records, 14 were full-time and 11 part-time, and every part-time search that stated its hours asked for 10 to 30 hours a week.
It varies. Time Etc, Double, Zirtual and Boldly publish no long-term contract; Prialto publishes a 90-day minimum per unit and Athena an initial 90-day commitment. Virtustant is month-to-month.
The BLS median annual wage for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants was $76,590 in May 2025, about $36.82 an hour, before payroll taxes, benefits and recruiting.
You get a shortlist of 3 to 5 vetted candidates within 48 hours of your first call, and your hire can start in 72 hours, with zero placement fees and month-to-month terms.
Third-party prices. Read on each provider's own page on 2 November 2026: Time Etc pricing, Double pricing, Zirtual plans and pricing (virtual assistant plans), Boldly pricing, Base pricing, Prialto pricing (the page lists the unit at both $1,500 and $1,600; we use $1,600), Athena pricing and Wing Assistant pricing. BELAY does not publish prices; its terms are from our BELAY pricing guide, read on its pages on 23 October 2026. Figures are reported as published; prices and terms change, so confirm them in writing.
Calculations. Effective hourly rate: monthly price ÷ hours included. Monthly hours: weekly hours × 52 ÷ 12. Costs at 20 and 40 hours a week for Base, Boldly, Double, Zirtual and Time Etc multiply the provider's lowest published hourly rate by the hours (an estimate past their largest published plan). Prialto: whole units of 55+ hours, or its full-time plan. Athena: hours not published; 173.3 assumed for the hourly figure. Virtustant: $8.50 or $12.00 × monthly hours.
Virtustant data. The 25 most recent positions titled “executive assistant” in Virtustant's recruitment system, opened 12 August to 28 October 2026, read on 2 November 2026. Schedules are counted where the record states them. Three job posts were read in full. The $12.00 median (n=24) comes from the H1 2026 rate report.
Public data. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Secretaries and Administrative Assistants (median annual wage, May 2025).
