The short answer: a human VA costs roughly $30–75/hr US or $7–15/hr offshore ($1,200–7,000/month full-time, per commonly reported 2026 ranges); an AI back-office assistant like BeforeNine runs $99–599/month, starts the same day and works 24/7 — but can’t make phone calls or judgment calls. AI for the always-on triage and drafting; a human for what genuinely needs one. Most small firms that get this right run both.
Side by side
VA rates are commonly reported 2026 ranges and vary by skill, region and engagement model.
The hybrid that actually works
Give the AI the layer that benefits from being always-on: overnight inbox triage, the 6am brief, deadline and renewal early-warnings, first drafts of routine replies, document summaries, follow-up chasing. Keep (or hire) human hours for the layer that needs a person: difficult conversations, phone calls, judgment on edge cases. The AI layer at $99/mo typically costs less than one US VA hour per day — which is why the hybrid usually beats either extreme.
Questions, answered plainly.
Depends on the work. If your load is inbox triage, scheduling, document summaries, follow-up chasing and routine drafting — an AI assistant does it for roughly $99–599/month, around the clock, starting the same day. If you need judgment calls, phone calls, vendor wrangling or physical-world tasks, you need a human — a US VA at commonly reported $30–75/hour or offshore at $7–15/hour. Many small firms do both: AI for the always-on grunt work, a part-time human for what genuinely needs one.
Commonly reported ranges: US-based VAs $30–75/hour (average around $34/hour); offshore VAs $7–15/hour. Full-time, that’s roughly $3,000–7,000/month US or $1,200–2,500/month offshore, with managed offshore services often $2,000–3,000/month. Rates vary with skill and task complexity.
Business-grade AI assistants that work inside your real accounts run roughly $99–$599/month flat — BeforeNine, for example, starts at $99/mo with a free trial. Consumer chatbots are cheaper (~$20/mo) but don’t operate your inbox, calendar and documents for you. See our full cost breakdown.
Make judgment calls on ambiguous situations, handle phone calls, manage relationships that need a human touch, and do anything physical or off-system. A well-designed AI assistant also deliberately won’t send anything without your approval — with BeforeNine, every outbound waits for your tap. Treat “fully autonomous AI employee” claims with suspicion.
Sometimes partially, rarely completely. The honest framing: AI takes the 24/7 triage, drafting, and watching-for-deadlines layer; your human hours get reallocated to judgment work. Some owners drop from a full-time VA to part-time plus AI; the combined cost is usually well below a full-time hire.
Try the AI layer this week.
$99/mo. Free for a week. No card. Nothing sends without your say-so.
Start free