Hiring routes compared · Updated November 2026
Virtual assistant vs freelancer vs agency
A freelancer sells you a result or a block of hours, a virtual assistant runs your recurring tasks week after week, and an agency finds that assistant for you and charges one hourly rate. In the Philippines, a VA you hire yourself costs $5.00–$10.00 an hour on hourly work or $600–$1,500 a month full-time, against $6.50–$10.00 an hour at one agency's published rate card.
Who does what on each route
The work can be identical on all three. What changes is who carries the hiring and the admin around it.
| The question | Freelancer | VA you hire yourself | VA through an agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're buying | A result, or a set of hours | Regular hours on recurring work | The same hours, plus the hiring and admin |
| Who finds and screens them | You | You | The agency |
| Who runs contract and payments | You | You | Usually the agency; check what's included |
| Who directs the daily work | You, through the brief | You | Still you, with an account manager on the admin |
| How well they learn your business | Only what the job needs | Deeply over time, if they stay | Deeply over time, if they stay |
| If it doesn't work out | The job ends; hire someone else | The search starts again | Ask for a replacement; check the terms |
| Fits best | One-off or specialist projects | Ongoing tasks, and you enjoy hiring | Ongoing tasks, and you'd rather not hire |
What each route costs
Here's what foreign businesses pay when they hire someone directly in the Philippines. Hourly rates are what you'd pay for part-time or flexible work, including most freelance-style arrangements. Full-time pay is what a dedicated hire costs. Other countries are on the salaries page.
| Role | Hourly rate | Full-time, per month | Full-time, as an hourly figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual assistant | $5.00–$10.00 | $600–$1,500 | $3.46–$8.65 |
| Customer support agent | $3.00–$10.00 | $460–$3,500 | $2.65–$20.19 |
| Bookkeeper | $5.00–$15.00 | $1,075–$1,400 | $6.20–$8.08 |
| Digital marketer | $4.00–$20.00 | $400–$4,000 | $2.31–$23.08 |
| Social media manager | $4.00–$15.00 | $500–$1,700 | $2.88–$9.81 |
| Graphic designer | $3.00–$10.00 | $650–$1,700 | $3.75–$9.81 |
| Web developer | $5.31–$14.00 | $500–$1,500 | $2.88–$8.65 |
| Software developer | $7.00–$30.00 | $780–$2,500 | $4.50–$14.42 |
And through an agency
Published by Outsourcing Insider, a VA MASTERS company. The example below is VA MASTERS' own published rate card, shown because it's public; other agencies' prices vary. About us
| Agency example | Per hour | 80 hours a month | 160 hours a month | Covers these roles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VA MASTERS Parent company | $6.50–$10.00 | $520–$800 | $1,040–$1,600 | Virtual assistant, Customer support agent |
| VA MASTERS Parent company | $7.50–$14.00 | $600–$1,120 | $1,200–$2,240 | Bookkeeper |
| VA MASTERS Parent company | $8.50–$15.00 | $680–$1,200 | $1,360–$2,400 | Digital marketer |
| VA MASTERS Parent company | $7.50–$9.00 | $600–$720 | $1,200–$1,440 | Social media manager |
| VA MASTERS Parent company | $8.00–$14.00 | $640–$1,120 | $1,280–$2,240 | Graphic designer |
| VA MASTERS Parent company | $12.00–$25.00 | $960–$2,000 | $1,920–$4,000 | Web developer, Software developer |
What the lower hourly rate leaves out
Comparing a pay rate with an agency rate isn't quite fair, because the agency rate pays for work you'd otherwise do yourself. So price that work:
- 80 hours a month of a VA's time$60 a month less hired directlyHired directly: $400–$800. Agency example: $520–$800. Middle of one range against the middle of the other, about $720 over a year.
- 160 hours a month of a VA's time$351 a month less hired directlyHired directly: $554–$1,384. Agency example: $1,040–$1,600. Middle of one range against the middle of the other, about $4,214 over a year.
The ranges overlap, so treat those gaps as a rough guide. Then ask how many hours you'd spend writing the ad, reading applications, running interviews and a test task, setting up payments, and starting over if the first hire leaves. Multiply by what an hour of your time is worth. If that total is smaller than the yearly gap, hire directly. If it's bigger, the agency's the cheaper route, even at the higher rate.
The calculator has fields for your hours, your hourly value and any platform or transfer fees, so you can run this with your own numbers.
How to pick
Choose a freelancer when the work has an end
A logo, a website rebuild, a books cleanup, a batch of product photos. You can describe the result, you can judge it when it arrives, and you won't need the person next month. Paying for ongoing hours here means paying for time with nothing to do in it.
Choose a VA when the same tasks keep coming back
If you can list what needs doing every day or week (see the tasks to delegate checklist), you want someone who learns how you like it done, so you stop explaining it. A freelancer can do the same work, but each new person starts from zero.
Hire the VA yourself when hiring doesn't scare you
You'll pay only the person. In return you'll run the whole process: ad, screening, paid test, references, payments, and the search again if it falls through. It suits owners who've hired before and have the hours to spare. The hiring checklist covers each step.
Use an agency when your time is the expensive part
The trade-off is a higher hourly rate, and usually some contract terms you'd read closely: notice periods, any advance payment, and what a replacement really covers. It also means less choice over exactly who's in the pool. In return, you see screened candidates without running the search.
Managed VA teams vs a stack of freelancers
Businesses often end up with a designer here, a bookkeeper there and a part-time admin somewhere else, each with their own brief and invoice. That's cheap per hour and flexible, and it works well while the work is occasional. It starts to hurt when these people depend on each other, because the only person connecting them is you.
A managed setup puts the recruiting, payments and admin in one place. It won't manage the work for you: tasks, priorities and quality checks still need an owner on your side, and the KPI scorecard helps with that on any route.
FAQ
Is a virtual assistant a freelancer?
Often, yes. "Freelancer" describes how someone sells their time, and "virtual assistant" describes the kind of work. A VA who serves three clients for ten hours each is both. The practical difference is the relationship: a freelance job ends when the deliverable is done, while a VA keeps a set of recurring tasks going. How you engage either one for tax or contract purposes is a separate question for a local adviser.
Is a virtual assistant cheaper than a freelancer?
For recurring admin work, usually, because you're paying for routine hours and not specialist output. In the Philippines, published direct-hire VA rates are $5.00–$10.00 an hour on hourly work. A freelance specialist such as a developer or designer is priced on a different scale, and the role pages on this site show those rates. We don't publish project quotes, because they depend entirely on the scope.
Is an agency more expensive than hiring a freelancer or VA yourself?
Per hour, usually yes, and that's what you pay for the recruiting and admin. For a VA at 160 hours a month, the middle of the direct-hire range in the Philippines comes to $351 a month less than the middle of the agency example on this page. Whether that's worth it depends on how much of your own time the hiring, payments and any replacement would take.
What's the difference between a managed VA team and several freelancers?
With several freelancers, you're the manager: you write each brief, chase each deadline and pay each invoice. With a managed team, someone else handles the recruiting and admin and there's one bill, though the daily work still needs direction from you. The first costs less per hour and takes more of your week.
What should I ask an agency before I sign?
Ask what the rate includes, whether there are setup or recruiting fees, what happens if the hire doesn't work out, how long the notice period is, whether anything is due up front, and who the person actually works for day to day. A good agency answers all of that in writing. The hiring checklist on this site has the full question list.