Virtual assistant cost calculator

Where the starting pay comes from

For the executive assistant, customer support and e-commerce roles the starting pay is the middle of our own open vacancies (for example $800–$1,100 a month for an executive assistant)¹. Where live profiles on Stafka give at least three asked rates, their median is used instead. Other roles start from official pay statistics of the country, or from the national average wage where no figure by occupation exists. Linked cells open the full breakdown with sources.

How the numbers work

• Contractor: the pay plus $49 a month for a contractor platform (Deel’s Contractors plan)². The person pays their own tax at home; the remote hiring cost comparator shows what they keep.
• EOR: the pay as a gross salary, the employer contributions of the country^3456789 and a provider fee from $599 a month²¹⁰¹¹. Armenia has no employer contribution in our sources, so there the EOR route is the pay plus the fee.
• An hour: the monthly cost divided by the hours worked in a month: 173.3 at 40 hours a week (52 weeks, 12 months). For part time the pay, the employer contributions and the US comparison scale with the hours; the platform and EOR fees stay flat, so the hourly cost rises a little.
• US hire: the BLS OEWS May 2025 median wage of the role in the state you pick¹², divided by (1 − 22.5%): benefits and payroll taxes are 30% of total compensation in US private industry¹³, and 7.5% of it is paid leave, which the OEWS wage already includes¹⁴. For an executive assistant at the national median that is $76,590 in wages and $98,826 in total a year.
• Year one: twelve months of the contractor route, plus our one-time fee of $2,500 for the roles we recruit (assistants, customer support, e-commerce, bookkeeping), paid only if you hire, with a free replacement within 180 days¹. Conditions: one replacement per hire, the fee was paid on time, and the role, hours and pay stay as agreed. Pricing and conditions. For the other roles on Stafka we find the person or connect you with a vetted partner agency, whose fee is quoted separately, so year one shows the pay and platform only.
• Exchange rates: the four national banks, as of 12 Nov 2026^15161718.

What about the Philippines?

Most virtual assistant price lists start from the Philippines. The official Occupational Wages Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority has no occupation that matches an executive or virtual assistant, a customer support agent or an e-commerce order specialist; of our roles it covers only bookkeepers (accounting and bookkeeping clerks, 2022)¹⁹. We show no Philippines figure until there is an official one for the role and an official exchange rate in our data, rather than repeat unsourced agency prices.

What is left out

Paid time off and public holidays you agree in the contract, equipment, overtime, bank transfer fees (from 0.23% with Wise on major routes²⁰), and the contractor’s own tax at home, which the person pays. A US hire also brings recruiting, office and state unemployment tax costs that BLS averages do not show by state.

Questions

Not tax or legal advice: rates depend on the person’s registration, activity and turnover. Corrections: hello@silkstaff.com.

Rates checked 11 Nov 2026.

Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.