GoldStarVA
Agency or Freelancer: What You Are Actually Paying For
A freelance Virtual Assistant usually costs less per hour than one placed by an agency. What the agency rate adds is everything around the person: vetting, a replacement if it does not work out, payroll and contracts, and someone accountable after the placement. For a one off project, a freelancer is often the better fit. For a dedicated person doing ongoing work, an agency is usually the cheaper way to get it done well.
Comparing hourly rates alone misses most of the cost. This guide sets out what you are actually paying for each way, and when each one makes sense.
What you pay for with a freelancer
With a freelancer, the rate buys the hours. Everything else is yours to do:
Finding candidates. Writing the post, reading the applications and shortlisting.
Vetting them. Skills tests, interviews and reference checks, if you have the time to run them.
Contracts and payments. Agreeing terms and paying each invoice.
Cover. Working out what happens when they are unwell, on holiday or busy with another client.
Starting again. If it does not work out, the whole search repeats, and so does the time it took.
What an agency rate covers
A good agency does that work for you. Using GoldStarVA as the example, the rate includes:
Five vetting gates for every candidate: application and English fluency, a skills and technical assessment, a live interview, background and reference checks, and role fit against your brief.
A shortlist in a week. Four to six finalists, every one of whom cleared all five gates.
Your choice, not ours. You meet the finalists in one session and choose the person yourself.
A Client Success Manager who stays with your account after the placement.
A free replacement guarantee. If the fit is ever wrong, we place again at no cost to you.
Recruiting, HR and payroll, handled entirely by us, with one invoice a month.
The GoldStarVA CRM Suite, included at no extra cost.
Side by side
Question | Freelancer | GoldStarVA |
|---|---|---|
Who finds the candidates? | You | We do |
Who vets them? | You, if you have time | Five gates, every candidate |
Who chooses? | You | You, from a vetted shortlist |
How long until they start? | Depends on your search | Two weeks from scoping the role |
Dedicated to your business? | Often split across clients | Yours alone |
If it does not work out? | You start again | Free replacement |
Contracts and payroll? | You | Us, one invoice a month |
Someone to call if it goes wrong? | No | Your Client Success Manager |
Software included? | Bring your own | CRM Suite included |
The cost that never shows on an invoice: your time
Every hour you spend sourcing, interviewing and onboarding is an hour away from the work only you can do. A cheaper hourly rate that takes weeks of your time to fill, and has to be refilled if it does not work out, can end up costing more than the rate it saved. That is the real comparison: not the price of the hours, but the price of getting the work reliably done.
For the full numbers on an agency placement, including how it compares with hiring in the United States, see what a Virtual Assistant from the Philippines costs.
When a freelancer is the right call
You need a one off project, such as a logo, a website build or a batch of edited videos
The work is highly specialised and short
You enjoy hiring, have time to vet properly, and are comfortable managing the arrangement yourself
When an agency is the right call
The role is ongoing, and you want the same person on it month after month
You need it to work the first time, without weeks of trial and error
You do not have time to run a proper hiring process
You want a backstop if something goes wrong
Questions to ask before you hire either way
How are candidates vetted, and can I see the steps?
What happens if it does not work out?
Who handles contracts and payroll?
Will they work my hours, in my time zone?
Is the person dedicated to my business, or shared?
Who do I call if something goes wrong?
Frequently asked questions
Is an agency more expensive than a freelancer?
Per hour, often yes. Counted as the total cost of getting the work done, including your time hiring and the risk of starting again, an agency placement is usually the better value for ongoing roles.
Are GoldStarVA Virtual Assistants freelancers?
No. GoldStarVA recruits, vets, employs and supports its Virtual Assistants in the Philippines, and places each one with a single business.
Can I hire part time through an agency?
Yes. With GoldStarVA, part time is $1,000 a month for 20 hours a week, with the same vetting and everything else included.
See what an agency placement would look like for you
On a 45 minute discovery call, a Client Success Manager walks through the role, how placement runs, what it would cost and the terms. If a placement is not the right answer for you, we will say so.
