GoldStarVA
How Much Does a Virtual Assistant from the Philippines Cost?
With GoldStarVA, a full time Virtual Assistant from the Philippines costs $2,000 a month for 40 hours a week, which works out to about $11.54 an hour. Part time is $1,000 a month for 20 hours a week. That one figure covers the person, the GoldStarVA CRM Suite, a Client Success Manager, recruiting, HR and payroll, and a free replacement guarantee.
The rate is the easy part. The useful question is what you compare it with, because the lowest number on a page is rarely the cheapest way to get the work done. This guide covers what the rate buys, what the same work costs to hire in the United States, and the costs that never show up on either invoice.
The short answer
Full time: $2,000 a month for 40 hours a week, in your time zone. About $11.54 an hour.
Part time: $1,000 a month for 20 hours a week. The same hourly equivalent.
One executive assistant hired in the United States: about $87,763 a year once payroll tax and benefits are added.
The same budget with GoldStarVA: three full time Virtual Assistants for $72,000 a year, with $15,763 left over.
The rate, and how it works
The rate is flat and monthly. Your Virtual Assistant works your hours, eight a day and forty a week, and is dedicated to your business alone. There are no tiers to compare and nothing held back for a higher plan, and the rate does not climb as you hand over more work.
Forty hours a week across a year is 2,080 hours, or about 173 a month. At $2,000 a month that comes to roughly $11.54 an hour, and part time works out the same.
Senior and specialised roles can cost more than the standard rate. You will know the figure for your role on the discovery call.
What the rate includes
Your Virtual Assistant. Through all five vetting gates, and chosen by you in an interview rather than assigned on paper.
The GoldStarVA CRM Suite. Contacts and pipelines, funnels and forms, scheduling, email and SMS automation, and reporting. It is $97 a month on its own, and included at no extra cost. See the CRM Suite.
A Client Success Manager. One accountable contact who knows your account, not a ticket queue.
Access to our automation specialist. In house, for builds inside your CRM Suite.
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. Nothing lands on your books.
Things have been going so well that we want GoldStar to support us even more.
Yasiris Ortiz, Founder and CEO, Spin and Learn
What the same work costs in the United States
A salary is not what an employee costs. On top of pay, a US employer covers payroll tax and benefits, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts benefit costs at about 43 percent on top of wages in private industry (December 2025). The figures below use a more conservative 30 percent, so if anything they understate the gap.
Role | US salary | With payroll tax and benefits | GoldStarVA, full time | Difference a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Customer support | $42,830 | $55,679 | $24,000 | $31,679 |
Marketing assistant | $42,307 | $54,999 | $24,000 | $30,999 |
Social media manager | $65,584 | $85,259 | $24,000 | $61,259 |
Executive assistant | $67,510 | $87,763 | $24,000 | $63,763 |
Sales development rep | $72,634 | $94,424 | $24,000 | $70,424 |
Project manager | $100,750 | $130,975 | $24,000 | $106,975 |
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, median pay, May 2024, for customer service representatives, executive assistants and project management specialists. Indeed, average salaries, September 2026, for marketing assistants, social media managers and business development representatives, used here for sales development reps. Senior and specialised GoldStarVA roles can be higher than the standard rate.
Where the gap gets wide: a team
One role is a saving. A team changes the business. Say you need customer support, social media and an executive assistant. Hired in the United States, those three cost about $228,701 a year. With GoldStarVA, three full time Virtual Assistants are $72,000. That is $156,701 kept every year, 69 percent less, and still $15,763 less than a single US executive assistant.
That gap is another hire, or the campaigns you keep putting off. See what an ordinary Tuesday looks like with a Virtual Assistant.
The costs that do not show up on either invoice
Your time, spent hiring
Writing a job ad, screening applications and running first interviews can take weeks of your time. With GoldStarVA it starts with one 45 minute call. In the first week we run every candidate through five vetting gates and hand you four to six finalists. In the second week you interview them in one session and choose. Two weeks after we scope the role, your Virtual Assistant starts.
Getting it wrong
A hire that does not work out means starting the search again, and paying for the time it took. With our free replacement guarantee, vetting for the replacement begins the day you tell us, at no cost, and your Client Success Manager manages the handover so the work does not stop.
Payroll and admin
No employer tax filings, no benefits administration and no year end. One invoice a month.
A desk
None of this work needs a chair in your building. Your Virtual Assistant works your hours remotely, so there is no desk to fill.
What is not included
Custom automation builds. Builds inside your CRM Suite are scoped with our in house automation specialist and quoted before any work starts.
Campaigns. Campaigns written and launched by our marketing team are quoted the same way.
Senior and specialised roles. These can be higher than the standard rate, and you will know the figure on the discovery call.
Freelancer, agency or local hire?
Freelance marketplaces often list lower hourly rates than an agency. The difference is what sits around the person: who vets them, who replaces them if it does not work out, who runs payroll, and who is accountable for the placement after it starts. With a freelancer, all of that is yours to handle. With GoldStarVA, it is in the rate.
Frequently asked questions
Do I pay the Virtual Assistant directly?
No. Recruiting, HR and payroll are handled entirely by GoldStarVA, and you receive one invoice a month.
Does the rate go up if I hand over more work?
No. The rate does not climb with the work. It is a flat $2,000 a month for each full time Virtual Assistant.
What happens if the person is not the right fit?
We replace them at no cost. Vetting for the replacement begins the day you tell us.
How quickly can a Virtual Assistant start?
Two weeks after we scope the role with you. Week one is our vetting, and week two is your interviews.
Is the CRM Suite really included?
Yes. Hire any full time or part time Virtual Assistant and the GoldStarVA CRM Suite is included at no extra cost. On its own it is $97 a month or $697 a year.
Get the numbers for your role
Every business hands over different work. On a 45 minute discovery call, a Client Success Manager walks through the work you would hand over, how placement runs, what it would cost and the terms. If a Virtual Assistant is not the right answer for you, we will say so on the call.
