How much does a virtual assistant cost in the UK?

Written by PixelGangsta. Published 27th October 2026. Updated 1st November 2026.

The short answer

Most UK virtual assistants charge somewhere between £22 and £50 an hour, according to TrustSolo’s 2026 rates page, which it says to treat as a broad guide. The most recent free figures from the Society of Virtual Assistants, from its 2021 survey, found that “the average VA rate is £27.17/hour”, and the rate charged most often was £25. What you pay each month depends on how many hours you need, and on whether there is a minimum.

At a glance

Who you hire	Typical rate	What to watch
A freelance VA you work with directly	£25 to £35 an hour	Whether there is a minimum number of hours each month.
A VA agency	£30 to £40 an hour	Often more once VAT is added. Ask if VAT is on top, and whether your hours roll over.
An executive level VA	£40 to £50 an hour	You may not need this level for replies and reminders.
Paying for one job	Fixed price	Agree the price before work starts. Check exactly what the job includes.
Setting a job up to run on its own	A one off set up cost, plus any app fee	Check it works with the programs you already use, and whether the app charges each month.

Hourly rates come from VAConnect, a UK VA firm, in June 2026, and are its own figures. Treat them as a rough guide and always ask for the price in writing.

What does a virtual assistant earn in the UK?

What a VA earns and what a business pays are two different numbers, and you will see both online.

An employed VA. PayScale UK puts the average at £15.33 an hour. That is based on 47 salary profiles, and the page was last updated on 11th November 2024, so treat it as a rough guide. Glassdoor puts average total pay, which can include bonuses, at £27,629 a year, from 50 salaries.

The legal minimum. Since 1st April 2026 the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over has been £12.71 an hour. By law, an employer must not pay a worker of that age less, unless they are an apprentice in their first year.

A self employed VA. A freelance VA sets their own rate. The Society of Virtual Assistants found an average of £27.17 an hour in its 2021 survey. That is the price the client pays, and out of it the VA covers their own tax, equipment, holidays and the weeks with no work.

So a freelance rate of £25 or more is not all take home pay. If you are hiring, the rate you pay is what matters, and the rest of this guide is about that.

Why the rates vary

A freelance VA working on their own usually charges less than an agency, which has staff and offices to pay for. Executive level VAs charge more for senior work, such as running a busy director’s diary.

You may see much lower figures online. Those are usually what an employed VA earns, not what a business pays for help.

Watch the minimum hours

The hourly rate is only half the price. Some firms sell hours in monthly blocks. VAConnect’s smallest package is 40 hours a month, from £818. That is around £20 an hour, but it is a monthly price, so check what happens to any hours you do not use.

If you need someone for most of the week, a block of hours from a VA or an agency may suit you well. If you only need a few jobs done, ask whether a smaller amount is possible before you sign up.

A worked example

Say you spend about 4 hours a month replying to new enquiries and chasing unpaid invoices.

At £25 an hour, the rate charged most often in the 2021 survey, 4 hours is £100 a month. At £50 an hour, the top of TrustSolo’s range, it is £200 a month. That is only if the VA will take on so few hours.

Some of those jobs do not need a person every month. Many invoicing programs can send polite reminders on their own once the wording is set up. The time saved guide shows how to add up the hours your own jobs take.

How much time could your admin give back each month? →

The cost of doing it all yourself

Doing the admin yourself looks free, but it comes out of your evenings. Electrical Times reported in 2026 that UK tradespeople are “losing ten working weeks a year to admin they could automate”.

Keep the parts customers like hearing from you, such as the real answer to their question, and hand over the typing.

Three ways to get admin help

An hourly VA. Best when you have regular work most weeks and want the same person on it.

Paying for one job. Best for a backlog, such as a pile of unanswered enquiries, or a job you only need doing once. You know the price before anyone starts.

Setting a job up to run on its own. Best for jobs that come round every week, like appointment reminders or a reply to every real enquiry. You pay once to set it up. If it needs an app with a monthly fee, ask about that first.

Five jobs a small business can stop doing by hand →

Five questions to ask before you hire anyone

1. Is there a minimum number of hours each month, and do unused hours roll over?
2. Is VAT added to the price?
3. How much notice do I need to give to stop?
4. Will you need my passwords, or can you have your own login that I can remove?
5. Who sends emails to my customers, you or me?

Common questions

How much is a virtual assistant per hour in the UK?
TrustSolo’s 2026 rates page puts the typical range at £22 to £50 an hour. The Society of Virtual Assistants found an average of £27.17 an hour in its 2021 survey, with £25 the rate charged most often.

How much does a virtual assistant earn in the UK?
An employed VA earns about £15.33 an hour on average, according to PayScale UK, whose figures were last updated in November 2024. The National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over has been £12.71 an hour since 1st April 2026. Freelance VAs set their own rates, which averaged £27.17 an hour in the Society of Virtual Assistants’ 2021 survey. That is what the client pays, and the VA’s own tax, equipment and holidays come out of it.

Is a virtual assistant cheaper than taking someone on?
An employed VA’s average pay is £15.33 an hour according to PayScale UK in 2024, but that is the wage only. A freelance VA costs more an hour, though their equipment and holidays are theirs to cover, not yours. Ask about any minimum, so you are not charged for time you leave unused.

Can I get help for just a few hours a month?
Often, yes. Ask about minimum hours first, because some firms start at 40 hours a month. For a handful of jobs, paying for one job at a time or setting a job up to run on its own can work out simpler.

Should a virtual assistant have my passwords?
No. Never send a password by email or text. Ask for a separate login of their own where your programs allow it, so you can remove it at any time.

Will a virtual assistant reply to my customers for me?
Some will. Others leave each reply with you to check first. Decide which you are happy with before you start. We draft replies and reminders for you to send.

How we can help

Want the jobs that repeat every week to run on their own? See Business automation.