Part-Time vs Full-Time
Virtual Assistant

Updated: October 2026 · By the MyVirtualExpert team

Once you decide to hire a virtual assistant, the next question is how many hours you actually need. Buy too few and your VA spends the month catching up; buy too many and you pay for time you don't use. This guide explains how part-time and full-time VA support differ for small businesses in the USA and Canada, and gives you a simple way to choose.

Short answer: a part-time virtual assistant (around 80 hours a month, roughly 4 hours each weekday) suits owners with one or two clear areas to hand off, such as the inbox, scheduling and follow-ups. A full-time virtual assistant (around 160 hours a month, roughly 8 hours each weekday) suits businesses with daily, time-sensitive work like customer support, lead follow-up or transaction coordination, or several areas at once. If you're unsure, start part-time, track what the VA does for a month, and move up when the task list keeps growing.

1. What part-time and full-time actually mean

The difference is hours, not job title. Both options give you one dedicated assistant who learns your business. At MyVirtualExpert the plans are:

• Flexible: $10/hour, for occasional or project-based work.
• Part-time: 80 hours a month, from $699/month, about 4 hours each weekday.
• Full-time: 160 hours a month, from $1,199/month, about 8 hours each weekday.

Whichever you choose, your VA signs an NDA and works in your time zone. There is no setup fee and plans are month-to-month. You can see everything on our pricing page.

2. When part-time is the right fit

Part-time works best when the work can be batched and nothing breaks if it waits a few hours. Good signs:

• You're a solo owner or a small team, and the admin load is a few hours a day at most.
• The tasks are predictable: inbox triage, calendar management, data entry, invoice reminders, social media scheduling, CRM updates.
• Your customers don't expect replies within minutes.
• You want to get used to working with a VA before committing to more hours.

A typical part-time week might look like this: clear and label the inbox each morning, confirm the next day's appointments, update the CRM after your calls, schedule the week's social posts and send you a short Friday report. Our administrative virtual assistant page lists more of this kind of work.

3. When full-time makes more sense

Full-time is usually right when the work is continuous, or someone needs to be available for most of your business day. Good signs:

• Customers, leads or partners need replies during business hours: live chat, phone, email support or new-lead follow-up.
• You're handing off two or more areas at once, for example customer support plus order processing, or prospecting plus CRM management.
• You run a team and want one person coordinating schedules, documents and follow-ups across several people.
• Your part-time VA's list keeps growing and tasks are rolling over into the next week.

Real estate teams, online stores and agencies often land here because their work arrives all day long. See our customer support virtual assistant and lead generation virtual assistant pages for examples of full-day roles.

4. A quick way to estimate your hours

You don't need a perfect number. Try this:

1. For one week, write down every task you'd hand off and roughly how long it takes you.
2. Add 20–30% for the first month while the VA learns your tools and preferences.
3. Multiply your weekly total by about 4.3 to get a monthly figure.
4. Under about 80 hours a month: part-time or flexible hours. Between 80 and 160: start part-time and review after a month, or go full-time if the work is daily and time-sensitive. Over 160: full-time, and look at whether some tasks can be simplified or automated first.

If the list is hard to write, our guide to 40 tasks to delegate to a virtual assistant is a useful prompt.

5. How the costs compare

At the starting prices, full-time gives you twice the hours for less than twice the cost: $699 for 80 hours works out to about $8.74 an hour, and $1,199 for 160 hours to about $7.49 an hour. But a lower hourly rate only helps if you have enough work to fill the hours. A part-time VA who is busy all month is better value than a full-time VA waiting for instructions.

Either option is worth comparing with the full cost of hiring in-house, where you also pay for recruiting, payroll taxes, benefits, equipment and space. Our virtual assistant cost guide walks through that comparison.

6. Changing plans as you grow

Your needs will change, and that's normal. Because plans are month-to-month, you can start part-time and move to full-time when the workload grows, or step down in a quieter season. Before you sign up with any provider, ask how a change works: whether the same assistant can take on the extra hours, how much notice is needed, and whether anything resets. Keeping the same person is usually the biggest win, because they already know your systems, clients and preferences.

7. Common mistakes to avoid

• Buying full-time hours before you've written down what the VA will actually do.
• Giving a part-time VA all-day, urgent work like live chat and expecting instant replies.
• Skipping a daily or weekly check-in, so the VA's time drifts toward low-value tasks.
• Judging the fit after the first few days. Most assistants need a couple of weeks to learn your tools and the way you like things done.

Still unsure? Many owners find the decision easier after talking it through with someone who has seen lots of task lists. That is exactly what our free consultation is for.

Frequently asked questions