There comes a point in a company’s life cycle when hiring more hands becomes inevitable. This is especially true for budding business people. Entrepreneurs struggle for time with so many things to attend to daily, such as phone calls, data entry, and digital marketing.
But competition is tough, and businesses must execute their operations timely and efficiently to keep their customers happy.
Indeed, you need someone to assist with those administrative tasks that take your time. However, hiring a personal assistant can be costly.
Luckily, technology is changing how we do business, and one of the ways companies are getting more done efficiently and affordably is by hiring virtual assistants in India.
What is a Virtual Assistant Service?
Virtual assistants are self-employed professionals who help increase your time efficiency by remotely handling repetitive tasks. As a result, you can have a better work-life balance by taking some work off your hands.
You can outsource a wide range of services to your virtual assistant, but you’re likely interested in cost and quality.
So it’s no surprise that India, the world’s capital for outsourcing, has become one of the leading hubs for virtual assistants. Their rates are significantly lower than those of an American or European VA.
But the question is, how do you find India-based virtual assistants?
Virtual assistant services are companies or online platforms where you can find VAs for hire. Many virtual assistant companies give you access to talented Indian VAs. The assistants often work for these companies in a centralized office. So all you have to do is contact the company. However, some are registered as freelancers.
With many virtual assistant services, this article brings you the best 8 of the lot.
But before going into that, what exactly do you stand to gain from hiring virtual assistants?
Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant
- It helps you save time: You save time tremendously when you outsource tasks like data entry and market research to your VA.
- Cost Savings: Virtual assistants charge far less than personal assistants. They also do not demand employee bonuses or benefits as an in-house staff would. As a result, they can help startup entrepreneurs save considerable costs while getting more done.
- Flexibility: 24-hour support becomes a top priority for running an international business. You can’t do that with an in-house staff that closes for work simultaneously every day. By hiring talented virtual assistants in another time zone, such as in India, you can make up for the off-hours of your full-time employees.
- Increased Productivity: Virtual assistants help you handle non-core administrative tasks to focus on the bigger picture. This allows you to become more productive and efficient in your specialization, free from distractions.
- Rapid Scaling for Business Growth: Experienced virtual assistants can help you scale your business rapidly without wasting time searching and interviewing candidates. This is best when experiencing increased customer demands as your business grows.
- more about virtual assistants’ benefits here…
Top 8 Virtual Assistant Companies in India
- Hubstaff Talent
- GetFriday
- Brickwork India
- Acelerar Technologies
- Ossisto
- WERVAS
- Webcenture
- AskSunday
Hubstaff Talent
Hubstaff Talent is arguably the most popular virtual assistant company in India. Located in the Gujarat city of Ahmedabad, this virtual assistant company provides dedicated virtual assistants that will handle whatever task you request.
Hubstaff Talent connects virtual assistants and employees from around the globe with any business owner requiring their services. The platform organizes the VAs according to their skills, efficiency, cost, and experience so you can determine which is best for you at a glance. It’s a free service, and there are no markup fees for freelancers and business owners. Whatever you pay is what your virtual assistant receives.
Hubstaff acts as a job forum—or hub—connecting employers and some of the most talented freelancers.
Features
- Organizes VAs based on language and Nationality so you can easily find a professional virtual assistant in India by a keyword search
- You only pay what your virtual assistant charges, as there are no markup or middleman fees.
- You can see who’s currently available so they can get on with the job ASAP.
- Allows agencies to add their employees to the platform for more potential leads.
- Track time using built-in time tracking software.
- Invoice tracking.
- Agile project management software.
- Hubstaff integrates with over 30 apps.
Cons
- There is no rating system, so you can’t understand how satisfied clients are with each freelancer’s service delivery.
- Some users have complained of occasional crashes.
Pricing
Hubstaff has no general pricing; you pay according to what your hired virtual assistant charges, usually pretty low. You can get as low as $8/hour.
URL: https://talent.hubstaff.com/
GetFriday
The origin of the name “GetFriday” is pretty interesting. Do you remember the novel and movie Robinson Crusoe? Crusoe had a right-hand man named Friday, who was pivotal to his survival. So, of course, that gives you an idea of what the company stands for.
As one of the best virtual assistant companies in India, GetFriday gives you access to reliable VAs in India and all over the globe.
Headquartered in Bangalore, this virtual assistant company supports professional and personal tasks. For instance, you can get a personal virtual assistant to assist you with wedding planning or search for your kids’ best school. Just the perfect right-hand man for a busy mom or startup entrepreneur looking for more time.
At GetFriday, you can find several virtual assistants in India to help with business tasks like web marketing, travel arrangements, bookkeeping, SEO, graphic design, etc. The 200 virtual assistants are always online during work hours, and the support staff will always be available to respond to your emails in times of emergency.
Features
- GetFriday offers one-time personal assistant services as well as subscription plans.
- Weekend and overtime hours are charged at 1.5 times the hourly rate.
- The assistants are always available 5 days a week, during your chosen hours.
- Plans over 40 hours a week include a “rollover,” so you never waste unused hours.
- You get a quote for one-time projects when you describe your business needs.
Cons
- The account opening process can be a pain, as you’ll have to do a phone verification, print, sign, and email back a copy of the contract.
- The service is only available 5 days a week.
- It’s not the best for technical or advanced business tasks.
Pricing
- GetFriday offers a 7-day free trial period. After that, you can cancel if you are unhappy with the service.
- Paid plan starts at a pay-as-you-go rate of $15/hr up to Full time of 160 hours at a rate of $1120/month. That’s $7 an hour.
URL: https://www.getfriday.com
Brickwork India
Founded in 2005 and based in Bangalore, Brickwork India is one of India’s best known virtual assistant companies. It provides talented VAs who can offer support in sales, marketing services, website development, HR, competitor analysis, and a host of administrative tasks.
Being such a reputable India-based company, Brickwork’s customer base reaches over 100 countries, including Fortune 500 companies. So you can be sure you’ll get nothing less than satisfactory service from the virtual assistants therein. Interestingly, students from reputable colleges like Harvard do their internships at Brickwork.
The help desk is also available round-the-clock to respond promptly whenever you reach out.
Features
- Their operations are flexible and customized, aimed at suiting each client.
- Browse Indian virtual assistants by business support, research support, digital marketing, design & development, and creatives & branding.
- The company features virtual assistants specialized in technical tasks like database applications, e-commerce solutions, web design, web applications, etc. If you’re looking for India-based web developers, consider using Brickwork.
- You can hire virtual assistants using a subscription-based, project-based, hourly, or retainer model best suited to your needs.
Cons
- Unused hours do not roll over, so you must know how much work you need before subscribing.
- Their rates are typically higher than most other virtual assistance services in India.
Pricing
- Subscription rates start at around $15/hour. Dedicated assistant plans come at 40, 80, and 160 hours per month. The rates typically improve with the more hours you purchase.
- For project-based tasks, Brickwork India will quote a price accordingly.
URL: https://www.brickworkindia.com
Acelerar Technologies
Acelerar Technologies is an India-based company located in Noida. It provides virtual assistants offering a wide range of services to clients.
Essentially, Acelerar Technologies is a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company, a third party to whom you can outsource your business tasks.
You’ll easily find qualified virtual assistants who handle social media accounts, schedule meetings, email support, creative design, and accounting. As a prominent virtual assistant company in India, Acelerar Technologies is trusted by many renowned businesses worldwide.
All the virtual assistants at Acelerar Technologies work in-house, but they offer flexible schedules. You can get in touch by simply calling or filling out a web form, and you’ll receive a quote.
Features
- The company offers flexible plans to suit your needs at reasonable hourly rates.
- No contractual obligation — you can use their virtual assistant service as a one-off.
- There is complete confidentiality
- 24-hour customer support.
- Money-back guarantee – get refunded if you’re not satisfied.
- There is a customer success manager to ensure efficient collaboration between you and your virtual personal assistant.
- You can delegate as many tasks as possible, depending on the time required to complete them.
Cons
- The price is high when compared to many other India-based virtual assistant companies. However, remember that price shouldn’t be your deterrent, as you’ll usually get what you pay.
Pricing
- Acelerar offers four different plans, with the basic plan starting at $180/month for 20 hours and the platinum plan starting at $960/month for 160 hours. Each plan comes with a 3-hour free trial.
URL: https://www.acelerartech.com/
Ossisto
Ossisto is a globally recognized company that connects business owners with highly skilled and experienced virtual assistants from all over the globe. Based in Bangalore, this Indian virtual assistant company has served clients from the United States, UK, Canada, etc. Their track records are pretty impressive.
Ossisto is well-known for providing outstanding IT and graphic design services, but they don’t lack routine tasks like content writing and data entry. So if you’re looking for great IT experts to complement your in-house tech team, Ossisto is a great place.
Features
- Ossisto offers business support services, helping companies develop and implement the right business strategy while streamlining business processes.
- You can request a consultation to understand better what to expect when dealing with them. They can also guide you in making the right decisions.
- Ossisto virtual assistants work round the clock, unlike some of their competitors. If something happens, they’ll always have a backup assistant to attend to you.
Pricing
Ossisto has multiple plans:
- Try Us Out Plan—you pay a flat fee of $20 for 2 work hours.
- Starter Plan — you pay a $10/month membership fee and delegate tasks at a $12/hr rate.
- Regular Plan — you pay $100 monthly and get 10 hours of VA time. That’s $10/hr.
- There are several other plans, with the cheapest coming at a rate of $6/hr ($960/160hr/month).
URL: https://ossisto.com/
WERVAS
Coined from the phrase “We-Are-VAs,” WERVAS is an Indian-based virtual assistant company founded in 2016. Although pretty young, it has proven itself as one of the best virtual assistant companies, currently sitting as the #6 best in India.
WERVAS provides some of the best virtual assistants in IT support, customer service, and email management. The virtual assistant service delivery is top quality, and clients worldwide have been quite pleased these past few years.
Prices are great compared to some of the company’s competitors, and you can hire per task or hourly. If you ever run into jams, there’s a 24/7 helpdesk to resolve them promptly.
Features
- Specifically, Amazon virtual assistants help you with marketplace listings so you can avoid the trouble of sorting through inventory regularly.
- All their assistants work from their offices in Kolkata. They don’t hire remote freelancers, enabling them to manage their workers and provide prompt chat support when needed.
- Assistants are available round-the-clock, so you never have to worry about time zones.
Cons
There are no negative reviews at this time.
Pricing
- 10 Hours – $100 per month ($10 per hour).
- 25 Hours – $225 per month ($9 per hour).
- 50 Hours – $400 per month ($8 per hour).
- 75 Hours – $525 per month ($7 per hour).
- 100 Hours – $600 per month ($6 per hour).
- Full-time virtual assistant – $799 monthly ($5 per hour).
- Pay-as-you-go – $12 per hour.
If you don’t want to commit, you can always enjoy the pay-as-you-go plan and pay for only what you use. Although there’s no free trial, you can only test the service for 3 hours over 2 days for $1.
URL: https://wervas.com
Webcenture
Webcenture is a top-ranked virtual assistant company located in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. The company offers some of the most proficient VAs in this region.
Webcenture does not compel you to commit but allows you to use their service on a pay-as-you-go model. Pay only for hours worked or tasks completed.
You can get a wide range of specialized services like web development and social media marketing. The hourly rates are affordable, making Webcenture one of India’s best virtual assistant companies for small and medium-sized companies.
Webcenture’s rates are lower than its top competitors, but the work quality remains superior.
Features
- On signing up, a project manager will reach out to you immediately. You can as well call them.
- They can assign you a VA based on your requirements or allow you to discuss with your preferred assistant.
- Your hired virtual assistant will produce daily reports on the work completed, which will be checked by the project manager and then submitted to you.
- Assigned tasks are typically completed within 12-24 hours, fairly faster than most other companies.
- 24/7 helpdesk to promptly resolve issues
Cons
- There are no notable issues with the service at this time.
Pricing
Webcenture offers several packages. Their rates go as low as $4.98/hour, which is highly competitive. Below is the complete list.
- Bronze Plan – $180 for 20 hours ($8.98/hr)
- Silver Plan – $319 for 40 hours ($7.98/hr)
- Golden Plan – $558 for 80 hours ($6.98/hr)
- Platinum Plan – $957 for 160 hours ($5.98/hr) — A full-time hire for less than $1000 monthly.
- Diamond Plan – $1,594 for 320 hours ($4.98/hr) — Two full-time VAs.
AskSunday
AskSunday is a New York-based virtual assistant company that sources dedicated Indian virtual assistants. Most notable about AskSunday is that the service offers you a primary and secondary assistant to ensure a smooth workflow.
When you hire, the primary virtual assistant will usually work with you, but the secondary assistant will prepare themselves if needed. This ensures zero downtime.
AskSunday is the only foreign company on this list but deserves a place as one of the best due to its brilliant and highly efficient assistant program.
The assistants will communicate with you on whatever platform you prefer and will be ready for work updates.
Features
- Assistants are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Upon signing up, a project manager will call you to understand your needs and the required skills of the VA. You also have the freedom to choose your virtual assistant based on your work pattern.
- You can contact your virtual assistant via call, email, or direct message anytime.
- No commitments.
Cons
- Plans are relatively higher than most competitors.
- The assistants work remotely and may not get as much supervision as the company’s top competitors.
Pricing
AskSunday provides two types of packages: Dedicated Assistance and On-Demand.
- Dedicated plans range from $129/10hr/month to $1,199/160hr/month. That is $12.9 per hour to $7.5 per hour. You can pay a reasonable hourly rate for the extra time or renew your plan if you exceed your hours.
- On-demand assistance starts at $79 per month. It includes 5 hours of agent time, paid in 15-minute increments.
- You can leverage the 3-hour free trial to understand the service before committing.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How Much Do Virtual Assistants Cost in India?
Compared to US companies, India-based virtual assistant companies typically offer mouth-watering prices ranging from $5 – $15 per hour.
With some of these virtual assistant companies, you don’t get to pay the amount per task but a lump sum for the entire month. However, some also offer pay-as-you-go plans so that you can pay per task or the number of hours worked.
It’s worth noting that prices can be tricky when determining the best virtual assistant company. Sometimes, you get what you pay for, i.e., higher quality for higher prices. But there are cases where superior quality comes at relatively low prices, such as in Webcenture’s case.
How much cut the intermediary company takes per project will also factor into the overall cost.
How to Transfer Money to a Virtual Assistant in India?
Having found a qualified virtual assistant in India to hire, one challenge remains: how do you pay your VA in India if you live in the US?
The cost of international money transfers may scare you, but you may not always have to do that when you hire a virtual assistant. Some virtual assistant companies have US bank accounts that you can easily pay. If they don’t, you may need to make an international money transfer when dealing with the VA directly.
PayPal is very popular, but that doesn’t mean it will give you the best deal. Check your options because different services offer different exchange rates, which usually increases the total amount you pay your VA.
What are the Advantages of Hiring a Virtual Assistant in India?
Even though India is a developing country, it has several modern tech hubs, making it a reliable go-to for business process outsourcing. And because the cost of living is relatively low compared to the US, Indian VAs charge less for virtually the same quality of service. Most clients visit India for employment at low prices compared to the USA or Europe.
Also, most virtual personal assistants in India work in-house. This allows their work to be supervised by managers, ensuring better quality and ethics. It’s different from the Philippines, where the VAs usually work from home.
And because of the time zone differences (generally between 12-hour shifts in the USA), India offers the unique advantage of having employees available at all hours. This is excellent if you need someone to keep your business running while sleeping.
What Services Can a Virtual Assistant Provide?
Virtual assistants can provide various services, including administrative support, social media management, email management, bookkeeping, business consulting research, and customer service.
What are the Drawbacks to Hiring Assistants in India?
Since India isn’t an English-speaking country, you may find some challenges when working on written jobs. But this is rare since the best virtual assistant companies only source VAs with good English skills. Language is hardly ever an issue for administrative work like data entry and IT support.
The time lag is another challenge of working with a dedicated virtual assistant in India. When you wake up in the morning US time, your VA might be asleep and, therefore, unable to reply to your messages immediately. The best virtual assistant companies offer 24/7 support to assist you.
Of course, most VAs work for different employers. Perhaps you’re worried that your virtual assistant will reveal your trade secret to another business owner. To avoid that, sign a non-disclosure agreement when you hire a virtual assistant to have peace of mind.
How Do I Find a Virtual Assistant in India?
You can find a virtual assistant in India by searching online job boards and freelance marketplaces or working with a virtual assistant agency specializing in Indian talent.
Final Words
Every business starts with an idea, but you need extra hands supporting you if you must actualize these ideas. Many things will compete for your time while pursuing your goals.
You’d need to market your business on social media, create and schedule content, build and maintain a website, answer phone calls, and do other routine administrative tasks.
Hiring a virtual assistant is an excellent way to free up time to focus on the bigger picture while covering the smaller tasks.
This article has presented you with India’s eight best virtual assistant companies to get the best bang for your buck. Remember, you can leverage the free trials to determine which will work best for you long-term.
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