Time etc is one of the easier assistant services to price because its US site publishes clear monthly hour blocks. That transparency also makes it easy to compare the wrong things. A 10-hour fractional plan, a full-day managed assistant, and a directly recruited staff member are different operating commitments. The lowest monthly invoice says little unless the workload, response expectation, and management responsibility are equivalent.
This guide keeps Time etc outside the numbered list as the benchmark. The six alternatives are selected for specific reasons: custom executive scope, lower-cost dedicated offshore capacity, Latin American multilingual talent, a tools-oriented full-day service, US-based managed support, and direct remote recruiting. Public facts and prices were checked July 21, 2026.
Time etc alternatives for fractional, dedicated, and custom support
Time etc works best when assignments can be expressed as productive hours. Alternatives become compelling when the executive needs broader daily presence, a different geography, another language, ownership of a defined outcome, or a hire embedded in the company. Decide which change you need before requesting proposals.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that executive assistants can conduct research, prepare reports, handle information requests, and perform high-level administrative functions. That breadth helps buyers avoid estimating demand from calendar work alone. It does not show that any named company accepts every listed duty.
| Option | Capacity architecture | Price published July 21, 2026 | Most relevant when | Trade-off versus Time etc |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ExecutiveAssistantAgency | Custom-scoped executive support | Custom consultation; no public rate | Outcome and workflow fit matter more than a preset block | Requires a proposal before cost comparison |
| WoodBows | Dedicated monthly task-hour plans | Monthly: 40 hours $899; 80 $1,299; 160 $1,999; US-based $33/hour | Buyer can use larger, dedicated capacity | Offshore monthly plans differ from Time etc's US positioning |
| Virtual Latinos | Managed Latin American professionals | Starter $1,600-$2,900; Professional $1,700-$3,400; Advanced $2,100-$4,400 monthly | Multilingual or Americas-based dedicated support | Larger monthly role and different service structure |
| Wishup | Packaged full-day managed VA | Prime $1,999; Elite $2,999; US-based $5,400 monthly | Tool-heavy operation needs daily managed capacity | Entry package is far larger than ten fractional hours |
| BELAY | US-based managed virtual assistant | Quote only | US-based support remains required but packaging needs differ | No stable public number for immediate arithmetic |
| Somewhere | Remote talent recruiting | Quote only | Company wants to hire and manage a dedicated contributor | Client assumes more hiring and management responsibility |
Time etc as the incumbent benchmark
Time etc lists four US plans: 10 hours at $390 per month, 20 at $760, 40 at $1,480, and 60 at $2,160. Those displays correspond to $39, $38, $37, and $36 per hour. The site says the plans include a dedicated US assistant, matching, free addition of other assistants, team sharing, a client manager, reporting, and cancellation or plan switching. Unused-hour rollover is displayed for 20 hours and above.
The apparent simplicity conceals one important unit: productive task time. A dedicated employee can be reachable across the day but includes paid time not spent on visible tasks. Time etc sells a limited pool. For work that can wait in a queue, that is efficient. For a principal who expects immediate handling throughout business hours, 20 hours per month can be structurally insufficient even if actual keystroke time appears low.
Benchmark actual use. Export three months of billed hours and classify them as recurring, exception, briefing, correction, or project. Note what did not get delegated because capacity was scarce. Track the executive's time preparing instructions and reviewing outputs. If the problem is a poor procedure or unclear authority, switching providers will not fix it. If the problem is plan size, first test whether a larger incumbent plan resolves it without transition cost.
Time etc should remain when US-based fractional support, small transparent blocks, and the current assistant relationship fit the work. Consider switching when the role needs daily presence beyond the purchased hours, multilingual regional support, a custom outcome, or direct employment-like integration.
1. ExecutiveAssistantAgency
ExecutiveAssistantAgency changes the starting point from "how many task hours?" to "which executive result needs dependable ownership?" A custom consultation can examine meeting preparation, calendar defense, action tracking, stakeholder coordination, travel, research, or another agreed workflow. The agency does not publish rates, so the result of discovery must be a written scope and custom commercial proposal.
This route is relevant when Time etc hours are being consumed but the executive's underlying bottleneck persists. Perhaps every task is completed, yet commitments still lack owners because nobody owns the end-to-end meeting cycle. A scoped engagement can be evaluated against that outcome rather than raw activity. It is not automatically broader; included duties and service windows remain proposal-dependent.
Bring a demand record and one process map. Mark where requests enter, where decisions return to the executive, what acceptable completion looks like, and how peak periods differ. Require explicit exclusions, client responsibilities, escalation, review, continuity expectations, scope changes, and transition terms.
Best for: leaders seeking a custom executive-support relationship around a defined operating result.
Comparison caution: do not invent an hourly equivalent. Compare the proposal with Time etc on accepted outputs, usable capacity, retained management, and complete cost.
2. WoodBows
WoodBows is the capacity alternative. Its monthly column lists 40 task hours for $899, 80 for $1,299, and 160 for $1,999. A US-based VA is displayed at $33 per hour. The page also shows lower monthly equivalents for quarterly, semiannual, and annual commitments. Those discounted displays should be multiplied across the required term before comparison.
The official plan language includes a dedicated professional, account manager, tech support, time-zone alignment, tracking, and additional-hour prices. Confirm applicability to the chosen location and cadence. For example, the monthly 40-hour plan lists $22 additional hours, while longer commitments show different amounts. Ask about unused hours, assistant absence, replacement, cancellation, work schedules, and whether the same person is exclusive to the account.
WoodBows can look markedly cheaper per reserved hour than Time etc's US plans, but the primary dedicated plans are not an equivalent domestic product. Decide whether location matters for legitimate operating reasons. Do not convert geography into unsupported quality, privacy, or security conclusions. Test the individual and review the contract.
Best for: a buyer with stable demand above a very small fractional block and confidence in a dedicated plan.
Comparison caution: use monthly against monthly. An annual equivalent should not silently compete with a cancellable monthly plan.
3. Virtual Latinos
Virtual Latinos is relevant when the requirement has become a role and the team values Latin American time-zone overlap or business language capability. The official site says it handles sourcing, recruiting, payroll, and retention and offers talent using English, Spanish, or Portuguese.
Its public ranges are Starter at $1,600 to $2,900 per month, Professional at $1,700 to $3,400, and Advanced at $2,100 to $4,400. The levels correspond to stated experience bands of one to two, three to five, and six to nine or more years. The site also says there are no recruiting, access, or setup fees. A current agreement should still confirm hours, schedule, payroll scope, increases, leave, replacement, and termination.
Compared with Time etc, this is not merely a lower or higher hour price. It is a dedicated-talent proposition with broader monthly capacity and a regional emphasis. Test any required language with realistic executive writing. A bilingual candidate should be able to preserve tone and meaning, not just translate words.
Best for: a team ready for a dedicated Americas-based professional and able to use substantial monthly capacity.
Comparison caution: calculate utilization. A favorable monthly salary-style amount is wasteful if the startup has only ten hours of suitable work.
4. Wishup
Wishup offers packaged full-day VA tiers. Its official pricing page lists Prime VA at $1,999 per month, Elite VA at $2,999, and US-based VA at $5,400. The displayed selection is eight hours. Prime is described as client-directed execution, while Elite adds experience and broader ownership language. Confirm whether "eight hours" means a workday, the schedule, holidays, and plan-specific limits.
Wishup emphasizes training in business, AI, and no-code tools, a dedicated manager, onboarding, and replacement. These may appeal when Time etc capacity is fragmented across a software-heavy operation. The correct test is not counting named tools. Give a sandbox workflow and ask the assistant to document inputs, actions, exceptions, and validation. Tool familiarity without process judgment can accelerate errors.
Ask about annual discounts separately from monthly pricing, promotion expiry, cancellation, backup, extra work, and which workflow automations are included. Keep access limited during evaluation and review current vendor terms for any system that will hold company data.
Best for: teams requiring a full-day managed assistant and meaningful tool-based operations support.
Comparison caution: do not upgrade from a 20-hour need to a full-day package merely because more capacity lowers an implied unit rate.
5. BELAY
BELAY preserves the US-based managed-service characteristic while offering a different service relationship. Its official materials describe US-based virtual assistants and support such as calendars, inboxes, travel, research, and project coordination. That makes it a sensible shortlist choice when location remains important but Time etc's plan structure is the concern.
BELAY's official pages did not provide a stable role-specific public amount on the review date. Request a dated quote with included capacity, schedule, onboarding, term, notice, tools, extra work, matching, replacement, and account support. Ask whether the quote assumes a specific duty mix. Quote-only does not justify guessing from old blog posts.
Use the same fictional week with both providers. Include recurring tasks and an exception that demands clarification. Compare the number and quality of questions, completion, writing, and management experience. The individual match can matter more than broad service descriptions.
Best for: an executive wanting US-based managed support but seeking a different matching or engagement experience.
Comparison caution: compare complete proposals. Time etc's public hours cannot be fairly set against a BELAY sales estimate missing scope and commitment.
6. Somewhere
Somewhere is the structural alternative for a company that wants to recruit a remote employee or contractor into its own organization. Instead of purchasing assistant hours through a managed plan, the buyer selects a person, defines the role, and assumes more direct responsibility for onboarding and performance.
That route can support a highly customized position combining executive assistance with operations, recruiting coordination, or a specialized industry task. Context can deepen because the hire participates directly in company routines. The cost model must include recruiting, compensation, payroll or contractor administration, management, equipment, software, leave or absence planning, and vacancy risk.
No stable current official public price was verified for Somewhere, so obtain a quote stating search fees, payment triggers, candidate compensation, ongoing charges, replacement, refunds, and worker relationship. Ask what support continues after placement.
Best for: a company with role-sized demand and a manager ready to lead a dedicated remote contributor.
Comparison caution: candidate compensation is not equivalent to Time etc's invoice. Add every retained employer and manager responsibility.
Pricing analysis: capacity math without false precision
Build a utilization model from real requests. For Time etc and other hour plans, estimate productive execution, briefing, revisions, and predictable peaks. For dedicated services, estimate paid capacity that may remain unused. For recruiting, include the manager's ongoing time. For custom scope, map payment to accepted deliverables and retained work rather than forcing an unsupported hourly conversion.
Use three scenarios. A quiet month shows downside from unused capacity. An ordinary month shows baseline economics. A peak month shows overages, queue delays, or the need for backup. Record contract duration and exit cost in each scenario. The best average price can still be the worst risk-adjusted choice if it fails during the board week that matters most.
Also calculate transition. Changing assistants requires process explanation, stakeholder introductions, preference transfer, access changes, and quality review. If the incumbent performs well and only the plan is wrong, a Time etc plan change may beat migration. Switching is justified when the alternative changes the measured outcome enough to repay transition.
A fair practical evaluation
Give finalists the same synthetic packet: a crowded calendar, meeting objectives, a travel constraint, ten open commitments, and two contradictory instructions. Ask each to prepare a morning decision note and a proposed schedule. Score factual accuracy, priority logic, assumptions, escalation, tone, and executive minutes required.
Then evaluate the provider layer. Who handles matching? Who reviews concerns? What happens during absence? How quickly can capacity change? What documentation survives a transition? Keep unanswered items as unknown rather than awarding or subtracting imaginary features.
Finally, inspect commercial durability. Promotions end, annual discounts require cash and confidence, and quote-only terms may change. Preserve a dated copy of the proposal used for the decision and schedule a review before renewal.
When a larger plan is not the answer
Before leaving Time etc, test whether the constraint is demand or delegation design. A larger hour bank will clear a genuine queue, but it will not repair requests that arrive without context, deadlines, or authority. Review ten delayed assignments and identify the first point at which each stopped. If most waited for the executive to answer a predictable question, write a decision rule and repeat the test before purchasing more capacity.
Also inspect the shape of availability. Sixty productive hours spread through a month are not the same as three hours of guaranteed overlap every business day. Ask finalists to describe when work is accepted, when it is normally completed, and what constitutes an urgent exception. Put the expected response pattern in the proposal. This avoids paying for more total hours when the actual unmet need is a narrower but dependable working window.
Finally, ask whether the current assistant's accumulated context has been documented. If preferences, stakeholder notes, recurring procedures, and open commitments exist only in memory, any transition will temporarily increase executive work. Create that transfer record before selecting a provider. It improves the incumbent relationship immediately and makes a later comparison fairer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest published Time etc plan?
On July 21, 2026, Time etc's US pricing page listed 10 hours at $390 per month, equivalent to $39 per hour. Confirm the current page and terms before purchasing.
Do unused Time etc hours roll over?
The official pricing page displays rollover for the 20-, 40-, and 60-hour plans, not the 10-hour plan. Verify current rollover limits and expiration rules in the agreement.
Which alternative offers a larger published capacity package?
WoodBows publishes 40-, 80-, and 160-hour monthly plans, while Wishup publishes full-day managed VA tiers. Location, commitment, and service model differ, so capacity alone does not establish fit.
Which alternative is best for a custom executive workflow?
ExecutiveAssistantAgency is the custom-scoped option in this comparison. It does not publish rates; the buyer should judge the written proposal against the bottleneck, deliverables, and retained responsibilities.
Should a buyer leave Time etc just to reduce the hourly rate?
Not necessarily. A lower implied rate can require more capacity, a longer commitment, a different assistant location, or greater management. Compare useful outcomes and complete cost after transition.
Decision guidance and pros and cons: match the service unit to the work
Time etc remains compelling for transparent, small, US-based fractional blocks. WoodBows offers larger published capacity; Virtual Latinos offers managed regional talent; Wishup offers full-day packages; BELAY offers quote-based US managed support; Somewhere offers recruiting; and ExecutiveAssistantAgency offers custom scope.
If a custom executive-support engagement is the selected model, the contact page is available for a passive consultation request.