How the options compare.
| Offshore virtual assistant | Oravel | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Hourly or monthly fee, plus your time to recruit, train and manage. | One-time build from €3,900 plus €490/month Run & Care and usage. |
| Hours | Their working hours and time zone; cover for holidays needed. | 24/7, including peaks, weekends and holidays. |
| Judgement | Real human judgement, improves with context. | Follows approved rules and knowledge; escalates what it shouldn't decide. |
| Consistency | Varies with the person and workload. | Same steps every time; every action logged. |
| Data access | A person with logins to your systems, often abroad. | Scoped API access, least privilege, full audit trail. |
| Best when | Varied tasks, phone-heavy work, relationship work. | Repetitive, rule-based, high-volume work that needs instant replies. |
We don't publish market rates for virtual assistants; they vary widely by country, agency and experience. Compare the full monthly cost including the management time it takes on your side.
Choose them if…
There are jobs where a person is simply the right answer.
Choose us if…
An agent wins on volume, speed and repetition.
Questions worth asking.
Before hiring a VA: write down the tasks for one week and mark which ones need judgement. Those are the VA's job. The rest is a candidate for automation.
Before building an agent: decide who handles what the agent escalates. Often that's the same assistant, now spending their time on the cases that need a person.
Common questions.
Can an agent and a VA work together?
Yes, and it's common. The agent handles the first reply and the routine cases; the assistant gets a queue of exceptions with the context already summarised.
Is an AI agent cheaper than a VA?
It depends on volume. At high volume of repetitive work, usually yes over time. At low volume or for varied work, a VA is often cheaper and better.
What about data protection?
Both need a lawful basis and a contract. With a VA, you share logins with a person; with an agent, access is scoped per system and every action is logged.
Want this in your business?
Tell us how you work today. We'll tell you honestly what AI can take off your team's plate, what it costs, and whether we are the right fit.