Last updated: 2026-08-24
Honest Taskers, BELAY, and MyOutDesk lead this year's shortlist of administrative assistant companies, seven firms ranked on how they place remote administrative support, from inbox and calendar work to data entry, scheduling, document preparation, and the follow-up nobody in a busy office has time for. If your assistant will see patient information, one column in the table below decides the shortlist before any other: whether the provider will sign a Business Associate Agreement. Four of these seven say nothing about it. Below we set out which work needs nobody in the building, how a general assistant ends up holding patient data, what the work costs, what a provider should commit to in writing, and which tasks to write down first.
Disclosure: Honest Taskers publishes this list and appears at position 1. We're judged on the same five published criteria as every other company here.
At a glance
- 1Honest Taskers
- 2BELAY
- 3MyOutDesk
- 4Magic
- 5Prialto
- 6Wing Assistant
- 7Staffingly
How we chose the best administrative assistant companies
We ranked these firms on five facts, each read at the provider's own website in August 2026. Those facts are the administrative scope offered, the stated HIPAA and Business Associate Agreement position, published pricing, the purchase model, and the notable verified detail each firm publishes about itself. We put the compliance position second rather than last because it is the fastest disqualifier for a medical or dental practice, and because the mainstream assistant market largely does not address it. That is not a criticism of those firms, most of their clients are not handling protected health information. It just means a practice has to read this column first. Blank facts read "not publicly listed" instead of a guess.
Best administrative assistant companies compared
The table ranks all 7 on the same columns, Honest Taskers first because we publish the list. Facts were read August 2026 and change often, so treat them as a starting point, not a quote.
| Company | Administrative scope | HIPAA / BAA position | Published pricing | Purchase model | Notable facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honest Taskers | Inbox and calendar, scheduling, data entry, document preparation, records requests, follow-up calls, task tracking | HIPAA compliance verified by Accountable; BAA when PHI is accessed; compliance officer | $10.00–$12.65/hr | Hourly staffing, your direction | Healthcare-specialized; two-week first-hire trial; 99.6% average monthly retention |
| BELAY | Executive, operations, personal and sales assistants, marketing support, social media, bookkeeping and accounting | Nothing stated | Not publicly listed | Matched US-based staffing | 93% first-match success rate; top 3% of US applicants; industries include Private Healthcare |
| MyOutDesk | Administrative tasks, customer service, bookkeeping, marketing, inside sales, transaction coordination | "HIPAA Verified"; HIPAA and PCI-DSS compliance ready | $1,988/mo managed; $2,500/mo specialized | Full time only, 8h x 5d | SOC 2 certified and audited (company-reported); 17+ years; 8,500+ businesses served |
| Magic | Admin, executive, customer support and ecommerce assistants, plus a 24/7 option | Nothing stated | $270/wk part time; $540/wk full time | No contract, cancel anytime | Top 0.5% of talent claimed; billed every 4 weeks |
| Prialto | Managed administrative support with process design and documentation by an Engagement Manager | Nothing stated | $1,600/mo per unit (55 hrs); $3,600/mo full time (165+ hrs) | Managed service, 90-day minimum | Engagement Manager, month-long training, backup assistant; 9am to 6pm US and UK hours |
| Wing Assistant | Administrative assistant, executive assistant, VA, customer service rep, digital marketing assistant | Nothing stated beyond a healthcare VA product | Not publicly listed | Placed assistants | 10,000+ active assistants; 2M+ applicants screened annually |
| Staffingly | Front office, documentation, prior authorization and billing support staffing | Signed BAA; SOC 2 Type II; ISO/IEC 27001:2022; $5M E&O and cyber policy (company-reported) | $399/wk at 45 hrs; $349 at 5+; $299 at 10+ | Flat weekly staffing | India, Pakistan, Bangladesh; AI-assisted with human verification |
Six of these seven publish something about price, in four different units, which makes this an unusually transparent market by the standards of the rest of our site. Only three say anything about HIPAA. And note the commitment column carefully: one firm has no contract at all, two require ninety days, and one will not sell you a part-time person, which matters more than a small difference in rate if you are not sure how much work there is.
1. Honest Taskers
Best for: medical, dental, and veterinary practices whose administrative work touches patient information.
Pricing: $10.00–$12.65/hrLocation: US clients; PH, LatAm, India and Pakistan recruitingModel: Hourly staffingFirst hire: Two-week working trial
If your administrative assistant is going to open the inbox, answer the phone, or file a records request, they are going to see protected health information within a week. That makes the compliance question structural rather than optional. Honest Taskers places staff trained on HIPAA and data privacy under a dedicated compliance officer, working in your time zone inside your own systems, with a Business Associate Agreement signed before anyone touches patient data and HIPAA compliance verified by Accountable. The scope is ordinary administrative work: inbox and calendar management, scheduling and confirmations, data entry, document and letter preparation, records requests and chasing, follow-up calls, and keeping task lists honest. Rates run about $10 to $12.65 an hour depending on role, background, schedule, and location, which is billed by the hour rather than as a monthly minimum, and the first hire comes with a two-week working trial. The talent pool includes licensed nurses and physicians, and the firm reports 99.6% average monthly retention. See the multi-purpose virtual medical assistant service for role detail.
Limitation: Honest Taskers is built for healthcare, so a business outside healthcare is not the target buyer and BELAY or Athena will fit better; the firm describes its security environment as SOC 2 audit ready rather than holding a SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification of the kind MyOutDesk and Staffingly publish.
2. BELAY
Best for: US businesses that want an American assistant and are willing to pay for the matching process.
Pricing: Not publicly listedLocation: US-based partnersModel: Matched staffingMatch: As little as one week
BELAY is the strongest US-based option here and the only firm that makes its selectivity about location explicit, stating that it accepts only the top 3% of US-based applicants and describing its people as US-based partners. For work that involves phone contact with patients, vendors, or referring offices, an American assistant removes an accent and time zone question that some practices care about a great deal. The matching process is the other differentiator: personally matched by humans with a 93% first-match success rate, and a match in as little as one week. Scope is broad, covering executive, operations, personal, sales and marketing assistants, social media managers, and a full accounting bench up to fractional controller and chief financial officer. Its named industries include Private Healthcare and Health & Wellness, and it reports a tenth consecutive year on the Inc. 5000.
Limitation: it publishes no pricing at all, and despite naming Private Healthcare as an industry it states no HIPAA position and no Business Associate Agreement, which has to be resolved in writing before an assistant sees a patient record.
3. MyOutDesk
Best for: practices that want an offshore rate with certifications they can point to.
Pricing: $1,988/mo managed; $2,500/mo specializedLocation: Not publicly listedModel: Full time only, 8h x 5dCompliance: SOC 2; HIPAA Verified
MyOutDesk is the best-documented compliance position among the offshore options, stating that it is SOC 2 certified and SOC 2 audited, describing itself as HIPAA Verified, and saying it is HIPAA and PCI-DSS compliance ready. That combination of a named audit and a healthcare claim is rare in the mainstream assistant market. Pricing is published at $1,988 a month for managed outsourcing and $2,500 for specialized, both full time at eight hours a day, five days a week, and scope runs from administrative tasks, customer service, and bookkeeping through marketing, inside sales, and transaction coordination. It reports 17 or more years in business, 8,500 or more businesses served, screening to the top 0.7% of talent, and hiring in as little as one week.
Limitation: there is no part-time option, which makes it an awkward fit for a practice needing twenty hours a week, and HIPAA Verified is the firm's own description rather than an external certification, so ask what it covers and get the agreement in writing.
4. Magic
Best for: practices that want to try an assistant cheaply, with the freedom to stop next week.
Pricing: $270/wk part time; $540/wk full timeLocation: Not publicly listedModel: No contract, cancel anytimeTalent: Top 0.5% claimed
Magic solves the commitment problem, which is the real reason many practices never hire an assistant at all. Part time is $270 a week for 20 hours and full time is $540 a week for 40 hours, billed every four weeks, with no contracts, cancel anytime, and payment starting only when you begin working with your assistant. At $13.50 an hour full time it is not the cheapest per hour here, but it is the lowest-risk way to find out whether delegating administrative work works for your office. Roles cover admin, executive, customer support and ecommerce assistants, with a 24/7 option included on full-time and team plans, and it claims curation from the top 0.5% of talent. Teams start at three assistants.
Limitation: it states no HIPAA position, no compliance certification, and no delivery location, and the industries it names are ecommerce, transportation, warehousing, media, non-profit, construction and professional services rather than healthcare.
5. Prialto
Best for: practices that want the assistant's work designed and documented rather than improvised.
Pricing: $1,600/mo per unit; $3,600/mo full timeLocation: Not publicly listedModel: Managed service, 55 hrs per unitMinimum: 90 days per unit
Prialto sells a managed service rather than a person, and for administrative work that distinction is worth understanding. Each unit is $1,600 a month for 55 hours of support plus free episodic overflow time, with full time from $3,600 a month for 165 or more hours, and what comes with it is the interesting part: an Engagement Manager responsible for process design and optimisation, a month-long training program for the assistant, backup assistant support when yours is unavailable, and tool training. Most assistants hold a bachelor's degree or extensive business support experience. Coverage runs 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday across US and UK time zones, onboarding takes three to five days, and the firm reports 16 or more years of experience. There is a $250 setup fee, waived with a one-year agreement.
Limitation: it states no HIPAA or Business Associate Agreement position, the 90-day minimum per unit rules out a short trial, and at roughly $29 an hour it is the most expensive way to buy administrative capacity on this list.
6. Wing Assistant
Best for: practices that want a large recruiting pool behind the placement and round-the-clock availability.
Pricing: Not publicly listedLocation: Not publicly listedModel: Placed assistantsScale: 10,000+ active assistants
Wing Assistant runs the biggest operation on this list by its own numbers, reporting more than 10,000 active assistants and more than two million applicants screened annually, with 24/7 specialist availability and a 4.8 out of 5 average rating. Scale matters for two practical reasons in administrative staffing: replacement speed when a placement does not work, and the ability to cover unusual hours. Its role list is the most explicitly segmented here, naming administrative assistant, executive assistant, virtual assistant, customer service representative, digital marketing assistant, sales development representative, and a healthcare virtual assistant product.
Limitation: it publishes no pricing, no delivery location, no minimum commitment, and no HIPAA detail beyond having a healthcare product, which leaves the three questions a practice most needs answered all unanswered.
7. Staffingly
Best for: practices that want the lowest published hourly cost with a signed Business Associate Agreement.
Pricing: $399/wk at 45 hours, $349 at 5+, $299 at 10+Location: India, Pakistan, BangladeshModel: Flat weekly staffingCompliance: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001
Staffingly is the cheapest capacity here with a compliance position attached, at $399 a week per person for 45 hours, falling to $349 at five or more people and $299 at ten or more, which works out under $9 an hour at the top tier. It reports SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, a signed Business Associate Agreement, and a $5 million errors and omissions and cyber policy, all company-reported, and delivers from company-stated secured facilities in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Its scope skews toward healthcare back office work, front office, documentation, prior authorization, and billing, so an administrative hire here comes with sector familiarity a general VA firm will not have.
Limitation: its workflow is AI-assisted with a person verifying output rather than fully human, and offshore delivery means US business hours need arranging as a shift rather than assumed.
Which work can an administrative assistant do without being in the building?
Most of it, which is why the price difference decides this rather than capability. A medical records specialist earned about $51,140 a year, roughly $24.59 an hour before benefits, according to the u.s. bureau of labor statistics may 2025 wage data for medical records specialists, and that is before benefits, payroll tax, equipment, or the desk. Against that, the published options here run from $9 an hour at Staffingly's top tier to about $29 at Prialto, with Honest Taskers at $10 to $12.65 and Magic at $13.50 full time. Hire in-house when the role genuinely needs hands in the building, which for a clinical practice usually means greeting patients, handling physical mail and specimens, or managing the waiting room. Split the role if you can: keep the person who needs to be present doing what requires presence, and move the inbox, the scheduling, the data entry, and the chasing to a remote hire. And answer the compliance question before you shortlist, because it eliminates several otherwise excellent firms if your assistant will see patient information. For the scope of what can move, see tasks to outsource to a virtual medical assistant.
How does a general administrative assistant end up holding patient data?
By accident, through an inbox or a calendar nobody scoped, which is why access and continuity are settled in the contract rather than assumed.
- PHI exposure by accident. A general assistant with inbox or calendar access will see patient names eventually. If a BAA is not in place, that is a problem you created rather than inherited.
- Commitment terms. Magic has no contract, Prialto and Athena require 90 days, MyOutDesk is full time only. Match the term to how certain you are.
- Coverage during absence. Ask what happens when your assistant is on leave. Prialto names backup assistant support; most do not.
- Access scope. Grant the minimum systems access the role needs and review it quarterly, rather than handing over everything on day one.
- Turnover and rematching. Ask how a replacement is handled and whether you retrain from scratch. BELAY publishes a 93% first-match rate; nobody publishes a replacement rate.
How much does an administrative assistant cost?
Six of these seven publish a rate, in four units, so this comparison is possible. Hourly: Honest Taskers at $10.00 to $12.65 depending on role, background, schedule, and location. Weekly: Magic at $270 for 20 hours or $540 for 40, and Staffingly at $399 for 45 hours falling to $299 at ten or more people. Monthly per unit: Prialto at $1,600 for 55 hours, or $3,600 full time for 165 or more hours. Monthly flat: MyOutDesk at $1,988 managed or $2,500 specialized, full time only. BELAY and Wing Assistant publish nothing. Converted to cost per hour, that spread runs from roughly $9 to roughly $29, and the expensive end is buying process design and backup cover rather than just hours. Decide which you need before comparing. Rates were checked August 2026 and change often. For rate context, see how much a virtual medical assistant costs in 2026.
What should an administrative assistant provider commit to in writing?
Its compliance position, commitment terms, hours coverage, and what happens when it goes wrong.
- A BAA if patient data is involved. Only three firms here state anything. Get it in writing before access, not after.
- Commitment you can live with. No contract, 90 days, or full time only. This varies more than price does.
- Hours that match your office. Ask for the shift pattern rather than the country, in particular for offshore delivery.
- Replacement process. Ask how a bad match is fixed and whether you retrain from scratch.
- Cost per hour, computed. Convert every quote to an hourly figure before comparing, since five different units are in play.
Which tasks should you write down before hiring an administrative assistant?
The five you would hand over in week one, because a vague brief produces a disappointing assistant regardless of provider.
- List the tasks you would hand over in week one, with the systems each one needs.
- Mark which tasks touch patient information, since that decides whether a BAA is required.
- Decide hours needed and whether they must overlap your office day.
- Shortlist on compliance and commitment first, then compare cost per hour.
- Start with a bounded trial or a no-contract provider, review at four weeks against the task list, then expand hours.
For a fuller hiring walkthrough, read how to hire a virtual medical assistant.
Methodology and sources
We read each company's own website in August 2026, recording administrative scope, stated HIPAA and Business Associate Agreement position, published pricing, purchase model, and the notable facts each firm publishes. Wage context is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for medical records specialists. Business Associate Agreement requirements are set by the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. Where a company didn't publish a fact, we marked it "not publicly listed"; match rates, talent-acceptance percentages, and client counts are labeled company-reported and were not independently audited.
Related administrative staffing guides
If the tasks touch patient records, the compliance position matters more than the hourly rate. Our explainer on what a virtual medical assistant is covers what a remote administrative hire can own in a practice, and where a Business Associate Agreement becomes non-negotiable.
Speak with Honest Taskers about administrative support for your practice.