VaVa Virtual Assistants Reviews: Pay, Requirements, and What It's Actually Like to Work There

VaVa Virtual Assistants promises a specific trade. You skip the client hunting. They match you with a business that fits your skills. In exchange, you work as a 1099 contractor, not an employee, on terms the company does not publish upfront.

Here is what VaVa actually pays, who it hires, what applying looks like, and how it stacks up against the other managed VA companies people consider alongside it.

How Does VaVa Virtual Assistants Compare to Other VA Companies?

Before the details, here’s the side-by-side view most candidates want first.

The core difference between VaVa and a platform like Time Etc: Time Etc tells you the starting hourly rate before you apply. VaVa doesn’t. Per VaVa’s own careers page, it runs on an “agency model connecting freelancers with clients that fit their skillsets and interests” across three contractor categories: Administrative, Social Media, and Finance. That’s the pitch. The pay structure underneath it isn’t public.

What Does VaVa Virtual Assistants Pay Virtual Assistants?

VaVa does not publish a starting hourly rate on its own site, which already sets it apart from Time Etc’s stated $17/hour floor. The only concrete number available comes from Indeed’s aggregated salary data for the company, which puts the average virtual assistant pay at $26.20 per hour.

That average sits well above Time Etc’s entry rate, but it’s an aggregate across roles and tenure, not a guaranteed floor the way Time Etc’s is. A 2021 Glassdoor review for the company specifically flagged “low pay, lack of transparency and communication to those committed to their clients” as a weak point. More recent reviews tend to describe the work differently: one Indeed reviewer called VaVa “a great place to find flexible, meaningful work from home,” adding that “the team is supportive and inquisitive.” Another reviewer framed it as a supplemental income source rather than a full-time replacement, noting “the hours available to work are excellent” for that purpose.

Read those together and the picture is consistent: flexible, supportive, and reasonably paid on average, but without the rate transparency Time Etc offers upfront. If knowing your exact hourly rate before you apply matters to you, that’s a real tradeoff to weigh.

Who Does VaVa Virtual Assistants Actually Hire?

VaVa hires 1099 contractors into three listed categories: Administrative, Social Media, and Finance, according to its own careers page. The company has operated since 2011, according to its own site, and pitches itself to clients as a US-based, vetted alternative to offshore or marketplace hiring. For contractors, that US-based positioning matters: it’s part of what VaVa sells to the businesses you’d be matched with.

Unlike Belay, which is highly selective in screening applicants, or Time Etc, which states a preference for 5-8 years of admin experience, VaVa’s public careers page doesn’t list a specific experience minimum or equipment checklist. The company does post a clear scam warning on its own careers page, stating it will only contact applicants from its own domain and will never ask for money or downloads during hiring, a detail worth knowing given how often remote VA roles get impersonated by scammers.

VaVa also offers its own contractor-facing training: an 8-week “VA Mastery” course, plus two free downloads, “20+ Ways to Start Making Money as a Virtual Assistant” and “How to Write Proposals to Win More Clients.” That’s a meaningfully different offer than Time Etc or Belay, which match you to clients but don’t run their own skills curriculum for contractors.

What Does the Application Process Look Like?

The public application flow is straightforward based on VaVa’s own careers page:

1. Browse open contractor roles — Administrative, Social Media, or Finance listings, updated regularly per the company
2. Submit an application for the specific role, not a general talent pool signup
3. Clear the vetting process — specific criteria aren’t published, unlike Belay’s stated screening steps
4. Get matched with a client whose needs fit your skillset and interests

VaVa’s own marketing to clients states a 98% “first match” success rate and a 90% retention rate, figures the company reports on its site to describe how well its pairing process works. Those numbers describe the client side of the match, not a guarantee of how fast a contractor gets placed, and they come from VaVa itself rather than an independent source, so treat them as the company’s own claim rather than verified third-party data.

Not sure if a managed VA company or a marketplace like Upwork fits you better? Take the VA career quiz on VirtualCrew to see which path matches where you are right now. Takes three minutes. No email required.

What Do VaVa Assistants Actually Report?

VaVa holds a 4.1 out of 5 overall rating on Glassdoor across roughly two dozen reviews, a notch below Time Etc’s 4.7 but still on the positive side of the scale. The reviews split along a familiar line for agency-model VA work: contractors who value the flexibility and support tend to rate it highly, while a smaller number flag pay transparency as a gap.

What contractors say they value:

• Flexible, supplemental income that fits around other commitments
• A supportive team culture, described by one reviewer as “supportive and inquisitive”
• No cold-pitching clients yourself
• Free training resources (the VA Mastery course and proposal-writing guide)

What contractors say is a tradeoff:

• No published starting pay rate, unlike Time Etc’s stated $17/hour floor
• A 2021 review specifically cited low pay and limited transparency as concerns
• Better suited to supplemental income than a full-time salary replacement, per multiple reviews
• No stated minimum experience bar, which can mean less predictable client-fit matching than a highly selective company like Belay

Verdict: Is VaVa Virtual Assistants Worth Applying To?

VaVa Virtual Assistants is a legitimate, US-based VA agency that has operated since 2011, according to its own site, with a Glassdoor rating that lands in solidly positive territory. It isn’t a scam, and the free contractor training is a genuine differentiator most competitors don’t offer.

Apply to VaVa if:

• You’re a US-based contractor looking for Administrative, Social Media, or Finance work
• You want supplemental, flexible income rather than a guaranteed full-time replacement
• Free skills training (the VA Mastery course, proposal-writing guide) appeals to you as part of the deal
• You’re comfortable not knowing your exact pay rate until you’re further into the process

Look elsewhere if:

• Rate transparency before you apply matters to you — Time Etc states its $17/hour starting rate upfront
• You want the more selective, higher-ceiling profile of a company like Belay and you meet its stricter experience bar
• You need a guaranteed, published payout schedule rather than one that isn’t publicly stated

For a broader view of where VaVa sits against the rest of the field, see Best Virtual Assistant Companies to Work For or start from the basics in How to Become a Virtual Assistant.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is VaVa Virtual Assistants a legitimate company to work for?

Yes. VaVa Virtual Assistants has operated since 2011, according to its own site, and holds a 4.1 out of 5 rating on Glassdoor across roughly two dozen reviews. The company also posts an explicit scam warning on its careers page, confirming it will only contact applicants from its own domain and never request payment during hiring.

How much does VaVa Virtual Assistants pay?

VaVa doesn’t publish a starting hourly rate. Indeed’s aggregated salary data puts the average virtual assistant pay at $26.20 per hour, though a 2021 Glassdoor review specifically flagged low pay and limited transparency as a concern for some contractors.

What positions does VaVa Virtual Assistants hire for?

VaVa lists contractor roles in three categories on its own careers page: Administrative, Social Media, and Finance. Positions are updated regularly, and applicants apply to a specific listed role rather than a general talent pool.

Can working for VaVa Virtual Assistants replace a full-time income?

Reviewers describe it primarily as supplemental, flexible income rather than a full-time salary replacement. One Indeed reviewer specifically noted the available hours work well “as a supplemental opportunity vs a full-time opportunity,” which tracks with the lack of a published guaranteed pay floor.

Does VaVa Virtual Assistants offer training for new VAs?

Yes. VaVa runs an 8-week “VA Mastery” course for contractors and offers two free downloads on its careers page: “20+ Ways to Start Making Money as a Virtual Assistant” and “How to Write Proposals to Win More Clients.”

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