Your 44 Best Virtual Assistant Software Tools in 2024

Most entrepreneurs learn to accept that there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish every task. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already come to terms with this harsh reality and made your first hire: a virtual assistant.

Virtual assistants can help you handle administrative tasks that clog up your workday — but only if they have the right tools. One of an early entrepreneur’s most important decisions is finding the right virtual assistant software to protect your time and maximize your investment.

The right VA software can:

• Help people accomplish work tasks more efficiently
• Automate repetitive work
• Track your assistant’s work time and activity
• Organize communication

The right software can even act as an assistant to a limited degree.

This article recommends more than 40 virtual assistant software tools to help you get the most out of your journey. Use the sections below to jump to any specific need. While we mention pricing details when available, much of the software is free on some plans or will require you to sign up to learn more about custom costs.

Communication tools

It’s essential to be able to reach your virtual assistant when you need them.

Emailing them is easy, but it’s not always the best. Emails can get lost in the shuffle. Plus, an efficient virtual assistant probably doesn’t check their email constantly because that’s a productivity drain.

Sometimes, you need a quick reply to a short message. These VA tools can help with communication.

Slack

Slack is a team communication tool used by more than 750,000 businesses.

The main idea behind Slack is that it replaces email communication and eliminates all the wasted time that comes with it.

Slack’s main feature is channels, offering group conversations typically around a set topic. Channels give your VA and other team members an organized way to communicate. You can include your assistant in the conversations they need to follow without cluttering their inbox with irrelevant chatter.

There is also direct messaging between any users.

Adding your virtual assistant to the company Slack lets your team contact them directly. If you’re out of the office and someone needs a document or information, they can easily reach your VA for help.

Slack also has other useful features like video calls and file sharing.

Pricing

• Free: $0
• Pro: $8.75 per user/month
• Business+: $15 per user/month
• Enterprise Grid: Contact sales

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Flock

Flock is a team messenger and collaboration platform similar to Slack but with a heavier emphasis on productivity features.

A few standout features include voice notes, to-do lists, and reminders. These can help you more easily delegate multiple tasks to your VA.

Pricing

• Starter: Free (1-20 members)
• Pro: $4.50 per user/month (20-100 members)
• Enterprise: Contact sales (100+ members)

Chanty

Chanty is a team communication and collaboration solution designed to help teams like your virtual assistants stay organized and connected.

This virtual assistant software allows you to import team data and message history from tools such as Slack and Flock. You can leverage it here or ease any migration when you switch communications platforms.

Chanty integrates with dozens of popular apps, allowing you to improve your team’s collaboration and boost productivity. It’s less expensive than Slack and offers more storage and faster file transfers.

If you’ve ever been frustrated while trying to find old messages in Slack or Flock, you’ll like Chanty a lot better. It searches your entire history from the first day you used the program, so you won’t lose information because you had that conversation too long ago.

Pricing

• Free: $0 forever
• Business: $3 per user/month

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is Microsoft’s communication solution for businesses.

It enables remote teams to chat, make audio and video calls, and schedule meetings. Teams lets you easily share files for real-time collaboration with your VA.

Teams is a good option for people working within the Microsoft ecosystem because it simplifies sharing from OneDrive and other Microsoft tools.

Microsoft has launched an updated version of its AI tool, now called Copilot. This service can help you find specific information on team members, take notes during virtual meetings, and answer organizational structure questions.

That’s powerful if your virtual assistant needs to contact someone else at your company for help.

Teams’ video-calling features are robust and useful if you invite your virtual assistant to larger team meetings.

Pricing

• Microsoft Teams: Free
• Essentials: $4.00 per user/month
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6.00 per user/month
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50 per user/month

Video conferencing tools

Virtual assistants are rarely available face-to-face. That doesn’t mean you must restrict your communication to chats and emails, though. Video calls are a great way to handle more complex conversations.

Many virtual assistants suggest having a weekly call to catch up and align on priorities. However, you should take it a step further with video chatting.

Luckily, there are plenty of video meeting tools out there. Ask your personal assistant if they have a preference and consider how a particular software fits in your current tech ecosystem. Or, read our breakdown of some of the more popular programs:

Zoom

Zoom is a video conferencing software solution that has exploded in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic. Companies worldwide use Zoom to collaborate, hold virtual meetings, and host virtual events.

The Zoom platform features several communication methods, including group chat, video webinars, virtual conference rooms, and an enterprise phone system.

It supports HD video and audio, recording, transcripts, and screen sharing.

The platform also has advanced privacy and security features (such as waiting rooms, passcodes, and user authentication) that ensure you can discuss sensitive information during calls.

They’ve put a heavier emphasis on security after “Zoom bombing” made headlines, and now the platform is better equipped with privacy and security features.

Pricing

• Basic: Free
• Pro: $15.99 per month/license
• Business: $21.99 per month/license
• Business Plus: $26.99 per month/license
• Enterprise: Contact its sales department for teams of 100 or more

GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is another popular video platform. It includes all the features you’d expect, like conference calling, video conferencing, and screen sharing.

GoToMeeting is similar to Zoom in features and functionality, but larger companies might prefer GoToMeeting because it supports much larger virtual meeting sizes at a slightly lower price point.

This platform can hold video calls with your virtual assistant on most devices and operating systems.

Pricing

• Professional: $12 per user/month
• Business: $19 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact sales

Google Meet

Google Meet is Google’s video conferencing software designed to replace Google Hangouts.

Like most video chat programs, scheduling and launching calls is easy. You also can record or share your screen, files, and links.

One feature unique to Google Meet is the option to add real-time, software-generated captions to video calls. This solution is a great accessibility feature that can add an extra layer of clarity to your conversation.

Google Meet is free, but a Google Workspace account provides access to more tools and easier sharing.

Pricing

• Google Meet: Free
• Google Workspace Business Starter: $6 per user/month
• Google Workspace Business Standard: $12 per user/month
• Google Workspace Business Plus: $18 per user/month
• Google Workspace Enterprise: Contact sales

Zoho Meeting

Zoho Meeting is another reliable video conferencing tool to chat with your VA.

This software emphasizes user security and privacy. Its features include locked meetings, recording privileges, and audio and video sharing consent.

The Meetings tool integrates with Zoho’s suite of office and productivity apps, making it the perfect video meeting solution for those already in the Zoho ecosystem.

Pricing

• Free: $0 for up to 100 participants
• Meeting Standard: $1 to $10 per organizer/month, based on the participant cap
• Meeting Professional: $3 to $15 per organizer/month, based on the participant cap
• Webinar: $8 to $416 per organizer/month, based on the participant cap

Accounting & bookkeeping tools

Most business owners don’t enjoy bookkeeping, but it’s necessary for running a business.

Accounting and bookkeeping solutions allow you to delegate this task safely.

For the items on this list, you should own the tool yourself and create a login for your virtual assistant. It’s unwise to ask a third party to handle your bookkeeping in their own account.

Choose a program that you’re comfortable using independently. You must understand your company’s financial data.

QuickBooks

QuickBooks is the most popular accounting software and primarily caters to small and mid-sized businesses who need a reliable financial tool.

You can use QuickBooks as your personal assistant software to track expenses, create invoices and quotes, and generate detailed reports. You can also sync it with your bank account to track income and expenses automatically.

All the information is stored in the cloud and encrypted to ensure that only you and the people you authorize can access your financial information. You can download reports independently or ask your virtual assistant to send you updates regularly.

Pricing

• Simple Start: $30/month (1 user)
• Essentials: $60/month (Up to 3 users)
• Plus: $90/month (Up to 5 users)
• Advanced: $200/month (Up to 25 users)
• Live Bookkeeping: Contact for custom pricing

Xero

Xero is an online accounting solution designed for small businesses. It allows users to reconcile bank transactions, send invoices, accept payments, pay bills, and create expense claims.

Xero also supports bank feeds. That means you can automatically import and categorize transactions as you see fit.

It can produce financial statements and balance sheets at the click of a button, allowing you to automate your financial reporting. This platform is handy for your VA to keep you updated every week.

Pricing

• Early: $15 per month
• Growing: $42 per month
• Established: $78 per month

FreshBooks

According to its website, FreshBooks focuses on serving small businesses.

Its many robust features include invoicing, expense and time tracking, and reporting. You can also use it to accept payments and collaborate on and manage projects.

FreshBooks has a web app and iOS and Android apps that you can use to track expenses on the go. This might be an intelligent choice if you need your personal assistant to manage your field team’s personal expenses.

Accounts have limits on the number of clients you can invoice, and adding team members comes with an $11 per seat/month fee across all its plans. That’s important to remember when you’re adding a seat for your VA.

Pricing

• Lite: $19/month 
• Plus: $33/month
• Premium: $60/month
• Select: Custom enterprise pricing

Zoho Books

Zoho Books offers cloud-based accounting and bookkeeping software for small and mid-sized businesses. In addition to tracking expenses, the software can also send estimates, create invoices, and accept payments.

You also can automate reminders sent to customers who haven’t paid you yet. This is a particularly useful feature that can save a lot of time.

Zoho Books features many beneficial elements, including contact management, time tracking, and inventory management. Plans vary greatly, so you’ll want to do a deep-dive comparison to find the right fit for you and your team.

Pricing

• Free: $0
• Standard: $20 per organization/month
• Professional: $50 per organization/month
• Premium: $70 per organization/month
• Elite: $150 per organization/month
• Ultimate: $275 per organization/month

Wave

Wave brands itself as financial software designed for entrepreneurs.

It has all the features you’d expect from an accounting and bookkeeping solution. You can use it to track and manage income and expenses. Or, create professional invoices with your branding and company logo.

Connect Wave to your bank account to import your expenses automatically. Alternatively, you can scan receipts using your smartphone and import expenses into the app. Wave’s 256-bit encryption ensures that your data is safe at all times.

Pricing

• Starter: Free
• Pro: $16

Time tracking tools

If you pay your personal assistant an hourly rate, you need a reliable time tracking tool to calculate their hours.

Good time tracking tools can also help you see how that time was used. This helps protect you from time theft while paying people what they deserve. The best virtual assistant software will provide you and your virtual assistants with clear benefits.

And, whether or not your team is hourly, time tracking gives you valuable information that you can use to work more efficiently.

You can easily spot areas where your virtual assistant might need more information from you. It’s also apparent which tasks your virtual assistant is best at so you know to delegate similar responsibilities in the future.

Whether you’re new to time tracking or a time tracking veteran, check out Hubstaff.

Hubstaff

Hubstaff tracks time and productivity. Use it to automate your virtual assistant’s timesheets so that you pay them accurately without the extra headache of manually logging hours. You can manage timesheets and payments directly from the software if you pay hourly. It even works for international payments through tools like PayPal and Wise.

It generates detailed reports that give you more visibility into how your virtual assistants work. These reports include valuable information like activity levels and time spent on specific apps and websites.

A user-friendly dashboard lets Managers see who’s working on what project. The robust time reports give you all the necessary details to dig deeper.

Hubstaff is also an excellent tool for managing your in-house team. It can help you maximize your productivity by automating much of your admin work. You can upgrade for unlimited screenshots, detailed reporting, and intelligent dashboards to help you organize tasks and tackle multiple projects at once.

Pricing

• Free: $0 (for one user only)
• Starter: $4.99 per seat/month
• Grow: $7.50 per seat/month
• Team: $10 per seat/month
• Enterprise: $25 per seat/month

Our Team plans and up include our Insights workforce analytics add-on by default, but you can add it to other plans for $2 per seat/month.

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Scheduling & appointments tools

It’s common for virtual assistants to handle scheduling. If your assistant manages your schedule, they’re probably not doing it in a paper planner anymore.

Modern calendar software helps you balance your personal and professional time. Here are some software options you and your virtual assistant should consider to help handle your appointments.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is a free scheduling tool from G Suite.

It’s a popular tool because it’s easy to use and automatically included with your Gmail address. If you have multiple accounts (like a personal email and a work email), you can sync calendars easily to get a complete picture of your day.

To help keep people connected, you can create a shared calendar and allow people to sync it to their calendars. Use that feature to publish social events or meetings your entire company is welcome to attend.

All events added to Google Calendar can be color-coded, which helps you understand your daily tasks and responsibilities at a glance.

You can also share access to your Google Calendar with other people. That makes it easy for your virtual assistant to manage your schedule.

Pricing

Free with Gmail accounts

Calendly

Calendly is one of the most popular online scheduling tools. Instead of sending dozens of emails back and forth to find open time for a meeting, you can just use Calendly.

All you need to do is send the recipient your Calendly link. They can then book a meeting at a time that works for them. The link detects the recipient’s time zone and displays your availability in their time zone.

Calendly supports advanced features such as time buffers, daily meeting limits, and minimum scheduling notice. You can also collect credit card and PayPal payments to help consultants and salespeople.

Pricing

• Free: Free
• Standard: $12 per seat/month
• Teams: $20 per seat/month
• Enterprise: $15,000 per organization/year

SimplyBook.me

SimplyBook.me is an online booking system for service industries. With this tool, you can accept bookings on your website or theirs. Using their website is the easiest option, but connecting the tool to your website protects your branding and adds a layer of professionalism.

SimplyBook.me lets you accept payments for bookings with PayPal or Stripe — and supports email and SMS notifications. Other cool features include intake forms, coupons, and gift cards.

Pricing

• Free: $0 per month
• Basic: $9.90 per month
• Standard: $29.90 per month
• Premium: $59.90 per month

Setmore

Setmore is an excellent booking software similar to Calendly and SimplyBook.me.

It supports SMS and email reminders to reach your customers more reliably. You can accept payments through integrations with Square and Stripe.

Setmore has Android and iOS apps, which allow you or your virtual assistant to manage bookings from your smartphone. This feature is helpful when you need to organize meetings on the road.

Pricing

• Free: $0 per user/month (up to 4 users)
• Pro: $12 per user/month (up to 2 users)
• Team: $9 per user/month (unlimited users)
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Project management

For many startups and entrepreneurs, a good project management tool is all the virtual assistance they need. Project management software helps you:

• Plan the monthly, weekly, and daily work of your business
• Create individual projects and list steps for them
• Decide who to assign tasks to
• Analyze data to see what projects are at risk of going over budget
• Discover how your team can become more productive

To pick the right tool for your team, consider what you need it to do now and over the next year. Choose a tool that can grow with you so you don’t waste time migrating data during a growth phase.

Hubstaff Tasks

Hubstaff Tasks makes Agile project management easy and intuitive. One of its best features is the sprint view, which helps everyone decide what to work on next.

Set up your workflows to automatically assign tasks to the right people. Use automated Stand-ups to cut down on meetings without sacrificing access to information or losing insights for leadership/

Thanks to its automation, companies say Hubstaff Tasks gives you back hours of productive time every week.

Tasks is a good choice for software that grows with you. It’s free for up to five users, so it’s great software for a small team of virtual assistants. As you expand, the per-user price is lower than competitors with the same feature quality.

It’s simple to get set up and powerful enough to keep your growing team organized and productive.

Pricing

• ​​Free: $0 (up to five seats)
• Premium: $4.17 per seat/month (unlimited seats)

Asana

Asana helps teams get organized, but it can be overwhelming for first-time users. If you already have project management experience, you’ll love the free version’s robust feature set.

The team management features are handy. By creating teams within Asana, you can assign different permissions to each. Everyone has the access they need while you protect any sensitive data.

Asana is another good virtual assistant tool. You can start with the free version to learn it and then upgrade to the pro version when you’re ready.

Pricing

• Basic: $0
• Premium: $13.49 per user/month
• Advanced: $30.49 per user/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing required

ClickUp

With project management, planning, and tracking features, ClickUp aims to be the “one app to replace them all.” With a wide array of features, it can do just that.

Like other project management tools, ClickUp allows you to create tasks, set goals, and import data with powerful integrations. However, it’s the Docs feature that stands out.

With Docs, you can create wikis, guides, and process documentation to share with everyone on your team. Then, connect them to tasks to access everything in one place. You can design anything from simple banners to complex code blocks.

Pricing

• Free: $0
• Unlimited: $10 per user/month
• Business: $19 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact sales

ProofHub

ProofHub helps teams of all sizes collaborate and complete projects on time. You can build custom workflows and notify team members with announcements, chats, and mentions when it’s their turn to contribute.

Then, switch seamlessly between Table, Kanban, or Gantt chart view to see your projects from new perspectives. If a project is in danger of going over budget, notes, proofing tools, and reporting features can help you change course.

Pricing

• Essential: $50 per month
• Ultimate Control: $99 per month

Paymo

Paymo’s unique blend of task management, time tracking, and payroll automation makes it one of the most versatile tools for virtual assistants.

You can streamline the workforce management process by assigning teams to task lists and Kanban boards or turning tracked time into timesheets. Integrations with your favorite third-party apps make it even more powerful.

Paymo’s free account includes project and client limits but removes these from its paid options.

Pricing

• Free: $0
• Start: $9.90 per user/month
• Small Office: $11.95 per user/month
• Business: $18.95 per user/month

Password management tools

Think about how many accounts your business has right now. You likely use social media, work tools, online stores, online banking, utilities, club memberships, etc. 

You probably can’t even list every account from memory.

Now, think about the passwords for all of those accounts.

Your virtual assistant will need access to many of these, which could create issues if you have to share sensitive passwords or other information. You need a way to give them only what they need while protecting your operations.

With a password manager, you’ll have a secure way to share password information with your VA without worrying about it falling into the wrong hands. Here are our recommendations for good password tools:

LastPass

LastPass saves all your passwords across every device you use. This functionality can be highly beneficial if you’re working with a VA. Still, we recommend you check out the LastPass blog for password-sharing tips.

Install LastPass as a browser extension, and it will automatically fill in usernames and passwords for you when you visit a website you commonly use.

If you change devices, you still have access to your password vault. Just log in to LastPass, and it will automatically fill in usernames and passwords. You can always retrieve your login information and enter it yourself, too.

Pricing

• Free: $0
• Premium: $3 per month
• Families: $4 per month
• Teams: $4 per user/month
• Business: $7 per user/month

Dashlane

Dashlane works similarly to LastPass. You can save your login information across multiple devices. Or, have Dashlane create secure passwords for you and your virtual assistant with a few simple clicks.

As a bonus, Dashlane will also autofill personal and payment information, speeding up account registrations or checkout from online stores.

Dashlane syncs to all your devices so you can quickly and securely access your accounts when needed.

Pricing

• Premium: $4.99 per month (billed annually)
• Friends & Family: $7.49 per month for up to 10 people (billed annually)
• Business: $8 per user/month (billed annually)
• Enterprise: Custom pricing plans available

Bitwarden

Like other tools on our list, Bitwarden is a password manager designed to store and or access sensitive information across your organization. However, some robust reporting features make it stand out from the competition.

With Bitwarden Vault Health Reports, you can see password strength or identify possible vulnerabilities or exposures. An affordable enterprise plan makes Bitwarden great for larger teams.

Pricing

• Teams: $4 per user/month
• Enterprise organizations: $6 per user/month

Zoho Vault

Zoho Vault is another tool in the Zoho suite that lands on our list. As you might expect, Zoho Vault gives you standard password protection and storing options. You can also create a custom folder hierarchy and sort passwords into categories.

Powerful integrations with tools like Azure, Dropbox, and ServiceNow make creating new logins and onboarding employees easier.

Pricing

• Free: $0
• Standard: $1 per user/month
• Professional: $5 per user/month (minimum five users)
• Enterprise: $8 per user/month (minimum five users)

NordPass

NordPass can store all your passwords in one central location and even give you access when you’re offline. It can also enhance security by encrypting notes, credit card details, and shipping addresses.

NordPass is excellent if you work with a virtual assistant. You can share passwords with your VA online using an encrypted password vault. With biometric authentication, you can ensure that only you have access to the entire vault’s contents via fingerprint or face scan.

Pricing

• Free: $0
• Teams: $1.99 per user/month
• Business: $3.99 per user/month
• Enterprise: $5.99 per user/month

File sharing and document management tools

Are you still emailing files to your virtual assistant? That’s a waste of time.

There are plenty of file-sharing solutions you can use instead to streamline the document storage, sharing, and collaboration process. Check out these tools to edit and organize files in real-time.

Dropbox

Dropbox is one of the most popular secure cloud storage platforms in the world. More than 500,000 businesses currently use it to store and or access a wide set of company documents.

Originally branded as a cloud storage platform, Dropbox has expanded to include tools that enable businesses to optimize their workflow. You can store files, comment, make changes, and create drafts from one central location.

Pricing

• Basic: Free (1 user)
• Plus: $11.99 per month (1 user)
• Essentials: $19.99 per month (1 user)
• Business: $18 per user/month
• Business Plus: $30 per user/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Google Drive

Google Drive allows you to store and share files, but it really shines as a collaboration tool. Teams can all work within the same document or spreadsheet without worrying about version control.

It’s part of the G Suite, so managing access is easy. You can share permissions via Gmail and set custom permissions on any file in your Drive. Google Drive works best within the Google ecosystem, but anyone can access the documents you share via desktop, mobile, and tablet.

The platform includes all of these excellent document management tools:

• Docs for word processing
• Sheets for spreadsheets
• Slides for presentations
• Forms for questionnaires and feedback
• Other specialized apps

Pricing

• 15 GB: Free
• Basic 100 GB: $1.99 per month
• Premium 2 TB: $9.99 per month
• AI Premium 2 TB: $19.99 per month with Gemini AI tools

Box

With unlimited storage, document management, and collaboration features, Box suits big and small businesses.

If you’re looking for robust security features, look no further. Box carefully guards your files and ensures privacy with 256-bit encryption. Plus, you can lock files and control access on an individual level.

This platform is an excellent option if you need your virtual assistant to have access only to specific files and data.

Pricing

• Business: $20 per user/month
• Business Plus: $33 per user/month
• Enterprise: $47 per user/month
• Enterprise Plus: Contact for custom pricing

Zoho WorkDrive

Zoho WorkDrive is a document management platform that helps businesses create, store, and share multiple types of documents.

It supports more than 100 different file formats and enables you to collaborate on files in real time. The company recently added an administrative console and other features when it changed the product’s name from Docs to WorkDrive.

Pricing

• Free: $0
• Starter: $3 per user/month 
• Team: $6  per user/month
• Business: $11 per user/month
• Enterprise: Requires a custom quote

Social media management tools

In some cases, virtual assistants even help manage social media accounts. Of course, your virtual assistants will need the right tools to manage them all effectively.

Social media management tools can help your virtual assistant:

• Plan, schedule, and track social media posts
• Engage with your followers more easily
• Analyze the performance of your social media accounts and campaigns

While you can give an assistant direct access to each of your social media accounts, managing them this way is more difficult.

Each platform has a different interface that may be cumbersome to navigate. Twitter, for example, doesn’t have a built-in tool to schedule posts. Using a tool like the ones on this list can help your virtual assistant work more effectively to manage your brand.

Buffer

Buffer is a popular tool for driving engagement on social media. It offers a few core products, including Publish and Analyze.

Publish allows you to schedule content on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest all from one place. It’s handy if you want to visualize your overall social media strategy.

Your virtual assistant can use Publish to collaborate on content or seek approval before posting.

Analyze gives in-depth insights into your social media performance. You can see how you’re doing by platform or review your social media strategy.

If you want your VA to engage with your community, the Engage product lets them comment, respond, and more.

Social media accounts management is another good way to utilize your virtual assistant. They can generate reports and call out any findings that you need to see.

Pricing

• Free: $0 per month for up to three channels
• Essentials: $6 per month/social channel
• Team: $12 per month/channel
• Agency: $120 per month for 10 channels

Hootsuite

With more than 18 million customers, Hootsuite is among the most popular social media management platforms. Companies use it to schedule and manage content across all social media pages and channels.

The calendar view is a powerful way to see how your social media presence fits across multiple platforms. Alternatively, you can use the inbox feature to respond to messages from your social media followers on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn from a single location.

Pricing

• Professional: $99 per month (1 user)
• Team: $249 per month (3 users)
• Enterprise: Contact for pricing (5+ users)

Later

Later enables you to schedule social media posts and analyze their performance.

Originally developed as an Instagram marketing platform, Later now supports Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and more.

Later generally offers better features for Instagram than most competitors. For example, you can use Later to create shoppable Instagram feeds and clickable Instagram landing pages.

The Best Time to Post feature tells you when you should be publishing your social posts for maximum engagement. Use it in combination with intelligent testing procedures. For its plans, Later offers more social sets and AI features as you move into higher tiers.

Pricing

• Free: $0
• Starter: $25 per month
• Growth: $45 per month
• Advanced: $80 per month
• Agency: $200 per month

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is an all-in-one platform with tools to help with each step of your social media strategy, from initial planning to analyzing results.

One of the hardest things about social media management is responding quickly to questions and feedback. This tool helps solve that problem.

Like Hootsuite, Sprout Social has a universal inbox that receives messages from all your platforms. It also has tools to help you monitor and manage reviews.

Use the content calendar to schedule posts and collaborate with your virtual assistant or team. This is a popular tool for businesses with large social media followings across many platforms because it does a great job of simplifying your social strategy.

Pricing

• Standard: $249 per seat/month
• Professional: $399 per seat/month
• Advanced: $499 per seat/month
• Enterprise: Contact for custom pricing

Oktopost

Unlike the other social media management platforms on this list, Oktopost goes beyond the standard feature set. Focusing on enterprise and B2B businesses, it shows which posts are generating leads so you can calculate the ROI of your social media plan.

You can use it to create content and generate engagement. Features like intelligent scheduling and content curation help you get more out of your social media plan. The platform also includes features to help with employee advocacy on social media.

Oktopost is a full-service platform with lots of advanced features you won’t find in tools like Buffer and Hootsuite. If social media is a significant part of your business strategy, it’s worth a look.

Pricing

Oktopost requires a demo before you can see any pricing details.

Operations and process documentation tools

Process documentation makes a big difference. When you have clear instructions describing how to handle a job, you can delegate work faster and more efficiently.

Documentation should be easy to access and understand. Everyone on your team (including your virtual assistant) should be able to find the information they need without asking you for help.

Your virtual assistant can use these document tools to get up to speed faster. They can also help you keep your documentation up to date as your procedures evolve.

We selected tools designed to help keep your business operations organized.

Process Street

Process Street is a workflow management program that lets you create checklists and procedures to help you guide your team through everyday tasks. You can build workflows to guide employees or assistants through any activity.

Your workflows can be straightforward (like a to-do list) or use conditional logic to respond to different possibilities.

For example, imagine you’re setting up a workflow for your virtual assistant to handle social media responses. It might look something like this:

• Read the message thoroughly.
  • If it’s spam, delete the message.
  • If it’s a media request, forward it to the public relations specialist.
  • If it’s a customer support question, forward it to a support agent.
  • If it’s a common question, move to the next step.
• Use the appropriate template to respond to common questions.
  • Here are our business hours
  • You can view our product catalog on our website at www.example.com
  • We are currently offering this promotion

Process Street is a powerful tool to keep your company’s work consistent and accurate. It simplifies onboarding and helps eliminate uncertainty when approaching new tasks.

Pricing

• Startup: $100 per month
• Pro: $1,500 per month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing available

Trainual

Trainual is another popular tool for procedural documentation. It guides onboarding for new team members, stores your company policies, and allows you to create playbooks.

Playbooks are just what they sound like. These guides explain each step of a work process to clarify your procedures.

Trainual empowers you to turn your standard procedures into helpful training programs. Rather than handing a new hire a long, boring document and asking them to memorize it, you can create an interactive program that teaches all the vital stuff in bite-sized pieces.

You can also use the built-in templates to help you create personalized company policies. Then, use the software tools to distribute that information to your team.

Whether on desktop or mobile, Trainual allows employees to train themselves. This approach is extremely valuable as more teams are transitioning to asynchronous work.

Pricing

• Small Business: $300 per month (up to 50 employees)
• Growth Business: $500 per month (up to 100 employees)
• Unlimited: Custom pricing to remove user count and other limits.

SweetProcess

SweetProcess stores all of your procedures and policies in one place. That way, you can stay on top of your process refinements.

Each time you update a document or process, it saves the prior version in your version history — but this isn’t just for your employees and your virtual assistant. SweetProcess allows you to make all or some of your documentation public. Your customers can search for help articles that give them detailed answers on how to use your product.

It also offers entry-level task-tracking tools to help you keep track of what your team is doing. These features aren’t as robust as project management software, but they’re great for teams with repetitive tasks but without complex projects.

Pricing

You’ll pay $99 per month for your first 20 active members and $5/month for each additional team member.

Virtual assistant programs

Let’s say you don’t have a virtual assistant at all. Luckily, companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon have been working hard to create virtual assistant software to help individuals and businesses handle their daily tasks more quickly.

None of these tools are a total replacement for a human virtual assistant. However, they can handle multiple tasks like adding appointments to your calendar, giving you directions, and ordering office supplies.

Google Assistant

Google Assistant is Google’s voice-activated virtual assistant software. You probably know about it because of the Google Home smart speaker, but it’s available on other Android-powered devices.

Quick Answers is one of the best things about this virtual assistant program. Google is, after all, the undisputed leader in search. Ask just about anything, and you’ll get a top-ranking answer.

You can also ask questions like “What’s on my schedule today?” or “When is Mom’s birthday?” The program will check your calendar and respond in plain language.

Create commands by making custom shortcuts. You can also do this verbally. Tell the virtual assistant you want to manage shortcuts, and it will walk you through the process.

Google Assistant supports both text and voice commands.

Pricing

Google Assistant is free. However, if you want it on more than just your phone or tablet, you may need to buy a specific device to use it. Among the more common options here are smart displays and smart speakers.

Cortana

If you’ve ever played Microsoft’s marquee video game franchise Halo, you probably have heard of the Cortana assistant.

While the business Cortana probably won’t help you save the universe, Microsoft’s take on the virtual assistant can be a hero in your personal life. Like Google Assistant, Cortana answers your questions, books meetings, and sets reminders whenever needed.

Pricing

Cortana is free with Microsoft 365. The company removed its standalone app in Windows 11 and now builds the Cortana functionality into the default search tools in the Windows taskbar.

Siri

Siri is Apple’s voice-controlled virtual assistant. It’s built-in on most Apple devices, making it a widely used tool.

You can use voice commands to send messages, get directions, or add things to your calendar. Siri can even post to your Twitter or Facebook profile using voice commands.

One of the coolest Siri features is the ability to give yourself location-based reminders. For example, imagine you’re working late and you want to remember to pick up flowers for your partner on your way home from work. When you leave the office, Siri will detect your location and send you a reminder.

It can use precise geolocation data available on your phone or other smart device.

Because Siri connects with OpenTable and similar services, it can make restaurant reservations at many locations. Simply tell Siri what to book and when, and it’ll try to use standard access points like OpenTable to complete these tasks.

Pricing

Free with Apple devices.

Amazon Alexa

Alexa is Amazon’s virtual assistant program. Like other tools on our list, it can be used to search online, create to-do lists, and more.

Many websites and people use Amazon’s Alexa and Echo branding interchangeably. What’s important to remember is that Alexa is the AI software, while Echo is a physical product you buy. So Alexa will be inside your new Echo smart speaker, for example.

Alexa connects to your Amazon account. That means you can play books from Audible or order products from Amazon with just a voice command.

If you’re looking for something more business-oriented, Alexa for Business is probably more your speed. Unlike Alexa, Alexa for Business is specifically designed for productivity. You can use it to do things like reserve meeting rooms and start conference calls.

Though Alexa is available on other devices like Fitbits (and even eyeglasses), people most commonly use it at home or in the office. If you take the time to set it up correctly, it becomes part of your smart office ecosystem and can control other devices with voice commands.

You can start your morning with a wake-up alarm, a weather report, or a recap of the latest news. Connect other smart home devices, and you can also start your coffee pot or turn on the bathroom lights.

You can set up a routine at work that goes through your daily schedule and to-dos.

If only it could do the actual work for you, right? Maybe they’ll figure that out in the next generation.

Pricing

Alexa is a free service, and you’ll only end up paying for any Echo device you choose.

Wrap up

We’ve covered many virtual assistant software solutions above. You’ll be able to find the right mix here and build out a stronger business. Want to test out the strength of your new setup and VA?

Ask them to sign you up for a Hubstaff trial and see if they can get you 14 days free.

We originally published this post in June 2015. However, we regularly update it for accuracy, availability, and pricing details. The latest version was updated and uploaded in May 2024.

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