Athena alternatives,
by what you need.

How this page is written

Allying publishes this page and is one of the options on it. Every price and term below comes from each company's own pages, with the day we read it in the sources, so you can check it. Where a company does not publish a price, we say so rather than guess.

What Athena does well

Athena's product is one person: a dedicated, full-time executive assistant, vetted, trained, equipped and employed by Athena, with performance managed on Athena's side and a different assistant if things do not improve [2]. Selection is the pitch: the top 1% of thirty to sixty thousand monthly applicants, an in-person bootcamp and ongoing training [3]. The work runs from the inbox and the calendar to household, family and personal wellness [3], forty hours a week, from assistants located overseas who work your schedule [1]; Athena names Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya and the Philippines [4].

Is Athena worth $3,000 a month?

For the buyer it is built for, it can be: an executive who wants one person for work and personal life, for years, and can commit before the work starts. Over a year that is $36,000 on the 12-month plan, or $43,200 on the monthly plan [1]. Athena is candid about fit: it tells anyone who wants short-term help, or thinks an AI assistant can do what they need, to look elsewhere [5]. If what you need is a job done (the inbox and calendar of a busy owner, customer emails, the phones, social media), most of the options below cost less. Several start without a commitment.

The alternatives, by what you need

One full-time person you pick yourself: Pearl Talent or Persona Talent

Both sell the unit Athena sells, a vetted, remote person, full time by default. They cost about the same, with a shorter commitment. Pearl Talent places full-time professionals from the Philippines, Latin America and South Africa with US founder-led companies, from $3,000 a month by role and seniority, monthly, cancel any time, with a 30-day replacement guarantee [6] [7]; only 0.8% of applicants get through its vetting, and every hire completes a 29-hour AI training program [7]. Persona Talent recruits a dedicated team member from 98 countries, starting at $3,000 a month by quote, month to month, with no setup fee and billing only after you approve a hire; you meet the finalists and make the final call, and it can also find someone for you to hire onto your own payroll [8] [9]. Choose one of them when you want a person you interviewed, beyond the executive assistant role, without a 12-month commitment.

Fewer hours: Boldly, BELAY or Time etc

If the work is ten to forty hours a month, not forty a week, you can buy hours. Time etc starts at $390 a month for ten hours, with US-based assistants, hours that roll over and cancel any time [12]. Boldly sells experienced US-based executive assistants, employed by Boldly, from $2,600 for 40 hours a month [10]. BELAY runs month to month, not on a long-term contract, with support that typically begins at 45 hours a month, for a flat monthly fee quoted on a call [11].

A dedicated assistant for less: Magic or Wing

Magic lists a dedicated assistant at $270 a week part time (20 hours a week) or $540 a week full time (40 hours a week), billed every four weeks [13]. Wing lists a general virtual assistant at $999 a month full time (160 hours) or $699 part time (80 hours), live in 48 hours [14].

A hire of your own, abroad: Somewhere

Somewhere recruits a person abroad for you to hire directly, for a one-time fee that is a percentage of their first-year salary (the percentage is not published), or on a monthly plan, with example assistants at $1,200 to $2,200 a month [15]. Choose it when you want the person on your own team for the long run.

Software you run yourself: Lindy

Lindy is software that works across the tools you connect, from $29.99 a month per user, by credits [16]. It suits someone who wants to set up and run their own automations.

The job you posted, done: Allying

Allying does the job a business has already posted, as an employee or contractor, for 30% of the salary in your posting, a month, with a monthly minimum for each job: $1,380 a month on a $55,000 posting (about 30% of the posted salary, after a free week). The first week of the work is done before any conversation; if you go ahead, you book a short call and add a card, and nothing is charged. Your free week starts with the call, and the first charge comes on day 8. A named specialist answers for the work, every action is on the record, and one note stops it. Choose it when you posted a job (admin, customer emails, the phones, social media) and want the job done rather than a person's hours.

The prices side by side

We checked Athena, Pearl Talent and Persona Talent on 2026-09-25, and the others on 2026-09-18. Prices and plan names change; the links in the sources are the ones to trust.

When Athena is still the right choice

• You want one full-time person for the whole of your working life, calendar, travel and household included.
• You can commit to a year at $3,000 a month, or to 90 days at $3,600 a month, before you see the work.
• You want the assistant employed and managed by the company that trained them.
• You want a person doing the work itself, and your tasks are personal as much as professional.

More comparisons

• Allying vs a virtual assistant agency
• Every comparison

Questions people ask

Hiring for this job

• How to hire an executive assistant
• How to test an executive assistant before you hire
• How to take a week off