Choose part time if you have under about twenty hours a week of clearly defined work or you are testing delegation for the first time. Choose full time if you have twenty or more hours of steady work, need someone available through your business day or want one person covering several areas. At delegateit part time starts at $900 a month for about 80 hours and full time at $1,500 a month for about 160 hours.
This is one of the first questions people ask when they decide to get help. It is a good question, and the answer depends less on your budget than on your workload. A part time assistant with too much work burns out and drops balls. A full time assistant with too little work gets bored and drifts. The goal is to match hours to real work.
Run a one week hours audit
Before deciding, spend one normal week tracking every task you do that someone else could do. Write down the task and roughly how long it took. Do not filter too hard. Include email triage, scheduling, data entry, follow ups, invoicing, social posts, research and anything else that does not need your judgment.
At the end of the week, add it up. Then add the tasks you have been putting off because you never have time, like cleaning the CRM or updating old blog posts. Most people find more hours than they expected.
If the total is under twenty hours a week, part time is likely a good fit. If it is over twenty, full time is worth a serious look.
Our guide to tasks to delegate to a virtual assistant can jog your memory for the audit.
When part time makes sense
You are new to delegation
If you have never managed an assistant, part time is a lower risk way to learn. You will figure out how to write instructions, give feedback and check work without feeling like you need to fill forty hours.
Your work is narrow
A single function like bookkeeping, social media scheduling or podcast editing often fits in part time hours.
Your work is predictable
If you know exactly what needs doing each week and it does not change much, part time works well.
Budget is tight
Part time gets you real help at a lower monthly cost while you prove the value.
When full time makes sense
You need coverage across the day
If customers, leads or your own requests come in throughout the day, a full time assistant can respond quickly. A part time assistant might only be online for half your business hours.
You want one person across several areas
Full time lets one assistant handle email, calendar, admin, customer follow up and a few projects. That breadth makes them more valuable because they see how everything connects. Our offshore executive assistant post shows what that looks like.
You are growing
If your workload is rising, starting full time saves you from switching later.
You want deeper commitment
Full time assistants tend to become a real part of the team. They join meetings, learn your business deeply and take ownership.
Signs you have outgrown part time
Here are the signals that you need more hours.
- Your assistant regularly runs out of hours before the month ends
- Tasks wait several days because the assistant is not online
- You hold back new tasks because they will not fit
- You are doing work yourself that you planned to delegate
If you see two or more of these, it is time to talk about full time.
Signs full time is too much
On the other side, watch for these.
- Your assistant often asks for more work
- Projects stretch out to fill the time
- You struggle to come up with tasks each week
That usually means you need to delegate more broadly rather than cut hours. Look at your hours audit again and see what else could move. If there is truly not enough work, part time might be the better fit.
Availability matters as much as hours
Hours are only half the question. The other half is when those hours happen. A part time assistant might work four hours every weekday, or eight hours on two or three days. Each pattern suits different work. Daily short shifts work well for inbox and customer follow up, because nothing waits more than a day. Longer shifts on fewer days suit project work like bookkeeping or video editing, where focus matters more than speed.
Talk through this before you start. Pick the schedule that fits the work you are handing over, and revisit it after the first month.
A middle path
Some businesses start part time and plan to move to full time once the assistant knows the business. This works well when you have a lot of work but need time to build processes. Others start full time with a mix of daily tasks and a backlog project, like a CRM cleanup, to fill early weeks while the regular workload builds up.
Comparing the cost
At delegateit, part time assistants start at $900 a month for about 80 hours and full time from $1,500 a month for about 160 hours. Full time gives you about twice the hours for well under twice the price, so the effective hourly rate is lower. Specialists start at $2,200 a month for roles that need deeper skills.
Use the estimator on our pricing page to see which plan fits your hours. Our post on hourly vs monthly virtual assistant pricing explains why monthly plans tend to be more predictable.
What about two part time assistants?
It is possible, and some businesses do it when they need two very different skill sets, like a bookkeeper and a designer. But managing two people takes more of your time than managing one. If one person can cover both areas, a single full time assistant is usually simpler. If you need very different specialties, two roles can make sense. See our post on hiring a second virtual assistant.
Making the decision
Do the hours audit. Add the backlog. Think about when work comes in and how fast it needs a response. Then pick the plan that fits the next three months, not the next three years. You can adjust as you learn. Write down why you chose the plan and check back after ninety days to see whether the reasons still hold.
The worst choice is waiting. Every week you spend on work someone else could do is a week you did not spend growing the business.
Part time or full time questions
How many hours is part time?
At delegateit, part time is about 80 hours a month, which is roughly twenty hours a week.
Can I switch from part time to full time later?
Yes. Many clients start part time and move to full time as they delegate more.
Is a full time assistant cheaper per hour?
Generally yes. Full time includes about twice the hours of part time for less than twice the price.
What if my workload changes month to month?
Pick the plan that fits your typical month and use backlog projects to fill slower periods.