Dull vs a virtual assistant
Buying a person’s time, or buying a process that’s done, checked and reported.
A virtual assistant costs less per month than Dull and can do almost any task you hand them. Dull costs more, as a flat monthly fee, and does fewer things, but runs them for you: trained on your examples, checked against your rules, with a person reviewing every exception and a report every Friday.
So the real question isn’t which is cheaper. It’s whether you want to buy a person’s time and manage it, or buy a process that’s done and accountable.
Side by side
| Virtual assistant | Dull | |
|---|---|---|
| What you’re buying | A person’s time, which you direct | A result: the process done, checked and reported |
| Monthly cost | about $571 to $900 for a full-time direct hire (2026 asking rates), more through an agency | Flat fee, quoted on a call |
| Who trains them | You | We learn from your examples and rules |
| Who checks the work | You | Every record is checked against your rules, and a person reviews every exception |
| When someone is out or leaves | The work stops until you find and train someone | Our problem, not yours |
| Flexibility | High: point them at any task | Defined, repeatable processes |
| Reporting | Whatever you set up | A summary every Friday |
| Contract | Varies | Month to month |
Choose a virtual assistant if
- Your tasks change from week to week and need someone flexible.
- You have time to train, manage and check someone’s work.
- Cost per month matters more than anything else.
- You want one person you talk to every day.
Choose Dull if
- The work is one repeatable process, like invoicing, entering bills or keying orders, that piles up every week.
- You don’t want to train, manage or check anyone.
- You want exceptions caught and reported, not guessed.
- You want it running in about a week and the freedom to stop any month.
What Dull won’t do that a VA might
Dull doesn’t make phone calls to your customers in the pilot, run errands, manage your personal calendar, make purchases or move money. A good VA can do many of those. If that’s the work, a VA is likely the better fit.
Using both
They aren’t mutually exclusive. Some businesses keep a VA for changing day-to-day tasks and hand the high-volume, rule-based work, like accounts payable entry or order entry, to Dull so it’s done the same way every time.
See all five back-office options compared, pricing, or the alternative to hiring a data entry clerk.
Frequently asked questions
No. A virtual assistant sells you a person’s time to direct. Dull is a done-for-you service that runs a defined back-office process for you, checks it against your rules and reports every Friday.
Usually, yes. Full-time Filipino VAs hired directly asked about $571 to $900 a month in 2026. Dull costs more than that, as a flat monthly fee quoted on a 15-minute call, and you don’t train, manage or check anyone.
Yes. Many businesses keep a VA for changing tasks and hand repeatable, high-volume work like bill entry or order entry to Dull.
The work usually stops until you find and train someone new. With Dull, cover and continuity are our job.