Compare
AI vs a virtual assistant — honestly.
If admin is eating your week, you've got two real options: hire a virtual assistant, or put an AI workforce on the routine work. Here's a straight comparison — costs, strengths, and where each one genuinely wins — with no pretending AI replaces a good human.
The money
What each actually costs
A UK virtual assistant typically costs £8–£60 an hour (agencies around £30–£40). Part-time at ~20 hours a week is roughly £20,000–£31,000 a year, plus onboarding. Oprativ is a flat £99–£349 a month — see the plans. The fair way to read that: compare the cost of the repetitive work, because that's the part AI does well.
The trade-off
Two honest columns
Oprativ — AI workforce
- Flat monthly cost; no hourly clock, no onboarding weeks
- Best at repetitive, rules-shaped work: chasing invoices, routine replies, tidy records, draft quotes
- Runs on your machine; your data stays with you; nothing sends without your approval
- Available around the clock, consistent, never forgets a follow-up
A human VA
- Real judgement in messy or sensitive situations
- Warm phone calls and relationship work
- Takes ownership of an outcome, not just a task
- Hourly cost that scales with hours; needs briefing and management
Where Oprativ fits
Oprativ isn't trying to be a person. It's a governed AI workforce that takes the repetitive admin off your plate — and, crucially, keeps you in control: it prepares the work and waits for your yes before anything reaches a customer. Many owners use it to clear the routine load first, then decide whether they still need a VA for the human moments.
Questions, answered.
Is an AI assistant cheaper than a virtual assistant in the UK?
Usually, yes — for the routine admin. A UK virtual assistant runs about £8–£60 an hour (agencies £30–£40), so 20 hours a week is roughly £20,000–£31,000 a year, plus onboarding. Oprativ is a flat £99–£349 a month. The honest caveat: a VA brings judgement, phone calls and relationship work that software doesn't, so the fair comparison is cost per routine task, not a straight swap.
What can a virtual assistant do that an AI can't?
Talk to people with genuine warmth on a call, use judgement in a messy or sensitive situation, chase a supplier by phone, and take real ownership of an outcome. A good VA is a person. Oprativ is built to take the repetitive, rules-shaped work off your plate — chasing invoices, replying to routine enquiries, keeping records tidy — and hand the human moments back to you.
How much does a virtual assistant cost per year in the UK?
At typical UK rates of £8–£60 an hour, part-time (around 20 hours a week) works out to roughly £20,000–£31,000 a year, before onboarding (often £500–£2,000). Full-time is higher. Rates vary widely by experience and whether you go direct or through an agency.
Can AI chase invoices and answer enquiries without me checking them first?
With Oprativ, it prepares the work but never sends it without your approval — that's the whole design. It drafts the chase email or the reply, you glance and approve (or edit), and only then does it go out. So you get the speed of automation without handing your customer relationships to a bot on autopilot.
Should a small business hire a VA or use AI first?
A reasonable rule of thumb: start with AI for the repetitive, high-volume admin (invoices, routine replies, tidy records), and bring in a VA or staff for the judgement-heavy, relationship-led work. Many owners end up doing both — the AI clears the routine load so a human's time goes where it actually counts.