Heads up: we're Ryz Labs. We aren't Athena or BELAY, but we do place executive assistants, so we're a third option on this page and we're biased. We kept the head-to-head factual: every claim about either company comes from its own site, linked at the end, and we give our own pitch its own section so you can skip it.
Choose Athena if you want one dedicated executive assistant at 40 hours a week for a published flat fee, and you're comfortable with an assistant based overseas and a 90-day or 12-month commitment. Choose BELAY if you want a US-based assistant on month-to-month terms and don't mind getting your price on a call. If you want an assistant on US business hours and also need a developer or project manager from the same partner, look at the third option below.
Prices and terms are as listed on each company's site as of November 2026.
Athena runs a membership. You pick a role (founder, business owner, VP or executive), get matched to one EA, and onboard over roughly two weeks. The EA works 40 hours a week across five business days. Athena pairs the assistant with delegation coaching, so the program is partly about teaching you to hand work off. Pricing is public: its FAQ and small-business page list $3,000 a month on a 12-month commitment, labelled "most popular," and $3,600 a month after an initial 90-day commitment, labelled "most flexible." Its pricing page shows $3,000 with the footnote "Monthly after initial 90-day Commitment," so confirm in writing which term your rate carries.
Athena's FAQ says its EAs are "located overseas but work on a schedule determined by your needs," and its marketing pages say "in your time zone" without naming a country. BELAY's own comparison page states that Athena is headquartered in Manila; Athena's site doesn't say. We break down the totals in Athena pricing explained.
BELAY matches US-based assistants across several specialties and also runs financial services such as bookkeeping and fractional CFO work. You start with a form or a booked call, and BELAY quotes a flat monthly fee; no dollar figure appears on the site. The team is described as entirely US-based, working Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, in each assistant's own time zone. That matters if you sit in New York and your assistant sits in California: their 9 to 5 is your noon to 8.
BELAY says it matches in as little as one week, reports 93% first-match success, and backs placements with a Right-Fit Guarantee rematch. On its Athena comparison page it describes its terms as month-to-month with 30-day notice.
Athena gives you a number before you talk to anyone. BELAY asks for a conversation first. Neither approach is wrong, but if you're building a budget tonight, only Athena lets you do it from the website.
Athena's lowest rate needs a year. Its flexible rate still needs 90 days, which is $10,800 at $3,600 a month. BELAY describes month-to-month with 30-day notice.
This is the clearest split. Athena's assistants are overseas and follow your schedule. BELAY's are in the US and keep a 9 to 5 in their own zone.
We place executive assistants and virtual assistants on your team, on US business hours, including New York hours, with fluent English. Our recruiters screen every candidate. After one conversation you get a plan, a price and the names of the people who would do the work, so you see who you'd get before you commit. Once you say go, people can typically start in under two weeks; some roles take three to six weeks. A dedicated executive assistant is $3,000 a month, month to month, with no long-term commitment; a dedicated virtual assistant is $2,000 a month, month to month.
The reason to call us rather than either company above: we also place developers and project and product managers. If your business runs on a website, an app or a pile of manual workflows, your EA and your developer can work on one team with one partner. Ryz was founded in 2021, is headquartered in Calabasas, California, has 200+ people and is trusted by Fortune 500 engineering teams. See how we place software engineers and product managers.
Where we're not the right fit: we don't run a delegation-coaching curriculum like Athena's, and we don't sell small hour blocks. If either of those is what you want, pick accordingly.
We can't say from public pages, because BELAY doesn't publish a price. Athena lists $3,000 a month on a 12-month commitment, about $17.30 an hour at 40 hours a week. Ask BELAY for a written monthly quote for the same hours and compare.
No. Athena's FAQ says its EAs are located overseas and work on a schedule set by your needs. BELAY says its team is entirely US-based.
BELAY, on its own description: month-to-month with 30-day notice. Athena's shortest path is 90 days at $3,600 a month, then monthly.
Athena offers a different EA if things don't improve. BELAY offers a Right-Fit Guarantee rematch at no extra cost. Neither page we read sets out a cancellation refund.
Boldly sells US-based assistants by the hour from $2,600 for 40 hours with cancel-any-time terms, and Ryz Labs places a dedicated EA on US business hours for $3,000 a month, month to month, alongside developers if you need them. Our best executive assistant services guide compares the wider field.
We checked both companies' pricing and terms on November 14, 2026, as listed on their own pages. These change, so confirm before you sign.
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