We'll say this up front: Ryz Labs places executive and virtual assistants, so we compete with both Athena and Magic. We've kept their facts to what each company publishes about itself. One note on sourcing: we checked Magic's prices on its own pricing page in a browser on November 14, 2026; a few non-price details come from Magic's pages as they appear in search previews. We say so in the table, and you should check getmagic.com before you buy.
Athena and Magic overlap more than most pairs in this market. Both place assistants based outside the US who work hours you choose. Athena prices by the month with a 90-day or 12-month commitment and adds delegation coaching. Magic prices by the week, bills every four weeks and advertises cancel-anytime terms at a far lower listed price. The real choice is between Athena's structure and Magic's flexibility, and then whether you'd rather have someone on US business hours from a partner who can also place developers.
Ryz takes a different route from both companies. You get one dedicated person on your team, working US business hours including New York hours, fluent in English, and screened by our recruiters before you ever see a profile. There's no annual tie-in: the executive assistant rate is $3,000 a month and the virtual assistant rate is $2,000 a month, both month to month.
What makes the call worthwhile is how fast it gets concrete. One conversation is all it takes for us to come back with a written plan, a monthly figure and named candidates. Say go and people can typically start in under two weeks; some roles take three to six weeks.
And unlike Athena or Magic, we place developers and product and project managers too. A lot of owners who hire an assistant discover the next constraint is a website, an internal tool or a process held together by spreadsheets. With Ryz, that engineer joins the same team as your EA. Some context on us: founded 2021, headquarters in Calabasas, California, a company of 200+ people, and a partner Fortune 500 engineering teams trust. Our client workspace, Ryz Portal, is being rolled out to clients now.
If your top priority is the lowest weekly price, Magic's listing is lower than ours, and we'd rather tell you that than pretend otherwise.
Athena figures were read on athena.com in November 2026. Magic figures are from Magic's own pages as shown in search results the same week, because getmagic.com blocked direct access.
Every Athena member gets one EA working a 40-hour, five-day week with two consecutive days off, according to its FAQ. Pricing on the FAQ: $3,000 monthly if you sign for a year, $3,600 monthly if you'd rather commit for just the opening 90 days, which means at least $10,800 before you can go month to month. The Athena pricing guide has the year-one totals. Matching starts with a short survey and ends with an introduction package; the FAQ says the full onboarding typically takes two to three weeks.
Athena describes its EAs as overseas and working to a schedule you set, and says most members choose their own time zone. Its own careers site, which we cover in where Athena assistants are located, lists hubs in the Philippines and elsewhere. Athena also sells the method as much as the person, through delegation coaching it calls the "Art of delegation."
Magic calls itself "the virtual assistant company for busy professionals." Its pricing, as shown in previews of its own pages, is weekly: a dedicated 40-hour executive assistant at about $540 a week, which is about $13.50 an hour, and a 20-hour plan at about half that. Billing runs every four weeks, and Magic says you pay nothing until you hire.
Magic says it sources assistants from the Philippines and Latin America, and that they can work your business hours or off-hours if you need cover outside the day. It also sells a "Magic 24/7" service, lets teams send requests in Slack, and describes automatic end-of-day reports. Magic claims more than 10,000 businesses as clients and 11 years in operation.
On listed figures, a four-week Magic cycle for a 40-hour executive assistant is $2,160. Athena's lowest monthly rate is $3,000. Remember a four-week cycle gives thirteen bills a year, not twelve, so a year with Magic is about $28,080 at that rate.
Magic advertises cancel-anytime. Athena's commitment is 90 days or twelve months, and its FAQ doesn't describe cancellation.
Athena pairs the assistant with a delegation curriculum. Magic leans on tooling, such as Slack requests and daily reports. Which one helps more depends on whether your bottleneck is knowing what to hand off or tracking what got done.
On published figures, yes. Magic's own pages show about $540 a week for a 40-hour executive assistant, billed every four weeks. Athena lists $3,000 a month with a 12-month commitment. Confirm Magic's current price on its site.
Magic says it sources from the Philippines and Latin America. Athena's FAQ says only "overseas," while its careers site lists hubs in the Philippines, Guatemala and Kenya.
Both say they'll work to your schedule. Athena's FAQ says most members choose their own time zone; Magic says assistants can match your business hours. Ask either one which hours, in your time, are guaranteed.
Magic advertises cancel-anytime. Athena's shortest path is 90 days at $3,600 a month.
Athena published comparison posts on its blog in the past, and some still appear in search. We checked current terms on both sites and used those, not older posts.
Athena's site was read directly on November 14, 2026. Magic's prices were checked on its pricing page; confirm current figures directly.
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