VA vs automation. I tested both. Here’s what actually worked.
Jessica Burbank
Nov 24, 2025
If you’re running a business and juggling way too much, you’ve probably thought about hiring a virtual assistant. I’ve been there. I tried it. And later, I switched to an automated setup. The difference was bigger than I expected, so here’s the honest breakdown.
I hired a VA for three months at $1,200 a month. Great person, worked hard. But the truth is that I still had to monitor everything. And when they took a day off? Everything paused. Emails waited. Follow-ups waited. Payments waited.
After that, I rebuilt my workflow with automations — and things started moving differently.
The VA Stage: Helpful, but not reliable long-term
A VA can take some pressure off, and mine did. But it also created new pressure.
What worked:
They handled complicated manual tasks
They kept things moving when they were available
They did good work on the human side of things
What didn’t:
Daily check-ins
Tasks got delayed if they weren’t online
Scaling meant hiring more people
Things occasionally got lost or duplicated
A VA adds support. But it also adds dependency.
The Automation Stage: Calm, consistent output
When I switched to automations, I used a mix of popular tools that most businesses already know:
Email time dropped from 2.5 hours to 20 minutes a day
Reply rate improved from 5% to 14%
Blog output went from 2 posts to 7–8 per month
Accounting time dropped from 3 hours weekly to almost nothing
Total workload went from 25 hours to about 6–7 hours a week
No sick days. No “I’ll get to it later.” Just steady output, all day.
But let’s be honest — automation isn’t perfect
I still fix around 1 out of 10 emails. Some things need a human eye. It took a couple of weeks to tweak everything.
But once it’s tuned, the workflow runs smoothly — because the system doesn’t get tired.
VA or automation — what’s better?
It depends on the kind of help you need.
Choose a VA if you need:
Human judgment
Creative thinking
Decision-making
Support on calls or scheduling
Choose automation if you need:
Repetitive tasks handled
Email and follow-ups done automatically
24/7 consistency
Lower long-term cost
Less oversight
In my case, automation made more sense. It saved time, saved money, and finally took the nonstop stress out of my day.
A VA gives you support. Automation gives you consistency.
If you’re running a business and constantly buried in repetitive tasks, it might be worth trying a simple automated setup first. It could save you a surprising amount of time — and sanity.
And if you’ve already built your own setup, I’d honestly love to hear what tools you’re using.
