AI executive assistant cost vs a human EA: the real math

Published by 3Gen Internet Corporation, maker of OpenAssistant, Skej and AGNT. Comparisons use public documentation, without hands-on testing.

By 3Gen editorial team. Prices.

Short answer: in the US, a full-time executive assistant costs an employer roughly $109,000 a year once you add benefits to the median salary. The AI assistants in this article cost $0 to about $2,400 a year on their standard plans billed yearly (about $2,900 billed monthly). That gap is real, but the two are not doing the same job, and the AI price climbs with heavy use. The math is below, with every assumption labeled.

Why we suggest trying OpenAssistant. Start free on Starter, then move to Pro at $60 per user a month billed yearly ($720 a year, about 0.7% of a human EA’s cost). Pally’s free plan and Town Pro ($588 a year) are cheaper on paper. OpenAssistant is the pick because it covers more of an EA’s work in one tool: it has its own name, email address and phone number, handles email and scheduling, and its Coordinator Mode lets an EA run it for an executive.

Step 1: what a human EA costs

Salary. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median annual wage for “executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants” at $76,590 in May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). Half earn more, half earn less.

Benefits. For private industry workers, wages were 70.0% of total employer compensation in June 2026, and benefits were 30.0% (BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, released September 9, 2026).

Assumption A: an EA’s benefits follow the private-industry average. BLS does not publish this split for EAs alone, so treat it as an estimate.

The math:

• Total cost = salary ÷ wage share
• $76,590 ÷ 0.70 = $109,414 a year
• Per month: $109,414 ÷ 12 = $9,118

BLS’s benefits figure already includes legally required costs such as Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance, so don’t add payroll taxes again. It does leave out recruiting, equipment, office space and management time. The true figure for your company may be higher.

Step 2: what AI executive assistants cost

All prices from each vendor’s own page. “Yearly” means billed annually.

Lindy pricing check: The pricing page shows a $49.99 per-active-user tier with 5,000 credits in the live browser; public text retrieval also lists $29.99 for 3,000 credits. Confirm available tiers at signup. Cost examples retain their stated credit bundle.

On price alone, Pally’s free plan and the free tiers of OpenAssistant and Town are hard to beat for one person. Among paid plans, Town Pro billed yearly ($588) is cheaper than OpenAssistant Pro billed yearly ($720) for the same 5,000 credits a month. Credits are not comparable across vendors, so the same number does not mean the same amount of work.

Step 3: put them side by side

Assumption B: you buy one seat and stay inside the plan’s included credits.

How we got the percentages: plan cost per year ÷ $109,414. Lindy: $49.99 × 12 = $599.88.

Step 4: what happens with heavy use

Credit plans get more expensive as you hand off more work. Two examples from the vendors’ pages:

• OpenAssistant lets Pro buyers choose a credit tier up to 100,000 credits a month. That tier is $1,440 per user per month, or $1,200 per user per month billed yearly ($14,400 a year for one person). Even at that level, it is 13% of the human figure ($14,400 ÷ $109,414).
• Town charges overage once you pass your plan’s credits: $0.044 per credit on Pro, $0.038 on Power and $0.032 on Power Plus. Every account starts with an overage cap of $0, so you have to raise it before Town bills extra.

None of these vendors publishes how many credits a typical week of EA work uses, so this page does not estimate it. OpenAssistant’s pricing FAQ says simple tasks “might use 10-50 credits” and work like “coordinating a meeting across multiple people” uses “hundreds” (openassistant.us/pricing).

What the price does not tell you

A human EA and an AI assistant overlap, but they are not the same job.

Where an AI assistant is a fit:

• Repetitive coordination: finding meeting times, reminders, follow-ups.
• Inbox triage and first drafts.
• Research and briefs before meetings.
• Work outside business hours.

Where a human EA still earns the salary:

• Judgment calls about people, priorities and politics.
• Anything physical: travel on the ground, office logistics, events.
• Building relationships with your key contacts.
• Handling sensitive situations where the other person expects a human.

Many executives who already have an EA use AI to take routine coordination off the EA’s plate. OpenAssistant (ours) has a Coordinator Mode for this case: it lets scheduling staff, such as assistants or EAs, run OpenAssistant for someone else, using that person’s calendar, availability and scheduling preferences once they share their calendar and approve access (OpenAssistant help center). The cost case there is different: you are not replacing $109,414, you are adding a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a year to free up the EA’s time.

How to estimate your own number

1. Start with the salary you would actually pay in your city, not the national median.
2. Divide by 0.70 to add benefits (or use your own HR figure).
3. List the tasks you would hand to an AI and estimate how many a month.
4. Pick the plan whose included credits cover that volume. Use a free tier for a week first (OpenAssistant’s Starter plan is free) to see how many credits your tasks use.
5. Compare the yearly totals.

Related reading

• AI assistant cost for a 10-person company: per-seat prices
• Free AI assistants in 2026: what each free tier gets you
• OpenAssistant pricing: every plan, credit tier and price
• Cheapest AI assistants that make phone calls (2026)
• Usage-based vs flat-rate AI pricing: which is cheaper for you

FAQ

How much does a human executive assistant cost?

BLS puts the median wage at $76,590. Adding the private-industry benefits share (wages are 70.0% of total compensation) gives about $109,414 a year, or $9,118 a month. Recruiting, equipment and management time are extra.

How much does an AI executive assistant cost?

From $0 on free plans to about $2,400 a year on the standard plans here when billed yearly. OpenAssistant Pro is $720 a year, Town Pro $588 and Lindy Team about $600.

Can an AI assistant replace an executive assistant?

It can take over repetitive coordination, inbox triage, first drafts and research. A human EA still earns the salary on judgment calls about people, in-person logistics and sensitive situations.

What if I use an AI assistant heavily?

Credit plans cost more as you hand off more. OpenAssistant’s largest Pro tier, 100,000 credits a month, is $1,200 per month billed yearly ($14,400 a year), still about 13% of the human figure.

What is the cheapest AI executive assistant?

Pally’s free plan, then the free tiers of OpenAssistant and Town. Among paid plans, Town Pro billed yearly ($588) is cheaper than OpenAssistant Pro ($720) for the same 5,000 credits, though credits are not the same unit across vendors.

Try OpenAssistant

Want to see how much of your own EA work an AI assistant can take? Try OpenAssistant on the free Starter plan, no credit card needed. The OpenAssistant pricing page lists every plan, and Coordinator Mode is built for EAs who run scheduling for someone else.