Honest competitor comparison
Viva vs Boldly
Boldly sells a fractional EA who splits time across multiple clients. Viva gives you a full-time EA who works only for you. If you’re past 100 employees with multiple execs to cover, this is the comparison you need.
| Boldly | Viva | |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Fractional | Full-time dedicated |
| Hours / week | 10–20 hours | 40 hours |
| Scope | Admin only | Strategic + admin |
| Replacement | 1 week | 24 hours |
| Starting price | $2,499/mo | $3,999/mo |
The honest take
Boldly fits part-time contractor needs. Viva fits scaling tech companies.
Boldly runs a broad bench of virtual support that fits churches, law firms, and consultants buying fractional admin hours. Viva does one thing: full-time dedicated EAs for scaling tech companies. Here’s how to tell which side of that line you’re on.
Pick Boldly if
You need a part-time contractor
Boldly is a strong choice when you want a senior US or UK-based EA on a fractional plan, and you’re covering one executive.
- You’re covering one executive, not a leadership team
- You require US or UK-based talent for compliance or comfort
- 40 hours per month of fractional coverage is enough
- You want to meet the EA before signing the contract
- You’re comfortable with premium per-hour pricing (~$65/hr)
Pick Viva if
EA support is becoming an operating system
Viva gives every executive a full-time dedicated EA who owns strategic work across calendar, projects, vendor management, and Chief of Staff scope.
- You’re a tech company with 100+ employees, scaling fast
- You’re supporting multiple executives, not just one
- You want strategic Chief of Staff-level work, not just admin
- You want to get an EA started this week
- You want EA tenure measured in years, not months
At a glance
Side by side, no spin
Both companies have public information about their model. Here’s how the basics line up.
| Boldly | Viva | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Single executives wanting a fractional US/UK-based EA | ✓ Scaling tech companies supporting a leadership team |
| Coverage model | Fractional, EA shared across multiple clients | ✓ Full-time dedicated, one EA per executive |
| Talent location | United States and United Kingdom | ✓ Latin America, South Africa |
| Timezone overlap with US | Aligned with US/UK business hours | ✓ Matches the US timezone your exec works in |
| Service tier | Admin-focused with marketing, project mgmt, bookkeeping bench | ✓ Admin plus Chief of Staff-lite work, project ownership, workflow design |
| Talent profile | Experienced, college-educated W2 staff | ✓ 5+ years of professional experience, most have lived, studied, worked, or traveled in the US |
| Time to start | 2–4 weeks | ✓ This week |
| EA retention | No public retention data disclosed | ✓ 2-year average tenure, 1 in 3 stays 4+ years |
| Commitment | Monthly, 40 hours/month minimum | Quarterly |
| Pricing (starting) | $2,499–$4,499/mo for 40–80 hrs (~$65/hr) | ✓ $3,999/mo for 160+ hrs (~$25/hr equivalent) |
Where it actually matters
Four differences that show up in the work
Pricing and commitment are easy to compare. These four are harder to see in a sales call but they shape every day of the engagement.
01 · AI proficiency
EAs who use AI as a force multiplier
Boldly’s positioning is built around experienced human staffing. Ours adds AI-enabled workflows on top of that. Our EAs are trained at Viva University on the tools that compound their output: prompt design, workflow automation, document drafting, research, meeting prep. They use AI to do more, not less.
“My EA Fabi uses Granola and Claude to structure all of our board meeting debriefs. The speed and quality is identical to a US hire.”
Tech Founder, Viva customer
02 · Fractional vs full-time
Your EA isn’t yours alone
Boldly EAs work across multiple clients. If another client on your EA’s roster upgrades from 40 hours to 80 hours next month, your share of their week shrinks. You don’t control that. With Viva, you have a full-time dedicated EA who works only for you. 160+ hours a month, every month, regardless of what anyone else does.
“Viva saves me two to four hours per day, easily. The EA they provided is highly capable, energetic, intelligent, and has a great attitude.”
Viva customer, Viva customer
03 · Built for the leadership team
Scales beyond the founder
Boldly supports everyone from solopreneurs to nonprofits to enterprise. That breadth is part of their model. We focus exclusively on scaling tech companies and we’re built to expand across your leadership team: CEO, CRO, COO, CFO, and Heads of, under one managed service layer that keeps quality consistent as the relationship grows.
“She has taken on responsibilities I never expected from an EA. I feel very comfortable delegating to her. I honestly wasn’t aware of all the tasks a high-quality EA can help you with.”
Viva customer, Viva customer
04 · Value per hour
2.5x the hours for similar spend
Boldly is a premium fractional product. Their published plans work out to ~$65/hour for EA work with a 40-hour monthly minimum. Our $3,999/month plan delivers 160+ hours with one dedicated full-time EA, roughly $25/hour equivalent. Both companies pay talent fairly. The difference is what you get per dollar.
“I’ve gained so much time, so much composure in my day-to-day. I’ve been able to focus on my work, get a lot more done, and be more productive.”
Viva customer, Viva customer
What customers say
The proof is in the hours back
Based on customer survey data across 300+ Viva customers tracking time saved, time to value, and EA tenure.
9+
hours saved per week, per executive
Average across 300+ customers
91%
reach value within 2 weeks
Onboarding to first delegated workflow
2+
year average EA tenure
1 in 3 stays 4+ years
Answers, not pitches
Common questions in head-to-head deals
Why pay more for offshore when Boldly is US-based?
For the same spend, you’re choosing between a high-caliber, full-time dedicated EA at Viva, or an average part-time US-based VA at Boldly working 10 to 20 hours a week. Our EAs come from a 5+ year experience talent pool, most have lived, studied, worked, or traveled in the US, and they’re full-time on your business. The dollars buy very different things.
If US-based talent is a hard requirement for compliance reasons, Boldly is the cleaner fit. For everything else, the value gap is real.
What about timezone, isn’t US-based the same as LatAm overlap?
For practical purposes, yes. Our EAs match the US timezone your exec works in. You get live Slack responses, same-day collaboration, and meetings during their daytime. The difference is everything else: full-time vs fractional, professional EA vs generalist VA, 2+ year retention vs documented turnover.
How does the 1099 vs W2 model affect the work?
When your EA isn’t sure they’ll be there in six months, the relationship doesn’t compound. We invest in our EAs through pay, training, and career path, which is why our retention is measured in years, not months.
What if my EA leaves or doesn’t work out?
This is incredibly rare. Our EAs stay an average of two years and 1 in 3 stays four years or more. In the rare case that something does happen, we backfill. The managed service includes replacement, retraining, and continuity. Your Customer Success Manager handles the transition, your context carries forward, you don’t restart from zero.
Why quarterly commitment instead of monthly?
An EA needs more than 30 days to learn your business, your style, and your team. Real value compounds after weeks 4 through 8. Quarterly pricing lets us invest in better talent, retention, and managed service infrastructure. If you only need fractional monthly coverage for one executive, Boldly is the cleaner fit.
How do you compare to Boldly on security?
Both companies operate managed service models. Viva runs an ISO 27001-aligned program, NDA-bound EAs, equipment management, and offboarding controls. If security is a primary decision factor, our security team will walk yours through the controls in detail.
See what scaled EA support looks like for your team
Tell us about your leadership team and the work you want to delegate. We’ll show you exactly what a Viva engagement would look like. The process end to end is on the how it works page, and the solutions pages break down EA support by role.