Looking for a smarter
Athena alternative?
Remote Leverage gives you the same executive support without all the monthly fees. Get matched with top 1% talent from Latin America and the Caribbean in as little as 2–3 days, own the relationship with your hire from day one.
Athena
A Philippines-based Executive Assistant, employed by Athena. You’re locked into a 12-month contract, a big portion of your monthly fee never reaches your assistant, and a $24,000 buyout fee if you ever want to hire them directly.
Remote Leverage
No contracts, no lock-in. Your remote talent is sourced mostly from Latin America, hired directly by you, and keeps 100% of their wage. Remote Leverage covers roles across sales, support, marketing, admin, e-commerce, and more
Which Remote Talent Solution
Is Right For You?
Managed service gives you a ready-to-go team, with zero operational burden and costs you can count on.
Both services at-a-glance
Remote Leverage vs. Athena
The bottom line:
Comparing costs
Remote Leverage costs a one-time fee, 40% of your hire’s yearly salary, or as low as $4,000 per hire with a 3-hire bundle and the talent is yours from day one. Athena charges $36,000/year, plus a $24,000 buyout if you ever want to hire directly.
Remote Leverage makes hiring easy
Hiring with Remote Leverage is straightforward from start to finish. You tell us who you need, we handle the sourcing and screening, you pick your favorite from a shortlist, and you hire them directly with the talent in your hands, not held by an agency.
You tell us what role you need to fill, what skills are required, and what an ideal candidate looks like.
We screen hundreds of applicants and present a shortlist of four to six candidates who match your brief, typically within 72 hours.
You interview the slate and choose who to hire.
You employ the talent directly. Our partner company handles payroll and compliance in your hire's country of residence.
We charge a one-time flat
placement fee, billed after you hire.
A $100 deposit is required to start the search that’s deducted from the final fee or refunded if you don’t hire. If your hire doesn’t work out within 12 months, we replace them at no additional cost.
The employment relationship
is direct
So you can adjust pay, expand scope, or change the role over time without renegotiating with Remote Leverage.
Where your money goes
Most people don’t know exactly where their money goes when paying for remote talent — they see one monthly number and assume it all goes to the person doing the work. In reality, how much actually reaches your assistant can vary a lot.
Which is more affordable, Remote Leverage or Athena
Remote Leverage is the more affordable option and that gap only grows over time. Athena’s fees keep adding up every year, while Remote Leverage’s one-time fee means costs stay flat the longer you keep your hire.
You interview and select your favorite.
Hire your perfect match only after interviewing candidates yourself.
Hire directly, no ongoing fees
You contract and manage the support you need – no middleman.
We screen hundreds of applicants
And present a shortlist of four to six candidates who match your brief, typically within 72 hours.
Run payouts and track hours
For individuals or entire teams. You interview the slate and choose who to hire. Add new countries and contractors easily
You employ the talent directly.
Our partner company handles payroll and compliance in your hire’s country of residence.
We charge a one-time flat
placement fee, billed after you hire.
A deposit is required to start the search that’s deducted from the final fee or refunded if you don’t hire. If your hire doesn’t work out within twelve months, we replace them at no additional cost.
The employment relationship
is direct.
So you can adjust pay, expand scope, or change the role over time without renegotiating with Remote Leverage.
Roles and Industries
Remote Leverage Supports
Construction
& Trades
Manage remote talent who handles scheduling, estimates, and back-office admin.
Medical &
Healthcare
Onboard healthcare assistants and providers, compliant and credential-ready.
Finance &
Accounting
Compliantly hire support for bookkeeping, data entry, and client admin.
E-commerce
& Retail
Manage remote talent for customer support, order processing, and listings.
Tech
& SaaS
Scale faster and manage remote talent ready to start in hours, not weeks.
Legal
Compliantly manage remote talent to handle intake, document prep, and case admin.
Client Reviews
Don’t just take our word for it, hear from business owners who’ve hired through Remote Leverage. See why quality makes all the difference!
“I can't say enough about how every step of the way it just wowed me.”
“I’m very impressed with the quality of my VA, she’s very intelligent and she aims to please.”
“I really recommend Remote Leverage; it was a fast process, and the results are good.”
“I got to talk to five amazing virtual assistants, and they all were good; it was kind of hard to make a choice at first.”
“The transition of working with you guys was absolutely smooth and amazing.”
“She was just perfect, everything that we were looking for we found it in her.”
“Honestly, the reason why we keep hiring is because it is so incredibly easy.”
“If somebody were asking me why they should work with Remote Leverage, I would say it's because of the quality of the candidates.”
“Its been about a year and a half since I've been with them so far, I would definitely say go for it, it's been a game changer for me.”
“As I look back, I was on the fence about it, It's probably one of the best decisions I ever made if not the best to help grow my business.”
“Very Very happy with the system, you guys system worked well and it was efficient.”
“It was a seamless process, all the applicants that we had they all had Masters in Marketing, which is awesome.”
“Remote Leverage, presented six candidates and I did interview all of those very in depth, and I thought all of them were phenomenal.”
“I'm very impressed with the english, the capability, qualification, timeliness, they were all very timely, patient.”
“It was awesome the best experience I've ever had as far as hiring.”
How Athena works
Pricing model and what’s included
Athena charges $3,000 per month under a 12-month contract. This includes a matched Executive Assistant, along with payroll, taxes, and compliance handled by Athena on your behalf.
How matching and onboarding work
Once you sign on, Athena matches you with an Executive Assistant, typically within 2–3 weeks. New EAs complete a structured training program.
The buyer Athena is built
for
Athena is designed for founders and executives who want a single, dedicated Executive Assistant to support a wide range of tasks from scheduling to inbox management to general operations.
Roles and Industries
Athena Supports
Athena offers a single role — Executive Assistant — trained as a generalist to support founders and executives across a wide range of industries. Rather than matching clients with someone experienced in their specific field, Athena prepares every EA the same way, so they can adapt to different business needs as they come up. This means you won’t find role-specific specialists through Athena, like a bookkeeper for a finance firm or a credentialed assistant for a healthcare practice — every client works with the same type of generalist support, regardless of industry.
Finding the right talent to help you scale
Finding the right talent means scaling smarter, not more expensively. Remote talent delivers top-tier support for a fraction of in-house costs. You save on salaries, benefits, and overhead while freeing your core team. That lets you reinvest cash into growth and focus on what truly moves the needle.
Result: You grow faster, spend less, and scale leaner with every hire you make.
María Fernanda
Administrative Assistant
$8 Per Hour
Luciana Lopez
Sales Representative
$10 Per Hour
Catalina García
Social Media Manager
$12 Per Hour
Talent pool, time zones, and language standards
Remote Leverage offers professionals in highly compatible time zones who cover a broad spectrum of roles – from executive assistants to operations specialists. This means faster turnaround, smoother collaboration, and no costly delays waiting for responses.
Result: You get the right talent, in the right time zone, for the right role – every time.
12-Month Replacement Guarantee
12-Month free replacement guarantee on any remote talent you hire through us to ensure you have a perfect fit. You’ll also have a dedicated manager to help you set up training, performance tracking, and any other support you need.
No contracts or commitments.
We get paid a flat hiring fee if you choose to hire remote talent after interviewing our applicants.
How payroll and
compliance actually work
No payment if we don’t find the right talent
You only pay when we deliver. If we don't find the right fit for your role, you owe nothing, no upfront risk, no wasted budget on a placement that doesn't work out.
Payments, compliance, onboarding support
Your new hire slots right into your dashboard. Manage payroll cycles, compliance reporting, and multi-currency payments in one platform.
No ongoing
middleman fees
Hire direct. No contracts, no hidden fees. Remote Leverage's 12-month replacement guarantee ensures you get the perfect hire.
The Full Picture
Already using Athena but want to switch? Here’s how
If you’ve decided to switch from Athena to a direct hire, the cleanest path takes about four weeks. Here’s the order of operations:
Document the work Athena’s remote talent is doing now. The next person needs SOPs, not just a job description.
Book a consultation to tell us about the role, hours, required skills, ideal background. We’ll have a candidate slate to you in roughly 72 hours.
Plan an overlap window. Keep Athena’s remote talent in place for two to four weeks while you screen, interview, and onboard the new hire.