You need a remote assistant, bookkeeper or dispatcher, and you have three main options: a recruiting firm, a staffing agency or a freelance marketplace. They can look alike from the outside, but they work very differently. The biggest differences are who the person works for and how you pay over time, and those two things shape your whole first year.
How does a recruiting firm work?
A recruiting firm runs a search for one specific role. You describe the job, the firm writes or refines the job description with you, finds and screens candidates, and sends you a short list. You interview the finalists and choose who to hire.
The key point: once you hire, the person works for you. You agree on pay and hours directly, and you pay them directly. For a professional abroad, that usually means a contractor arrangement. Many US businesses collect a W-8BEN, the IRS form a foreign individual uses to certify they are not a US person. Confirm the details with your accountant before you start.
You usually pay the firm a one-time placement fee after you choose your hire. Some firms also offer a replacement period if the hire doesn't work out.
How does a staffing agency work?
A staffing agency places a worker with you, but the worker stays on the agency's side of the relationship. The agency typically employs or contracts the person, handles their pay and sometimes their equipment and supervision. You pay the agency an hourly or monthly rate. The agency pays the worker a smaller amount and keeps the difference.
That difference is the markup, and it applies to every hour the person works, for as long as they work with you. Contracts often run for a set term, and many include a conversion fee if you later want to hire the person yourself.
How does a freelance marketplace work?
A marketplace is a platform where you post a job, review profiles and proposals, and hire whoever you pick. The platform handles payments and offers some dispute tools. It usually takes a service fee, often from both sides, on every payment that moves through it.
The person is an independent freelancer working for you, but the relationship runs through the platform. Screening is mostly your job. Profiles, ratings and portfolios help, but nobody has tested the candidate's English, checked their references or verified their past employment on your behalf.
Who does the person actually work for?
This question matters more than most owners expect, because loyalty and stability tend to follow it.
- Recruiting firm: the person works for you. You set expectations, pay them and build the relationship.
- Staffing agency: the person works for the agency and is assigned to you. The agency can move them, and their pay depends on the agency, not you.
- Marketplace: the person works for you on paper, but often juggles several clients on the same platform.
The model you choose decides who the person answers to, and that shapes everything from loyalty to cost.
What do you pay over a year?
Skip the fee amounts, which vary widely, and look at the structure.
Take a full-time remote assistant in Latin America. Typical market pay for many support roles runs roughly $6 to $12 an hour, depending on skills and experience. Over a year, here is how each model stacks up:
- Recruiting firm: the professional's pay, plus one fee paid once. In the second year, you pay only the professional.
- Staffing agency: the professional's pay, plus the agency's markup on every hour, every month. The markup never ends while the arrangement lasts, and it grows if you add hours.
- Marketplace: the professional's pay, plus platform fees on each payment, plus your own time spent sorting applicants, interviewing and sometimes rehiring when a freelancer moves on.
That last cost is easy to miss. If you spend 15 hours screening applicants and then repeat the process three months later, that time has a real price.
When is each one the right choice?
None of these models is right for every business. Match the model to the job.
Choose a staffing agency when you need someone fast for a short, defined period, such as seasonal coverage or a leave, or when you want someone else to handle employment, payroll and supervision entirely. Paying the ongoing markup makes sense when you don't plan to keep the role long.
Choose a freelance marketplace when the work is a one-off project with a clear deliverable, such as a logo, a website fix or a data cleanup. It is also a reasonable fit if you have hiring experience and the time to screen candidates yourself. It is a weaker fit for an ongoing role that needs steady hours and US time-zone availability.
Choose a recruiting firm when the role is ongoing, at least part time, and important enough that you want a vetted person who works for you over the long term. Think of a receptionist who answers your phones every day, a bookkeeper who knows your accounts or a dispatcher your crews rely on.
Questions to ask any provider
Before you sign anything, ask:
- Who employs or contracts the person, and who pays them?
- Is the fee one-time, or does it apply to every hour worked?
- How are candidates screened? Do you test skills and check references?
- What happens if the hire doesn't work out?
- Is there a long-term contract or a fee to hire the person directly?
Clear answers to these five questions will tell you more than any sales page.
The bottom line
Staffing agencies fit short-term needs and buy you convenience at an ongoing price. Marketplaces fit projects and owners who like to screen candidates themselves. Recruiting firms fit ongoing roles, where you want a vetted professional who works for you and a cost that doesn't repeat every month. If you are hiring for an ongoing remote role, RemoteVetted runs a tailored search and sends a short list of vetted candidates, and you pay the person you choose directly.