How Much Do Virtual Assistants Make? Real Income From VAs, Bookkeepers, and Fiverr Freelancers

Virtual assistant work and online freelancing are some of the most common remote side hustles, but income claims vary wildly. Here's what seven real freelancers actually made, including their slow first months.

Virtual assistant income: the first year vs. later

Kayla Sloan's first month as a VA earned $285. She reached $2,000 a month within a year, and about 14 months after leaving her $2,000-a-month analyst job, she was making $10,000 a month. Rebecca Morassutti earned about $65,000 in her first year on Upwork at hourly rates, burned out twice, then switched to retainers with three or four long-term clients — and made $144,000 in 2023.

Bookkeeping side hustle

After losing her accounting job, Kayli Robles started a bookkeeping business for about $300: a $10 business license, a $12 domain, and $280 of insurance. She found her first client (about $400 a month) through the QuickBooks ProAdvisor directory in month two, and now grosses $2,800 a month alongside a full-time job.

How much can you make on Fiverr?

Aileen started at $10 per 500-word blog post to win her first reviews, then raised her price to $95 for the same work. Her first full year brought in $32,937 from about 381 hours — roughly eight hours a week. At the far end of Fiverr success stories, Joel Young sold his first voiceover gig in 2013, paid off his family's debt within 18 months, and has made more than $1.5 million since.

Upwork and online tutoring income

Hrishi left a $13,000-a-year job to freelance on Upwork, specializing narrowly in Facebook ads and spending 30–40% of each day on outreach. His first year brought in $30,000. Jade Weatherington's first month teaching on Outschool earned $32; by month three it was nearly $5,000, and she now makes $10,000 a month teaching nine classes in 10–12 hours a week.

The pattern across all seven: a slow start at low rates, then raising prices, narrowing the service, or moving to retainers. These are standout cases, not typical outcomes, but they show what the path looked like.