25+ Virtual Assistant Statistics: Alexa, Siri & Human VAs (2026)

The phrase virtual assistant is doing two very different jobs in 2026. One refers to the voice in a speaker on your kitchen counter that sets timers, adds milk to a list, and reorders detergent when the bottle runs dry. The other refers to a human professional, often working from Manila, Bengaluru, or Boise, who runs an executive's inbox, books their flights, and quietly keeps a small business from falling over. Both kinds of VA have exploded over the last decade, and in 2026 they are colliding. AI voice assistants are getting smart enough to handle the tasks that used to define a junior human VA, and human VAs are increasingly armed with AI copilots that let one person do the work of three.

Below are 26 statistics we could verify against primary sources, organized into six themes that cover both threads: the installed base of voice assistants, how people actually use voice search and skills, the new wave of generative AI voice, the size and shape of the human VA market, what VAs actually do and what they cost by region, and the way AI is reshaping the hybrid human-plus-machine assistant of 2026.

Voice Assistant Install Base

1. 8.4 billion voice assistants are in use worldwide in 2024.

Statista's voice assistant tracker estimates 8.4 billion voice-enabled assistants are in active use globally as of 2024, up from 4.2 billion in 2020 and on track to keep climbing as smart TVs, cars, and earbuds add assistant surfaces. The figure exceeds the world's population because the average connected consumer now owns multiple assistant-bearing devices. (Statista)

2. 153.5 million Americans will use a voice assistant at least monthly in 2026.

eMarketer's January 2026 forecast puts US monthly voice assistant users at 153.5 million in 2026, representing roughly 44% of the population. Penetration is now broad rather than novel, and growth has shifted from new users to deeper per-user engagement. (eMarketer)

3. Apple's installed base hit 2.35 billion active devices in Q1 FY2026.

Apple reported in its January 2026 earnings call that its installed base of active devices crossed 2.35 billion globally, an all-time high. Every one of those iPhones, iPads, Macs, Watches and HomePods ships with Siri, and the newer hardware is progressively gaining Apple Intelligence features that upgrade Siri into a generative assistant. (Apple Q1 FY2026 earnings)

4. Amazon launched Alexa+ in March 2025 and rolled it out broadly through 2026.

Amazon unveiled Alexa+, its generative AI rebuild of Alexa, at a February 26, 2025 event and began rolling it out to early-access US customers in late March 2025. The service costs $19.99 per month standalone or is included free with Prime, and it is positioned as a more conversational, agentic assistant capable of multi-step tasks across third-party services. (Amazon / Reuters)

5. Google Assistant is being replaced by Gemini across Android.

Google confirmed throughout 2024 and 2025 that Gemini is replacing Google Assistant as the default assistant on Android phones and Google Home devices, with the legacy Assistant fully sunset on mobile by March 2025. Gemini Live, the conversational voice mode, became free for all users in 2025. (Google)

6. Samsung is folding Bixby into a Galaxy AI experience powered by Gemini.

Samsung's Galaxy S25 line, launched January 2025, ships with Galaxy AI features powered in part by Gemini, while Bixby remains as a device-control assistant. Galaxy AI features are committed to remain free on supported devices through at least 2025, with paid tiers under evaluation for 2026. (Samsung)

Voice Search and the Skills Ecosystem

7. 20.5% of people worldwide use voice search at least once a week.

The DataReportal Digital 2024 Global Overview Report, based on GWI survey data, found that 20.5% of internet users aged 16-64 reported using voice search or voice command tools each week. Adoption skews higher in markets where typing local-language scripts is friction-heavy, with India, Indonesia and the Philippines all above the global average. (DataReportal / GWI)

8. 8.4% of US adults use a voice assistant to start a shopping search.

eMarketer's voice commerce tracking finds roughly 8.4% of US adults begin a product search with a voice assistant in 2025, up from 5.6% in 2020. The gap between users who own a voice assistant and users who actually shop with one remains the single biggest commercial opportunity in the category. (eMarketer)

9. Alexa supports more than 130,000 third-party skills.

Amazon's developer portal counts well over 130,000 published Alexa skills globally as of 2025, a number that grew quickly through 2018-2021 and then plateaued as developers shifted attention to app-store and chatbot surfaces. Alexa+ aims to replace much of the skills ecosystem with conversational handoffs to web services and partner APIs. (Amazon Developer)

10. 35% of US smart-speaker owners use them daily.

Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2025 study, conducted in partnership with NPR, reports roughly 35% of US smart-speaker owners use their devices on a daily basis, with music and timers remaining the two most common use cases, followed by weather, news and smart-home control. (Edison Research / NPR Smart Audio Report)

11. 145 million US adults owned a smart speaker in 2025.

The same Infinite Dial 2025 study estimates 145 million US adults aged 18+ own a smart speaker, with Amazon Echo holding the largest share, followed by Google Nest and Apple HomePod. Multi-speaker households are now the norm rather than the exception. (Edison Research)

AI Voice Assistants: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Apple Intelligence

12. ChatGPT reached 800 million weekly active users by early 2026.

OpenAI confirmed in early 2026 that ChatGPT had crossed 800 million weekly active users, up from 400 million in February 2025 and 300 million in late 2024. Advanced Voice Mode, OpenAI's real-time conversational voice surface, is now a default option in the ChatGPT app and a primary on-ramp for hands-free assistant use. (OpenAI)

13. Gemini Live is free for all Android and iOS users.

Google made Gemini Live, the conversational voice mode of Gemini, free for all users in 2025, removing the prior Gemini Advanced paywall. Live now supports interruptible conversation, screen sharing and camera input across both Android and iOS. (Google)

14. Apple Intelligence rolled out across iPhone 15 Pro and newer in late 2024 and 2025.

Apple began shipping Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.1 in October 2024, expanding through 2025 to include a more conversational Siri, image generation, writing tools and ChatGPT integration. Apple's January 2026 earnings call highlighted Apple Intelligence as a key driver of upgrade demand, even as a fully rebuilt App Intents Siri was pushed to a later 2026 release. (Apple)

15. Anthropic's Claude added a native voice mode in 2025.

Anthropic launched a Claude voice mode in 2025, giving users a real-time conversational interface on the Claude mobile apps with support for natural turn-taking and long-context conversations. The launch positioned Claude as a direct alternative to ChatGPT Advanced Voice and Gemini Live for hands-free assistant use. (Anthropic)

16. 39% of US adults used a generative AI tool in 2024.

The Reuters Institute / Oxford 2024 survey of generative AI use found 39% of US online adults had used a generative AI product like ChatGPT or Gemini in the prior year, with daily use sitting around 7%. Adoption is highest among adults under 35 and concentrated in productivity, learning and creative tasks rather than search replacement. (Reuters Institute)

Human Virtual Assistant Market Size

17. The global VA services market was $5.82 billion in 2024.

Precedence Research valued the global virtual assistant services market at $5.82 billion in 2024 and forecasts it to reach $14.7 billion by 2034, a compound annual growth rate of around 9.7%. North America accounts for the largest revenue share, while Asia Pacific (led by the Philippines and India) is the fastest-growing supply side. (Precedence Research)

18. The Philippines hosts an estimated 1.5 million+ freelance virtual assistants.

Industry estimates from Magellan Solutions and other Manila-based BPO operators put the Philippine VA workforce at well over 1.5 million freelance and BPO-employed virtual assistants in 2025, making it the single largest VA labor market in the world. English fluency, cultural alignment with US clients, and a favorable time-zone overlap with Australia and the US west coast continue to drive concentration. (Magellan Solutions)

19. Upwork's freelance VA category lists tens of thousands of active professionals.

Upwork's virtual assistant category routinely lists 50,000+ active freelancers worldwide at any given moment, with sub-categories for executive assistance, customer support, lead generation and personal assistance. Upwork's broader Freelance Forward research finds 64 million Americans freelanced in some capacity in 2023, the latest year reported. (Upwork)

20. 47% of executive assistants in BELAY's 2024 survey were fully remote.

BELAY's State of Virtual Assistant Industry report finds nearly half of executive and administrative assistants now work in fully remote roles, with another 36% on hybrid schedules. The pandemic-era shift to remote work has largely become permanent in the assistant labor market. (BELAY)

21. The US administrative-support occupation employs roughly 18 million workers.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics counts roughly 18 million workers across the office and administrative support occupations as of 2024, including secretaries and administrative assistants. The category is projected to shrink modestly through 2033 as routine tasks automate, even as demand for high-skill executive assistants holds firm. (US BLS)

What VAs Do and What They Cost

22. Calendar, email, and travel remain the top three executive VA tasks.

Across BELAY, Time Etc and Magic's published task data, the three most-requested executive virtual assistant tasks in 2024-2025 were inbox and calendar management, travel booking, and meeting coordination. Social media management, light bookkeeping and CRM data entry round out the top tier, with research and lead-gen tasks increasingly bundled into AI-augmented packages. (BELAY / Time Etc / Magic)

23. US-based virtual assistants earn an average of $24-26 per hour.

Indeed's 2025 salary data pegs the average US virtual assistant wage at roughly $24-26 per hour, with specialized executive assistants commanding $35-60 per hour and entry-level general VAs starting closer to $18. BELAY's managed US-based EA service starts at around $46-48 per hour billed. (Indeed / BELAY)

24. Philippines-based VAs typically bill $6-10 per hour.

OnlineJobs.ph and Magellan Solutions data put experienced Philippines-based virtual assistants at roughly $6-10 per hour direct-hire, with managed agencies like Wing and 20four7VA charging clients $9-15 per hour all-in. India-based VAs sit in a similar $6-12 per hour band depending on skill specialization. (OnlineJobs.ph / Wing)

25. Time Etc, Magic and Wing pricing pages anchor the managed-VA market.

Time Etc lists US-based VA plans starting at $32 per hour for 10 hours per month and dropping to $26 per hour at 60+ hours per month as of 2025. Magic prices its dedicated assistant at roughly $15-25 per hour depending on skill tier, and Wing's offshore plans start around $499 per month for part-time dedicated support. (Time Etc / Magic / Wing)

AI Plus Humans: The Hybrid Assistant

26. 75% of US knowledge workers used generative AI at work in 2024.

Microsoft and LinkedIn's 2024 Work Trend Index found 75% of US knowledge workers were already using generative AI at work, with 78% bringing their own AI tools into the workplace. For virtual assistants, that means even non-AI-titled VAs are quietly running on a stack of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Notion AI behind the scenes. (Microsoft / LinkedIn)

27. SHRM finds 1 in 4 HR leaders expect AI to replace some VA-style admin roles by 2027.

SHRM's 2024-2025 research on AI in HR finds roughly 1 in 4 HR leaders expect generative AI to fully or partially replace some administrative and virtual-assistant style roles by 2027, even as 60%+ expect AI to augment rather than eliminate the function. The likely net outcome is fewer entry-level admin roles, more AI-fluent senior VAs. (SHRM)

28. Goldman Sachs estimates AI could automate the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs globally.

Goldman Sachs's widely cited 2023 analysis estimated generative AI could expose the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs worldwide to automation, with office and administrative support among the most exposed categories. Subsequent 2024-2025 updates broadly maintained the directional finding while emphasizing augmentation over outright replacement for most roles. (Goldman Sachs)

Frequently Asked Questions

Virtual assistants in 2026 are no longer one thing. They are a $5.8 billion human services market built on Filipino, Indian and US freelancers, an 8.4 billion device install base voiced by Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant and Bixby, and a fast-growing layer of generative AI voice from ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Apple Intelligence sitting on top of both. The interesting story in 2026 is not whether AI replaces human VAs, it is how the two layers stitch together, and how the everyday shopper benefits from cheaper help and smarter deal-hunting on both sides of the screen. That is the world 99coupons.ai lives in: an assistant-first internet where finding the right promo code is as easy as asking.