What each role covers
Titles vary by household, but the core responsibilities are fairly consistent.
- Household manager
- On-site oversight of the home: housekeeping and other staff, vendors and contractors, maintenance schedules, supplies, deliveries, seasonal preparation and household budgets.
- Personal assistant
- Your personal logistics: calendar, appointments, personal travel, errands, gifts, correspondence and admin, in person or remotely.
- Estate manager
- A senior version of the household manager, often across several properties, with larger teams and budgets.
- Remote personal team
- Coordination without presence: research, booking, scheduling, providers, renewals and follow-up, by a named contact with specialists behind them.
The real question: does it need someone there?
Most of the decision comes down to physical presence. Letting in contractors, receiving deliveries, supervising staff and checking on the house need someone on site. Finding the contractor, comparing quotes, booking the visit, confirming it, chasing the invoice and scheduling the follow-up don't.
List your household's recurring work and mark each item 'needs presence' or 'needs coordination'. If the second list is longer, you may need less on-site help than you think, and the on-site help you have becomes more effective when someone else handles the coordination.
Where a remote personal team fits
For many households, the gap isn't a missing person in the house; it's a missing person keeping track. Who's coming to service the boiler, when the insurance renews, whether the cleaner can move to Thursday, which weekend works for the in-laws.
A remote team fills that gap without a hire. It also works alongside existing staff: your housekeeper or nanny keeps doing what they do on site, and your Concierge coordinates the schedule and providers around them.
Three households, three different answers
The right answer depends on the home, not the title. These illustrative examples show how the same question plays out in different situations.
In each case the deciding factor is the same: how much of the work needs someone physically there, and how much is planning, booking and follow-up that can happen remotely.
- A large house with staff
- A gardener, a housekeeper and regular contractors, plus a second home. Someone needs to supervise people on site and keep the property running. A household manager is the natural fit, sometimes alongside a personal assistant for the family's own plans.
- A busy couple in an apartment
- No staff, a building that handles most maintenance, and lives full of travel, appointments and social plans. Almost everything is logistics. A remote personal assistant or personal team covers it without the cost of a full-time hire.
- A family with a weekly cleaner
- A house, children's schedules, a cleaner and occasional repairs. The cleaner and providers do the on-site work; what's missing is someone to coordinate them and the family calendar. A remote team that manages local providers often works well.
How the costs compare
The cost structures are as different as the roles, which makes headline comparisons misleading. Compare what you would actually pay for the coverage you need.
- Household manager
- Usually a salaried employee. Add employer taxes and obligations, benefits you choose to offer, and cover for holidays and sick days.
- In-person personal assistant
- Hourly, part-time or salaried. A direct hire brings the same employer obligations; an agency adds a fee but handles employment.
- Remote personal team
- A monthly fee for coordination. SuperHandled is $900 a month on Personal or $1,500 on Plus. Providers, purchases and bookings are paid separately, with your approval.
How to decide
A rough guide, by situation:
- Large home, several staff, frequent on-site needs: a household manager, possibly with remote coordination support.
- Busy professional or couple, mostly coordination: a remote personal team.
- Heavy daily errands and in-person tasks: an in-person personal assistant.
- Not sure: start with coordination, see what's left, then hire for presence if you still need it.