Mon, 21 Sept 2026
What Is a Virtual Office? And When You Actually Need One
A virtual office is a business address you pay for without renting any space there. You get a real street address to use on your website, your paperwork and sometimes your company registration, and the provider receives your mail and tells you when it arrives.
That's the core of it. Everything else, like phone answering or a few hours of desk time, is an add-on, and the add-ons are where plans start to look very different from each other.
CoHub doesn't sell virtual offices. That's why we can write the plain version, including the cases where you don't need one at all.
What do you get with a virtual office?
At minimum you get the use of a street address and some form of mail handling. Higher tiers add a local phone number, someone answering calls in your business name, and a set number of hours in a coworking space or meeting room each month.
Mail handling is the part worth reading closely. Some plans scan the envelope and email you a photo. Some open and scan the contents. Some forward it on a schedule and charge you the postage. Many charge per item beyond a basic notification, so check the fee list before you sign.
What you don't get is a place to work. A virtual office has no desk with your name on it, and in most plans no guaranteed room to meet a client unless you've bought hours in advance.
The question I keep coming back to as a founder is simple. Why pay every month for a virtual office, or for a full day in a room, when you can book a room on CoHub by the hour and pay only for the time you use?
How much does a virtual office cost in Sydney?
A basic address with mail handling runs from about $49 a month plus GST, and a full package with call answering and coworking hours runs to around $200 a month. The difference is mostly the address itself and how many extras are bundled in.
Two real examples, both checked on 21 September 2026:
| Provider | Plan | From | What's in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered Office | Virtual address | $49/month + GST | Sussex St Sydney address, $1 per mail item including a scan of up to 4 pages, no fixed contract |
| The Executive Centre | Business Address | $117/month | Business address, mail and parcel notification, 8 hours of coworking a month |
| The Executive Centre | Premium Package | $198/month | Address, mail and call handling, 20 hours of coworking a month |
The Executive Centre notes its prices vary by building and reflect a discounted rate on a 12-month commitment. That matters. A monthly price on a year-long commitment is a very different decision from a month-to-month plan you can cancel.
Before you sign, ask three things. What does each piece of mail cost to open, scan or forward? How long is the minimum term? And do unused meeting room hours roll over, or disappear at the end of the month?
Can you use a virtual office as your registered office with ASIC?
Usually yes, as long as it's a real street address in Australia and you have the occupier's written consent to use it. ASIC's own page on company addresses says the registered office "must be a physical street address in Australia. It cannot be a PO Box", and that if the company doesn't operate from there you must keep a record of the owner's written consent.
If you're using a provider's address, ask them for that consent in writing when you sign up and keep it with your company records.
Your principal place of business is a separate question. ASIC describes it as "the main address where your company conducts business", and it also can't be a PO Box. Whether a mail address you never work from fits that description depends on how your business actually runs, so it's worth checking with your accountant rather than assuming.
If you move your registered office later, ASIC says you need to tell them within 28 days or a late fee applies, and the change takes effect 7 days after you submit the form.
This is general information, not legal or financial advice.
Who is a virtual office actually for?
A virtual office suits a business that works from home or on the road and needs a credible address that isn't a house. It also suits anyone who wants their home address off the public companies register, since ASIC notes the registered office is visible to anyone who buys information from it.
Common cases:
- A sole trader or consultant who works from home and doesn't want clients turning up at the front door.
- An online business that needs an Australian street address for its website and paperwork.
- A company registering with ASIC that needs a registered office and doesn't have premises.
- A business based interstate or overseas that wants a Sydney or Melbourne presence on paper.
In all of these, the need is an address. Not a room.
When is a virtual office not the answer?
If what you really need is somewhere to sit down with a client once or twice a month, a virtual office is the long way round. You'd be paying every month for an address, plus a small bundle of meeting hours, to solve a problem that only comes up occasionally.
The alternative is to book a room only when you need one. An hour in a proper meeting room for a client pitch, half a day in a private office for an interview, a boardroom for a quarterly planning session. You pay for those hours and nothing in between.
The two aren't mutually exclusive either. Plenty of businesses need a registered address and an occasional room. The mistake is buying a bundled plan with meeting hours you never use, when a cheap address-only plan plus booking by the hour would cost less.
Virtual office or booking a room by the hour?
A virtual office gives you an address and mail handling on a monthly subscription. Booking a room gives you a real space for a set number of hours, and you only pay when you use it.
A quick way to decide:
- You need an address on paper and nothing else. A basic virtual office plan.
- You need an address and meet clients most weeks. A virtual office with meeting hours, or a coworking membership.
- You already have an address you're happy with and just need a room now and then. Book by the hour.
Where to book a room when you need one
On CoHub, local businesses list their spare meeting rooms, offices and desks, and you book them by the hour or day. The price is set by the host, not by us, and you see it before you book. As this is written, the rooms listed on our offices page are a 6-seat meeting room in Bankstown at $75 an hour and a 10-seat boardroom in Bankstown at $100 an hour. CoHub is a new marketplace and we'd rather show you what's really there than quote a national average.
Your card is authorised when you request a booking and only charged once the host confirms. Cancelling is free up to 48 hours before, with a full refund.
About the author. Adam Ibrahim is the founder of CoHub, an Australian marketplace for commercial space booked by the hour or day.
CoHub is an Australian marketplace for commercial space booked by the hour or day. This article is general information, not legal or financial advice.