20 Easy Ways to Make Money in GTA 5 Online (for Beginners!)

Knowing how to make money in GTA Online is crucial because it’s such an integral part of the game. It’s needed for many things, like purchasing property. Property is expensive yet crucial for getting started in a variety of activities in GTA Online.

Whether you want to purchase a yacht or an underground bunker, you’re going to need money!

Sure, you could just purchase a GTA Online Shark Card to boost your in-game bank account. However, GTA Online Shark Cards cost real money, and you shouldn’t have to spend real money to enjoy the game.

How to Earn Money in GTA 5 Online

Thankfully, there are lots of ways for you to make money in the game, and we’ll cover 20 of them in the list below.

1. Heists

• Potential income: $400k per hour

Heists are one of the best ways to make money in GTA. Not only are they profitable, but they’re also really fun. There are numerous heist missions available in the game that can grant players various amounts of money.

The most profitable heist in the game is the Cayo Perico Heist. The payout for the Cayo Perico Heist varies due to multiple factors.

The minimum you can earn from the Cayo Perico Heist is $1,078,000, and the maximum payment is $4,570,600.

Although the Cayo Perico Heist is the most profitable heist, they’re all worth doing if you’re looking to boost your income in the game.

2. Gunrunning

• Potential income: Between $39k and $80k per hour

Although GTA Online Gunrunning has been in the game for a while now, it was a significant update that introduced these giant underground bunkers as bases of operations.

Bunkers are the center for all things Gunrunning. They are also essential in the game for storage space. You can even purchase the Mobile Operations Center to run your illicit business while you’re on the move in San Andreas.

Gunrunning is one of the more lucrative activities in the game. However, getting all of your startup equipment means that you have to invest quite a lot.

It’s worth it in the long run, though. Once you get your enterprise up and running, your bunker will keep producing Gunrunning income while you’re off doing other missions and activities. So, it’s sort of like a passive income stream.

You could make up to $80k per hour (including expenses) with Gunrunning, but this is assuming that all supplies are stolen instead of paid for.

3. Motorcycle Club

• Potential income: $40k to $80k per hour

Another option you can try is starting a Motorcycle Club. Motorcycle Clubs are a gameplay element in GTA Online that was introduced in the Bikers update. It allows players to start a Motorcycle Club and carry out tasks while hiring other players as prospects and promoting their ranks.

You can start a Motorcycle Club as president from the corresponding option in the interaction menu.

It’s important to note that there are costs involved with starting an MC Club. For example, you’ll need a clubhouse that costs at least $200k.

You can buy or steal supplies for your club. Buying supplies is more time-effective. Once you have your supplies, your staff will begin production and turn them into stock while you’re doing other activities in the game. You can then use the laptop in the business building to sell your product when it’s ready via a delivery mission to make a profit.

There’s no monetary bonus for selling full stock. Additionally, if you leave the product too long, your stock will grow to the point where the sell mission will require multiple people. So, selling frequently is the best strategy if you are a solo player.

Having an MC Club gives you more options for earning money, such as Cocaine Lockup or Meth Lab.

Cocaine production is one of the most profitable options, but sell missions often take longer to complete. The cheapest cocaine business costs $975k to buy.

This option is great for making a passive income, so you should have the club running in the background while you make active income from other activities and missions in the game.

4. VIP Missions

• Potential income: $150k per hour

Once you start an organization as a VIP or CEO from the interaction menu, you can select “VIP Work.” You’ll then be able to choose from a range of free roam missions to complete. Doing these VIP missions can help you increase your hourly earnings. They’re particularly good as filler jobs. Some good missions to try include Headhunter, Hostile Takeover, and Sightseer.

5. Become a Bodyguard

• Potential income: $5k every 15 minutes

If you are hired as a Bodyguard by an active VIP, this can become a really profitable money-making scheme in the long run. It’s a pretty fun way to make money in the game.

Not only can you earn $5k every 15 minutes for working as a bodyguard, but you also get additional payouts for the jobs that you and your VIP complete together.

While the pay rate for this job might not seem like a lot at first, it starts to add up after a while. Most of your earnings will come from bonuses for completing challenges and jobs.

If you can get hired by a VIP who is money-hungry, determined, and experienced, being a bodyguard can be a good way to make money consistently.

6. Time Trials

• Potential income: Up to $100k per race

Time Trials are short races from one location to another. The goal of these Time Trials is to beat a par time. You’ll be rewarded with money and reputation.

These trials are a great option if you enjoy driving and are good at it. This could be a profitable venture for you. A purple corona will highlight the starting point, and you’ll be able to see this on the map as a purple stopwatch icon.

There are no checkpoints, which means that players can take any path they want to in order to reach the finishing point. The race is live and one-man only, which means that other players can see the player racing in the freemode session. To avoid interruptions by others, the player is switched to passive mode.

If you take a wrong turn or run out of time, you can hold F (PC), Y (Xbox One), or Triangle (PlayStation 4) to restart the race. You will then be placed at the purple corona and have the option to start the race again.

These free-roam races against the clock can be a good way to earn money. Each week, you’ll be able to do a new time trial in between any other money-making activities or missions that you are doing in the game. Races can pay $50k to $100k, so this can be quite profitable. However, you need to have confidence in your driving skills to succeed with this option.

The Time Trials are unique and change every week (real-time). Once you have beaten the par time, the Time Trial becomes unavailable and reappears after a while. Any further successful attempts at beating the par time will then only give consolation money, which is between $1,000 and $4,000.

7. Nightclubs

• Potential income: Up to $10k per hour

One of the best businesses you can operate in GTA Online for making passive money is nightclubs.

However, nightclubs require quite a large investment since many of the best nightclubs cost more than $1 million to buy.

Running a profitable nightclub isn’t too difficult either. Players don’t need to do much except keep the popularity of their nightclubs in check and complete a few management missions to increase awareness about their nightclubs.

The amount of money you make will depend on the popularity of your nightclub. Running a nightclub might not be as profitable as Gunrunning, but it’s great for making passive income.

8. Daily Objectives

• Potential income: Up to $30k per day

One of the best ways to make money in GTA 5 Online is to complete the Daily Objectives. Many people overlook these, but they can be very profitable. They are definitely worth your time.

You can receive $30,000 for completing all three daily objectives. That’s quite a lot of cash. If you complete all Daily Objectives for seven consecutive days, you can get $150,000 instead of $30k. That’s pretty awesome, right?

If you complete 28 consecutive days, you can earn $750,000.

To access your Daily Objectives in GTA Online, go to the Interaction Menu and select the “Daily Objectives” option.

Completing the Daily Objectives is one of the easiest ways to earn cash in GTA Online, and it typically doesn’t incur any entry costs. That being said, fee payment for individual objective activities may be required, such as bribing cops and causing chaos, which costs $5,000, for example.

Daily Objectives refresh with a new set of three objectives at 6am UTC (2am EDT, 7am BST, 11pm PDT).

The objectives will consist of at least one job to participate in and one activity to perform.

Many activities can be done solo or in solo/invite-only lobbies, but not all of them. This means that while solo players may be able to complete single sets of objectives frequently, it can be difficult for them to complete the 7 or 28 consecutive-day stretches on their own. This is due to the random nature of the objectives, which often include ones that require interaction with other players.

Overall, this is a super easy way to earn more money in GTA Online, and these bonuses really add up over time.

9. Stealing from Convenience Stores

• Potential income: $100 to $1,200 per store

Robbing convenience stores can be a good way to make some quick cash. However, it’s a little dangerous since you’ll have the cops after you. With the right vehicle or some friends, though, it can be an easy and fast way to make money.

It’s a good idea to rob as many stores as you can, as quickly as you can, and use a helicopter.

A helicopter makes for a fast getaway vehicle, which makes it easier to lose the cops—at least until you get to the point where you have police helicopters on your tail.

You can steal from a convenience store solo pretty easily, and it’s even easier with a partner.

Some stores have more than one register, and these are worth shooting open to grab some extra cash. Robbing different stores yields different payouts.

10. Selling Cars

• Potential income: $500 to $9,500 per vehicle

One of the easiest ways to make money in GTA Online is to sell stolen vehicles. It’s also one of the faster ways to make money.

Payment for unmodified vehicles varies from $500 to $9,500. The amount of money you earn depends on the type of vehicle you sell. Typically, luxury coupes and SUVs are the most valuable. Also, cars to look out for include the Modded Sandking, Baller, Felon GT, Dubsta, and Sentinel.

Mod shops tend to purchase stolen cars for around 10% of the retail price.

It’s important to be aware that there is a cooldown period with this method. You can only sell a car every 48 minutes. If you keep an eye on the time, though, this can be a very easy and quick way to earn money. And it doesn’t require a ton of effort either.

11. Jobs

• Potential income: Varies

Another great option to try is jobs. These can net you a decent profit.

Participate in various types of jobs in the game, such as Races, Deathmatches, Captures, Last Team Standing, and Parachuting.

Jobs are scattered all over the map. The easiest way to find them is through the menu. Each of the jobs can be accessed via the Jobs list on the Pause menu.

This is one of the more interesting ways to earn money in the game. Jobs are great for beginners who don’t have much cash because they don’t require a start-up fee.

12. Acid Lab Business

• Potential income: $237,600 to $335,200 for a full supply

The Acid Lab business is a criminal career that you can use to earn money. Basically, the player sells acid to earn money.

The Acid Lab business was introduced in the Los Santos Drug Wars update. The maximum payout from it is pretty good.

Selling all of the supplies without any upgrades gives players $237,600. If you have the equipment upgrade installed, you can earn $335,200. These figures don’t include a High Demand Bonus for playing in a Public Session. This can be a good way to earn money, but the lab does cost $750,000.

With the Acid Lab business, you need to obtain supplies that you can later sell. Players can steal the supplies or purchase them from Mutt for $60,000.

GTA Online players can get the Brickade 6×6 related to this business by completing all First Dose missions. Afterward, you will need to complete the “Setup: Acid Lab Equipment” mission and spend $750,000 to install everything. Then, you can either steal supplies for the business or purchase them.

13. Special Cargo

• Potential income: Up to $150,000 per crate. Up to $286k per hour.

Players in GTA Online can earn money with the Special Cargo warehouse.

It is essentially an underground facility unit that allows players to store stolen contraband until it is sold to a dealer.

To start the Special Cargo missions in the game, you need to own a CEO office and buy a Special Cargo warehouse. After you have registered as a CEO, you can start the missions from the laptop in your office.

You can purchase a warehouse in GTA Online at one of 22 locations around Los Santos. All of them come with a different total capacity to store products.

Warehouses are available in three different sizes: small, medium, and large. The amount of money you can make with Special Cargo depends on how many crates a warehouse can store at a time.

Here’s what each warehouse can store:

• Small warehouses: 16 crates
• Medium warehouses: 42 crates
• Large warehouses: 111 crates

Special Cargo missions can be completed in two steps. Upon starting the mission, you will need to collect supplies for your warehouse.

You can either steal them from a location on the map or buy them from the SecuroServ website.

Once you’ve stocked the warehouse, you will need to export the products to earn money. You need to deliver the bought or stolen products to the given location.

How much money you earn depends on how many crates you sell at a time:

• Selling one crate at a time generates $132,000 per hour.
• Selling two crates at a time can generate $189,000 per hour.
• Selling three crates at a time can generate $286,000 per hour.

14. Vehicle Cargo

• Potential income: $30k to $100k depending on the vehicle

Another business that pays well in GTA Online is the Vehicle Warehouse. It can be incredibly lucrative.

Vehicle warehouses were added to GTA Online as part of the Import/Export update.

A vehicle warehouse is an underground storage facility where you can store luxury vehicles until they are sold to a dealer. This warehouse cannot be raided by NPCs or other players, so you don’t have to worry about having your hard-earned rewards disappear.

To start a vehicle cargo business, you will need to own a Vehicle Cargo Warehouse. To do that, you need to own a CEO Office and register as a CEO via the SecuroServ option in the Interaction Menu.

Once you’re registered, go to the computer in your office and purchase a vehicle warehouse. The cheapest one is $1.5 million.

When you have purchased a warehouse, you need to source a vehicle from the same computer you used to set up the Vehicle Cargo Warehouse.

Once that is done, you can access the warehouse at any time to complete import/export missions. It’s important to note, though, that players are only able to export a vehicle from the warehouse laptop. To source vehicles, you’ll need to access the CEO office computer.

So, you go to the computer in your CEO office, select “Vehicle Cargo,” then “Source Vehicle.” The vehicle will be randomly chosen from the Top Range to the Standard Range.

Once a vehicle is sourced, a text message will be sent to your in-game phone, including information about the vehicle and a picture. The Assistant will also call you to describe the task upon exiting the office.

You’ll need to complete a mission to steal the vehicle and drive it back to your Vehicle Warehouse. Be careful during the drive, as any damage will result in repair costs, which will cut into your profits.

You’ll encounter obstacles along the way. NPCs may pursue and open fire, or you might become wanted by the police.

Try to keep the car in good condition to avoid high repair costs and maintain your profits.

Afterward, you can use the laptop in the Vehicle Warehouse to export the vehicle via a delivery mission to make a profit.

There are three types of Vehicle Cargo that you can source: Standard Range, Mid Range, and Top Range. Each one can be exported for different sums of money, ranging from $30,000 to $100,000.

• Potential income: Up to around $15k per mission

The Contract DLC introduced a series of missions where players receive payphone calls from Franklin. In these missions, Franklin instructs you to eliminate specific targets whose deaths will influence the stock market.

These missions are quick to complete, taking only about 15 minutes each, but they can be quite profitable. Each mission pays up to $15,000, and players can expect to earn around $70k in total.

16. Premium Races

• Potential income: $20k to $100k per race

You can make money in GTA 5 Online by competing in Premium Races. You can either drive to the location of the Premium Race, indicated by a golden stunt wheel on the map, or start the job directly from the map.

Premium Races require 8 players to begin. These races are only available for a limited time, and you need to pay a $20k entry fee to participate.

You’ll have to part with quite a bit of cash for this one, and you must finish in the top 3 to earn any money. If you place in first, second, or third, you’ll win a cash prize.

Here’s how much you could win:

• First place: $100k
• Second place: $30k
• Third place: $20k

You need excellent driving skills to make this profitable. If you are a skilled driver, it’s a great way to earn money quickly in GTA 5 Online.

17. Gang Attacks

• Potential income: Up to $2.5k per location

You can make money in GTA 5 Online with Gang Attacks. Gang Attacks are unlocked at rank 18 via an introductory phone call from Martin Madrazo. In the call, he requests that you wipe out his enemies in their hideouts and encourages you to keep whatever loot is found. There are more than 50 Gang Attack locations around San Andreas, which you can encounter as you drive around.

Some locations are easy to come across on your usual routes, but others may require you to go a little out of your way to find them. Additionally, some gang locations are only active at specific times of the day.

During a Gang Attack, you’ll need to defeat several enemies to complete it. Typically, you need to defeat between 15 and 30 enemies. A counter in the lower right corner will show you the number of enemies.

There will also be several supply crates located around the area. These crates contain weapons, ammo, and snacks that restore health. Each crate usually contains $500. The number of crates you find is generally proportional to the number of enemies attacking you. The faction you fight will impact the weapons your enemies use, with different challenges posed by The Lost MC, Hillbillies, Merryweather, Vagos, and others.

After you have dispatched all gang members and the Gang Attack is over, money and weapons from the crates will be left behind for a short period so that you can collect them. Collecting this should yield between $1,000 and $2,500, plus any petty cash dropped by the enemies you defeated.

18. Contact Missions

• Potential income: $18k to $23k per mission

In GTA Online, various characters from the main story will contact you with work opportunities. Characters that can reach out to you include Lamar Davis, Gerald, Simeon Yetarian, Ron Jakowski, Trevor Philips, Lester Crest, and Martin Madrazo.

These missions can be great for earning money. It’s a good idea to have a couple of friends help you out with these missions, as many can be quite challenging, particularly if you’re not well-armed. These jobs can provide a consistent form of income, especially with the right team.

The final payout for these jobs is approximately $18,000 to $23,000.

19. Mug Other Players

• Potential income: Up to $10k

One option to try if you want more money in the game is to steal it from other players. Once you reach level 50, you’ll be able to call Lamar Davis to send a Mugger after a specific player. This costs $1k.

The caller cannot be in passive mode to hire a Mugger, and potential targets must not be in a safe house at the time.

The Mugger will run up to the player with a knife, knock them down, and then steal whatever amount of cash they have in their wallet at the time. The targeted player could have up to $10k stolen if they haven’t deposited their money into their bank account. The cash stolen will vary depending on the player’s level, but no cash will be taken if it has been deposited.

This can earn you a lot of money. However, it is not a dependable money-making method since many players will avoid walking around with a large amount of cash on hand. Some players, though, can be more reckless and carry larger amounts with them, so this can be profitable if you target the right players.

20. Bank Your Money

• Potential income: Keep your earnings intact

To prevent the scenario of getting mugged from happening to you, it’s important to bank your money. Get into the habit of instantly banking any cash that you have on hand.

If you don’t, then you risk having any money that you’ve worked hard to earn stolen from you. Some GTA Online players are ruthless and will go after your money. So, you don’t want to be holding large amounts of cash in your wallet.

It’s awful to get mugged by a player right after you’ve finished a high-paying mission. So, save yourself the hassle and be sure to bank your money.

After you have made money, browse the internet, and then bank your cash via the Maze Bank app.

Making Money in Grand Theft Auto Online: Summary

GTA 5 is a fun game, and the online component of the game opens up even more ways for you to enjoy it. Money is an important part of GTA Online, so it’s good to know that there are lots of ways to bring in cash in the game.

And hopefully, now that you know how to make money in GTA 5 Online, you’ll have even more fun playing the game!