The best way to earn money on GTA 5 is by mastering the Cayo Perico heist. Complete the special scavenger hunts and collectible missions to gather $2.2 million to get a Kosatka submarine. Then run the heist again and again until you’re making $1.5 million per hour.
This article will explain how to do each step in this process as well as go over some other money making strategies in GTA 5. We’ll analyze three heists and the ways you can earn the most from them. So keep reading!
Regular Games
These regular games might not make you the most money but they’re the easiest way to get some.
Casino Lucky Wheel
Spin the casino lucky wheel daily for a chance to win extra cash. You might get cash or chips; both are basically the same, or at least similar, in the GTA world. Chips can be converted to cash.
Double And Triple Money Game Mode
These games are available every week. Participating in them makes you eligible for $2.2 million. All you have to do is complete certain missions assigned to you and you’ll make easy money.
Starting Off
If you’re just starting off playing GTA 5, then we recommend following the guide outlined below to start making as much money as possible. Doing activities in this order works because it slowly introduces you to each aspect of the game.
Start with a scavenger hunt and slowly make your way to the Cayo Perico heist. Once you get to the heist, all you have to do is keep practicing it until you are making over a million dollars an hour. Then you can move on to setting up sources of passive income.
1. Special Scavenger Hunts
There are three scavenger hunts available in free mode:
- Los Santos Slasher
- Revolver Treasure Hunt
- Bounty Targets For Maude
You can earn $250,000 on each of these hunts
2. Collectible Missions
The collectible missions give you a chance to earn $150,000. So complete both the Movie Props and Signal Jammers missions as soon as you can.
3. Cayo Perico Heist
Once you’ve gotten some cash, you can buy the Kosatka. This gives you access to the Cayo Perico heist. It will take you a while to get through it initially but once you get the hang of it, this heist will bring you up to 1.5 million dollars per hour.
Repeat doing this heist a couple of times until you have enough money to get the Sparrow helicopter. This will help you improve your skills and become a better player.
Complete the heist, collect your loot, buy items to improve your skill level, and repeat the entire process again. Skip forward to the end of this article for tips on how perform your best in this and other heists.
Passive Income Businesses
As soon as you start making good cash in the Cayo Perico heist, you should invest in some of GTA 5’s passive income sources to supplement your income. There are quite a few ways you can do this but we’re just going to outline some of our favorites.
Vehicle Cargo
Profits: Up to $300k per hour
Process: Sourcing missions to steal cars, delivery missions to sell cars
You can potentially make up to $300,000 with special cargo. You need an office which costs at least $1 million, an organization member, and a warehouse for vehicles which costs at least $1.5 million. Once you have these things, you can invest in vehicle cargo.
Start by going to the SecuroServ option in the menu and start an organization. Walk to the computer in your office and pick ‘Vehicle Cargo.’ Then click on ‘Source Vehicle.’
At this point, you’ll be redirected to a mission where you’ll have to steal a vehicle and then drive it back to your warehouse. You should repeat this process to get 10 standard range and 10 middle range vehicles.
Once you do this, you’ll only start getting top range vehicles. These are the most valuable which means you can sell them for the highest profits.
Be careful when you’re driving the vehicles. Completing the mission is important but if you bring a damaged car back, you’ll have to spend a lot on fixing it up. This will reduce your profits.
Use the laptop in your warehouse to export the vehicle through a delivery mission. Try to only sell the top range vehicles. Ask your friends for help if possible so you can maximize your profits per hour.
Special Cargo
Profits: Up to $200k per hour
Process: Buy crates, move them to your warehouse, complete a delivery mission to sell them
Start an organization like you did for Vehicle Cargo. Walk to the computer in your office, click on ‘Special Cargo,’ and then pick crates. You can get as many as you like. You’ll have to transport them one by one to your warehouse where you can sell them.
The more you sell, the more you earn. If you’re playing with friends, you can ask them to help you collect and transport the crates. This way, you can move more crates at one time and maximize your earnings.
Use the laptop in your warehouse to sell the crates through a delivery mission. If you fail the delivery mission, you’ll lose all your crates so try not to sell everything at once. It’s a large risk. You may end up losing everything.
VIP Work
Start an organization in SecuroServ as a CEO or VIP. The initial steps are the same; walk to the computer in your office and open the menu. Click on ‘VIP Contract.’
You can select this option after successfully finishing a ‘Security Contract.’ All you have to do is play through a story-style mission and you’ll earn $1 million.
The first few times you play these missions, you’ll get bonus tips for everything you do the first time. This means the first time you reach a certain points threshold, you’ll get a few extra thousand dollars.
Note: These missions aren’t the most financially beneficial but they’re super fun. You will make a good amount of money from them; there are just other opportunities that could help you earn more money over the same time. Even so, they’re fun enough that we wanted to recommend them.
Tips For Heists
Now that you know what order to go in to maximize your earnings, let’s go over how you can dominate individual heists. There are a couple of different types of heists and each has a different process and consequent profits.
They’re all equally fun, though. And that’s what makes GTA 5 a great game to play.
Cayo Perico
We have to start with Cayo Perico. It’s one of the biggest heists in the game simply because of how it is structured and all the different skills and tools it gives you access to. It also has one of the biggest potential profits among all the different heists and businesses in GTA 5.
Prerequisites: Kosatka submarine
The only prerequisite for this heist is the Kosatka. We mentioned it above when giving an overview of this heist. You can get it after visiting Miguel Madrazo in the Music Locker. Once you have it, you can start an organization as the CEO or as a VIP and make your way to the planning board after selecting the submarine.
Use this planning board to scout out the area, gather intelligence about the island you’ll be looting, and complete some preparatory missions. Once you do these essential tasks, you can move on to the heist itself.
All together, this heist takes between 45 minutes to an hour to complete. This is by far the most popular heist in GTA 5 and this makes learning about it super easy. There are numerous guides and Twitch streams of people playing it successfully in under 30 minutes.
Pro Tip: Playing Cayo Perico alone is more profitable than playing alone.
You can make around $1.5 million on this heist. You have the option to play it alone which means you’d get all of this money. Sure, you could play with a friend but then you’d have to split this reward. Why do that when you can very easily keep all of it?
Also, remember to start successive heists within 48 hours of each other. This allows you to play the next heist in hard mode and earn a 10% bonus. This is a huge extra amount when it comes to this particular heist because the win money is already a large amount.
Diamond Casino
The next heist you should know about is the diamond casino. It can give you around $400k per hour.
Prerequisites: Arcade, organization member, 1 to 3 friends
Getting the arcade costs at least $1.2 million. You can start an organization in SecuroServ. Friends don’t need to be people you know very well, just people you can play with.
Once you get all three prerequisites and play the required setup missions, you can start an organization and initiate the heist in the arcade. Scout the casino and figure out what you’re stealing from it.
Then pick the most appropriate strategy to take it without being caught. You have three options to pick from. Each has its own preparatory missions. You’ll have to do the relevant ones for the strategy you pick.
Pro Tip: Try to complete the heist with as few people as possible.
2 people can finish art heists easily. Other heists can usually be completed with 3 people. You don’t need 4 people for any of them.
Big Con is the easiest strategy as you can sneak in, get the goods, and get out without causing any fuss. As long as you can steal a helicopter quickly enough, you’ll complete the heist in no time. In case you can’t find a helicopter, you can hide in nearby tunnels to stay safe from police.
Original Heists
The last type of heist we’re discussing are the original heists. These have potential profits of $400k per hour.
Prerequisites: high-end apartment, 3 friends
A high-end apartment costs $200k. If you’re hosting the heist, you’ll need to pay an upfront cost before being able to invite friends. Once you have everyone gathered, walk to the planning room in your apartment and pick a heist.
You’ll need 4 people irrespective of which heist you pick because these heists require skill and communication. It becomes hard to complete it successfully if you have less people. Also, pick your friends carefully because these heists are slightly trickier than the others.
There are a bunch of guides for how to do each online so it isn’t impossible. To make the most money, just pick the right team.
When dividing the winning earnings, it is customary for the host to take 40% while other players take 20% each. This is because the host doesn’t earn any money during the setup missions and also has to pay the hosting fee.
This split ensures that everyone makes the same amount of money.
Comparing the heists
The original heists give the least reward especially because the host has to put in a lot of money without getting any returns. Newer heists like Cayo Perico give you more earnings. Since you can do it by yourself and don’t have to share the final earnings, mastering it is the best way to earn money.
