Maximizing Your Earnings in GTA Online: Top Money-Making Strategies

Being a new player in GTA Online can be tough if you don’t know what to do right off the bat. Your main priority when starting GTA Online is to make money as quickly as possible. Money can buy you vehicles, weapons, property, and, most importantly, access to all the available content like heists and missions.

This list compiles the fastest, easiest, most efficient, and most enjoyable money-making methods. Some methods are faster than others, while some are more enjoyable but less profitable. The general path you choose to make money in GTA Online is completely up to your play style and how you wish to enjoy the game.

Some of these methods are great early on but aren’t viable later in the game. By that point, you should do more lucrative money-making activities.

Updated on January 13, 2024, by Dominic Allen: GTA Online is still a blast to play today and has so much content that a newcomer can be overwhelmed. Luckily, there are many good money-making tactics not discussed previously. Plus, due to the evolving nature of the game, money-making strategies can change over time, further necessitating an update.

### 18 Convenience Stores
#### A Great Starter And You’ll Get An Achievement

Robbing convenience stores can be a dangerous method of making money in GTA Online, but with the right vehicle or friends, it can be the easiest and fastest way to make some start-up money. The easiest and safest way to rob as many convenience stores as possible, as quickly as possible, is with a helicopter.

This can be done relatively easily solo and even easier with a partner. You’ll want to rob every store anyway because there’s an achievement/trophy for robbing them all. Once you’re all done, you’ll have a good amount of start-up cash. After that, though, you probably shouldn’t do it anymore, as there are more lucrative starter options available.

### 17 Collectibles
#### Easy Money And RP, Plus You’ll Get Some Awesome Outfits

A stellar but time-consuming beginner method is to grab all the collectibles. There’s so many at this point in the game, and it’s relatively hassle-free. You won’t have to worry about winning, and you can simply follow a guide and pick them all up like Pokemon cards.

You’ll get a ton of money and RP out of this if you grab every one. The only type that’s essentially locked until endgame are the Signal Jammers, as you will need a good air combat vehicle to destroy a majority of them. You’ll also get some sweet skins, like the Space Interloper.

### 16 Selling Cars
#### A Great Side Gig

Selling cars is probably the easiest and fastest way to make a quick buck in GTA Online. The only downside to this method is that there is a cool-down. You can only sell a car every 48 minutes – but if you keep an eye on your clock, this is a very easy, very profitable way to earn some money without requiring much dedication.

Mod shops tend to buy stolen cars for about ten percent of the retail price. The most you can get out of selling to a mod shop is around $9,000-$9,500 (Baller & Felon). Some cars sell for more than others, so you should be keeping your eyes open for the following cars: Modded Sandking, Baller, Felon GT, Dubsta, and the Sentinel.

### 15 Jobs
#### The Skilled Players Preferred Option

Taking part in GTA Online Jobs is the most consistent (and arguably the most enjoyable) method of making money. Whether it’s a deathmatch or a race, Jobs can earn you loads of cash, with the plus of not turning your brain to mush via boredom. The better you perform in said Job, the more cash and RP you will earn.

Staying in a lobby after finishing a Job is a good practice since sometimes it can be hard to find a group that wants to grind out jobs continuously. Jobs can be found scattered around the map, but the easiest and quickest way to get started is via the Quick Jobs menu. Jobs are an especially attainable method, too, since they don’t require a start-up fee.

### 14 Bank Your Earnings
#### Better To Be Safe Than Sorry

No matter how much money you’re making, you need to get in the habit of instantly banking your cash on hand. If you don’t, you might waste a lot of time. GTA Online players can be ruthless, and you don’t want to be holding large amounts of cash in your wallet in any scenario.

Nothing is more painful than being mugged by a player after finishing a high-paying mission. This is becoming rarer, but be safe and save yourself the trauma. Use your phone after completing a Job, browse the internet, and bank your cash via the Maze Bank app.

### 13 Mug Players
#### The Dastardly Option

Once you reach level 50, you can hire a thief to mug players by calling Lamar on your phone. The thief will run up to the player with a knife, knock them over, and steal whatever amount of cash they have in their wallet at the time. With luck, this can earn you some very large bounties, but it is also possible for the player to chase down the thief and take their money back.

While this is not an entirely dependable money-making method, it can be profitable if you catch an unsuspecting player off-guard. Usually, most players will be smart enough to not have a large amount of cash on hand. Although some of the richer, less worrisome players can be reckless, that is who your target is for the most part.

### A Solid Multiplayer Starter Method

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

These jobs can be a very reliable and consistent form of income, especially with the right team. In general, these jobs will have a final payout of approximately $18,000 – $23,000. Choosing the appropriate mission for your team size is crucial. Many of these missions can be quite challenging if you are not properly armed, but with a couple of friends, this is a good method for making money early on in GTA Online.

### 11 Premium Races
#### Risk It For The Biscuit

If you consider yourself a skilled driver in GTA Online, then Premium Races might be for you. Though very risky, fast drivers can make a killing with this method. With the Cunning Stunts DLC, Rockstar added a mode called Premium Races. These races are only available for a limited amount of time and require a $20,000 entrance fee.

All players that compete get three times the RP reward, but only the 1st place finish gets the cash reward. While your earnings for winning a race won’t be in the millions, but more like a little over $100,000, considering the amount of time it takes to complete the race, it is definitely the fastest and highest paying money-making method if you’re extremely skilled.

### 10 GTA Weekends
#### The Boost You’ll Need

Take advantage of Rockstar’s weekly update bonuses. These events are usually announced on a Friday, and they often include increased RP and Cash earnings/rates, such as double RP and double cash from jobs, races, and deathmatches.

Not only are GTA weekends a great opportunity to grind out some jobs and earn some money, but they are also a good time to spend your hard-earned cash. Most of these events include discounts on properties, vehicles, and weapons. After all, the most important part of money management, after actually making it, is how you spend it. Waiting for a GTA weekend to purchase an expensive property or vehicle will definitely save you some cash in the long run and free up some room in your bank for extra splurges.

### 9 Daily Objectives
#### A Sweet Starting Routine

Daily Objectives are often neglected and ignored by most players, maybe even due to the fact that people just don’t know they exist. There are three daily objectives that, when completed, earn you a $25,000 payout. These tasks are usually very short and easily completed. It’s good to get in the habit of doing these objectives every day.

Completing your daily objectives every day can net you $175,000 per week. Daily Objectives do, on the other hand, have a maximum monthly payout of $1,580,000, not including the additional money you earn for completing the individual objectives. While great early on, you shouldn’t do them later as there are much better options at that point.

### 8 Daily Activities
#### A Great Thing To Do Even If You’re Busy With Other Games

Besides Daily Objectives, there are also Daily Activities, which are even quicker to do. G’s Cache will be located at a random place every day, and you’ll get a nice amount of RP and cash out of it. The Lucky Wheel at the Diamond Casino & Resort is even better.

You can only spin once every 24 hours, potentially winning clothes, a discount, a mystery item, cash, chips, a special vehicle, or the most lucrative, a truckload of RP. Those RP boosts mean a lot when you’re starting out. With how quick it is to do these, you can easily do the activities, even when you’re busy playing the newest hot titles.

### 7 Become A Bodyguard
#### Earn Money And Feel Awesome At The Same Time

Being lucky enough to be hired as a Bodyguard by an active VIP can be an extremely profitable money-making scheme in the long run. Not only does serving as a bodyguard feel pretty damn cool, but it’s also very fun, especially if your VIP has some sweet rides for you to cruise around in while you protect them.

Serving as a bodyguard will earn you $5,000 every 15 minutes, on top of the payouts that you get for the jobs you and your VIP complete together. Although the pay rate of this job does not seem like a lot, it starts to add up after a while, and most of your earnings will come from bonuses from completing challenges and jobs. As long as your VIP is money-hungry, determined, and experienced, then this method can be very consistent.

### 6 Heists
#### The Big Score

While you can participate in Heists at any level, you cannot host a heist yourself until you purchase a high-end apartment for at least $200,000. The standard heists are a must-play at least once. You’ll get a starting payout bonus for the first time you beat each of the five normal heists, which makes them worthwhile.

Later heists like the Doomsday one and Diamond Casino are much more lucrative and better to replay. Teamwork makes the dream work here, and you should be using mics for the best success rate. Unfortunately, as most heists require a team, the payout will be split. There’s one heist, though, that doesn’t have this issue.

### 5 The Cayo Perico Heist
#### The Best Money-Maker In The Game

One heist can be done solo, and what a heist it is. To play the Cayo Perico Heist, you’ll need to buy a Kosatka for $2,200,000. That’s a lot of money, but once you get it, this heist can make you millions a day. It is a bit RNG dependent, as there are four random main targets and randomly placed secondary ones.

You should get at least $1,000,000 per heist if you know what you’re doing and playing 100 percent stealthily. On a good day, when you grab the Pink Diamond, you can get over $1,500,000. The only downside is that the heist has a two-and-a-half-hour cooldown, and doing the full heist isn’t as fast as you’d hope.

### 4 VIP Missions
#### Great For Money And RP, Too

When the Executives and Other Criminals DLC released, it came with a new VIP and Bodyguard system that rivaled the potential money-making possibilities of heists. This can be a really fun method of making money with friends. Get all your buddies together and hire them as bodyguards, then go to town!

While this isn’t the most “immediate” money-making method, it’s definitely one of the most enjoyable. You want to make money in GTA Online, but you have to at least try and have fun while doing it. Grinding can be extremely boring and tedious, and you will most likely find it’s much better to make money while enjoying the game itself, even if the method isn’t the fastest.

### 3 Trafficking Illegal Goods
#### A Stellar Later On Money-Making Method

The Further Adventures In Finance and Felony DLC gives GTA Online players the option to make money via some nefarious buying and selling ventures, as long as they have some money to start up their business with. You can make a lot of money with this method, but you will need to have at least $1,500,000 lying around in your bank account. This method is for players who already have a decent amount of cars/possessions but want to save up for that really expensive car, plane, or yacht.

You’ll first have to buy yourself a corporate office and start your own company. From there you can hire employees and via your CEO terminal/computer, you can choose from various types of goods, which you can then steal and store in your warehouse. Bigger warehouses have bigger payouts. Once you’ve filled up your warehouse, you can sell it all at once for a massive payday. These missions are better off done in relatively empty servers since other players will most likely hunt you down and try to ruin your money-making venture.

### 2 Import/Export
#### An Amazing Method, As Long As You Execute Properly

Import/Export is another way for the rich to get richer. These missions have the highest starting cost but also the highest potential payout. While this method is arguably the highest paying in the game, it’s also the easiest way to lose money fast if you don’t do it properly.

It’s relatively straightforward. From your CEO Terminal, you can purchase certain high-end vehicles, which you then track down and deliver to a warehouse. Simple right?

Well, it is definitely simple, but not at all easy, since while you are delivering the vehicles, NPC’s and other players have the opportunity to try and demolish that pretty vehicle that you so urgently need to deliver. Any damage to the car will be deducted from your final pay, while the demolition of the car will lose you all your money. Once again, it is very much recommended that you only do these missions in a relatively empty server, preferably with protection and help from friends. Executed properly, Import/Export missions can make you extremely rich.

### 1 Shark Cards
#### The Easy Way Out

Obviously, buying Shark Cards is only a viable option if your cash is burning a hole in your wallet, but nevertheless, this is clearly the fastest and easiest way to make money in GTA Online. The speed is what’s important here, as the Cayo Perico Heist, while easy, takes a little while.

Still, once you gain access to the Cayo Perico Heist, you really don’t need Shark Cards anymore. If you decide to go the easy route and buy some shark cards, please make sure you bank your cash, or it will be real-life money down the toilet.

In conclusion, there are many ways to make money in GTA Online, each with its own pros and cons. Whether you prefer fast-paced jobs, heists, or more leisurely activities like collecting, there is a method that suits your play style. By following these money-making methods, you can quickly build up your wealth in GTA Online and enjoy all the content the game has to offer.