Last updated: 27 July 2026

GTA Online Heists Guide — Every Heist, Every Payout

Heists are the signature multiplayer experience of GTA Online — coordinated multi-stage operations where 2–4 players split into roles, complete setup missions, and execute a finale for a big payday. They are also the most rewarding content for new players learning how GTA Online works as a team. This guide covers how to unlock heists, every heist finale and its payout, crew roles, and strategies for maximising your cut.

01How to Unlock Heists in GTA Online

To host heists, you need to meet two requirements:

• Reach Rank 12: play any GTA Online activities — missions, races, deathmatches — until your character reaches Rank 12. This takes a few hours of normal play.
• Own a high-end apartment: purchase any apartment with a planning room (a dedicated heist-planning screen inside the property). The cheapest qualifying option is the Tinsel Towers Apt 42 at $200,000. Buy it from the Dynasty 8 website on your in-game phone.

Once both requirements are met, you will receive a call from Lester Crest offering to send instructions for the first heist. Check your apartment planning board shortly after. You do not need to own a heist facility or submarine for the classic heists — only for the newer Heist series (Casino Heist, Cayo Perico).

As a crew member (not the host), there are no requirements at all — any rank player can join another person's heist as long as they receive an invite.

02The Five Classic Heists: Overview and Payouts

The original five heists, introduced in 2015, remain some of the best group content in the game. Each has multiple setup missions (free, no direct payout) followed by a finale (pays out based on difficulty and cut negotiation).

• The Fleeca Job (2 players): The tutorial heist. Two setups, one finale. Max payout: $143,750 (Normal), $172,500 (Hard). The host earns a lower cut by default (this is where you learn not to always take 50%). Good for learning heist basics.
• The Prison Break (4 players): Four setup missions, one finale. Four distinct roles: Plane (steal the prison transport plane), Bus (intercept the prison bus), Demolitions (take out enemy vehicles), Station (coordinate at the police station). Max payout: $400,000 (Normal), $500,000 (Hard).
• The Humane Labs Raid (4 players): Five setups, one finale involving coordinated assault on a research facility. Teams split into two pairs with different objectives. Max payout: $540,000 (Normal), $675,000 (Hard). Infamous for requiring excellent coordination.
• Series A Funding (4 players): Five setups involving drug heists across Blaine County. The finale is chaotic with many enemy waves. Max payout: $404,000 (Normal), $505,000 (Hard). Least popular due to difficulty relative to payout.
• The Pacific Standard (4 players): The flagship heist — six setups, one finale involving a bank robbery and motorbike escape. Max payout: $1,000,000 (Normal), $1,250,000 (Hard). The first heist where the payout genuinely feels significant.

All five completed in order on Hard difficulty, with the same crew, with each player acting as leader at least once, unlocks the Criminal Mastermind Challenge bonus: $10,000,000 split equally among the four players — one of the largest single payouts in GTA Online.

03The Diamond Casino Heist: Best Modern Heist for Small Crews

Added in 2019, the Diamond Casino Heist requires a Arcade property as its planning base. It scales for 2–4 players and has three distinct approaches with different difficulty and payout profiles.

• Approach 1 — Silent & Sneaky: Avoid detection throughout. Most stealth, lowest chaos. Recommended for experienced players who can coordinate.
• Approach 2 — The Big Con: Use disguises to enter the casino legitimately, then execute the vault job internally. The most popular approach — the disguise phase eliminates early guard encounters.
• Approach 3 — Aggressive: Guns blazing from the start. Most combat, highest police response. Generally the lowest effective payout because you lose more time under fire.

The vault target type dramatically affects the final payout. As of Title Update 1.73, the standard vault values are: Cash (~$1.48M), Artwork (~$1.65M), Gold (~$1.81M), and Diamonds (~$2.30M, event-only). The target is partially determined by which optional prep missions you complete before the finale.

Title Update 1.73 introduced a weekly completion bonus: the first time the crew host completes the Diamond Casino Heist finale in a given weekly period (reset every Thursday), the entire crew earns a significantly higher enhanced payout. Repeat completions of the same heist that same week pay the standard amounts listed above. Plan your week's heist schedule accordingly — prioritise the Casino on your first run of the week for the biggest haul.

04Cayo Perico Heist: Best Solo Money in GTA Online

The Cayo Perico Heist, added in 2020, is unique: it can be completed entirely solo. It requires a Kosatka submarine (starting at $2.2M) as the planning base. Despite the steep upfront cost, the Kosatka pays for itself within a few Cayo Perico runs.

The heist targets an island compound with a primary target (the Panther Statue, Pink Diamond, Madrazo Files, etc.) plus optional secondary loot (weed, coke, gold, paintings). The primary target changes each reset. The elite primary targets — Panther Statue (~$1.9M) and Pink Diamond (~$910K) — are not guaranteed every run but appear frequently enough to plan around. Pink Diamond's value was cut by roughly 36% in Title Update 1.73 (down from ~$1,430,000); Panther Statue was not changed.

Solo completion of the finale typically nets $900K–$1.3M per run depending on target and secondary loot (primary target values were reduced in Title Update 1.73). Runs can be completed in under 15 minutes once the approach and entry point are optimised. This makes Cayo Perico the best money-per-hour activity in GTA Online for solo players without a dedicated heist crew.

Key setup tips:

• Always scout the compound during the mandatory recon mission — the primary target location and guard patrol routes are randomised per heist.
• The Drainage Tunnel entry point is widely considered the most reliable solo entry — quick, low guard contact.
• Bring Suppressors on all weapons and stay in stealth as long as possible to avoid triggering the maximum alert.
• Prioritise gold stacks as secondary loot — they are worth more per unit of bag space than cash.

05The Kortz Center Heist: GTA Online's Newest Addition

Added in July 2026 with Title Update 1.73, the Kortz Center Heist targets one of Los Santos' most recognisable cultural landmarks — the art gallery in Pacific Bluffs that long-time GTA players will know from the story mode. It is tied to a new property type: you need to purchase an Art Studio for an owned Mansion from the Prix Luxury Real Estate website (accessible from your in-game phone) to unlock the heist planning board.

The operation is arranged by the mysterious Mr. Faber, with his fixer Raf De Angelis serving as your direct contact. Prep Missions can be launched from the Art Studio's planning board or by calling Raf De Angelis from your phone in Freemode. The heist supports 1–4 players, making it the second heist after Cayo Perico that can be completed entirely solo.

• Artwork as currency: The loot stolen from the Kortz Center — works of art — can be sold for GTA$ or displayed inside your owned Mansion. This dual use is unique among GTA Online heists.
• Weekly completion bonus: The Kortz Center benefits from the weekly bonus system introduced in TU 1.73. The first time the host completes the finale in a given weekly period (reset every Thursday), the full crew earns an enhanced payout. Repeat completions of the Kortz Center within the same week pay the standard amount.
• Prep missions required: As with all heists, a range of setup missions precede the finale. Player count can vary between Prep Missions and the Finale itself.

Payout values for the Kortz Center Heist finale are being documented by the community following launch — check GTABoom or the GTA Online subreddit for verified figures once enough runs have been logged.

06Crew Roles and Cut Negotiation

The host of a heist sets the percentage cut for each crew member before the finale. Crew members who join without being the host typically accept whatever cut is offered — but knowing what is fair prevents exploitation.

Common cut structures for the Pacific Standard (example):

• Equal split (4 players, 25% each): Fair and simple — the host earns the same as everyone else. Good for friend groups.
• Host-favoured (40/20/20/20): The host compensates themselves for the setup investment. Acceptable if the host is experienced and the crew has never hosted.
• Experience-balanced: Experienced players who carry setups through deaths take more; new players learning take less. Renegotiate as skills equalise.
• Elite Challenge runs: Discuss whether the leader bonus is shared or kept — this is worth agreeing on upfront.

The host bears the full cost of failed setups — if a setup mission is failed and must be restarted, the host pays a fee (typically $2,000–$10,000 per retry). Crew members pay nothing on setup failure. Factor this in when negotiating cuts if you are new and likely to cost restarts.

07Tips for Completing Heists Efficiently

Heists are notorious for difficulty when attempted with random players (through Quick Join). These strategies dramatically improve completion rates:

• Use a consistent crew: Heists are far easier with players you communicate with. Join heist-focused GTA communities on Reddit, Discord, or the Rockstar Social Club to find reliable teammates.
• Call Lester for wanted level removal: During heist finales with police chases, Lester can remove your wanted level for a fee — this is often faster than trying to outrun police.
• Equip body armour before every finale: Purchase and equip full body armour (the highest tier you can afford) at Ammu-Nation before starting any heist finale. It prevents early deaths significantly.
• Use appropriate vehicles for the escape: In the Pacific Standard finale, motorcycles are faster than any police car on the highway stretch — switch to the bikes in the finale and do not stop moving.
• Communicate about roles before starting: Heists assign roles either by the host or by player selection. Confirm roles verbally before the mission begins — a mid-heist discovery that no one brought a hacker for the Casino can fail the entire run.
• Replay the Pacific Standard for the Criminal Mastermind bonus: If your crew is aiming for the $10M Criminal Mastermind Challenge, note that ALL FIVE heists must be completed in order, on Hard, with the same four players, with zero deaths. Plan for multiple practice runs first.