How heists are organised in GTA Online, what they cost to start, how the money is split and which ones suit which kind of crew.
How many heists are in GTA Online?+
Ten major heists: the five classic apartment heists, the three Doomsday acts, the Diamond Casino Heist and the Cayo Perico Heist.
Which heist pays the most?+
The Diamond Casino Heist has the highest potential vault value, while Cayo Perico is the most efficient for solo players. Each heist page lists its potential take.
What do I need to start hosting heists?+
The classic heists need a high-end apartment, Doomsday needs a Facility, the Casino Heist needs an Arcade and Cayo Perico needs the Kosatka submarine.
Can I run heists solo?+
Only the Cayo Perico Heist can be completed entirely solo. Everything else needs at least one more player.
How do heist payouts and cuts work?+
Every heist has a maximum take that depends on the difficulty and, for the newer heists, on what you find inside. The host sets each player's percentage cut before the finale, and the host also pays the setup cost up front. On the classic heists the setup cost comes out of the host's pocket and the crew members pay nothing, which is why hosts usually take a bigger cut.
The Diamond Casino Heist and Cayo Perico add a fee on top: the target value is reduced by the fence's cut and, for the casino, by the crew members you hire. Each heist page lists the potential take and the setup cost, so you can work out what a fair split looks like before you invite anyone.
Which heist should I run first?+
If you play alone, buy the Kosatka and run the Cayo Perico Heist. It is the only heist you can do from start to finish with no other player, the setups are quick once you know the island and the payout per hour is the best in the game for a solo player.
If you have one friend, the Fleeca Job is the cheapest introduction: two players, a small setup cost and a short finale that teaches heist roles. From there the classic heists are meant to be played in order, and doing them in order with the same team is what unlocks the big Criminal Mastermind bonus.
What do I need to host each heist?+
The five classic heists (Fleeca through Pacific Standard) need a high-end apartment with a heist planning room. The three Doomsday acts need a Facility. The Diamond Casino Heist needs an Arcade. The Cayo Perico Heist needs the Kosatka submarine. There is a rank requirement for the classic heists and a setup fee for all of them, which the property pages and heist pages list.
You can join anyone's heist without owning any of that. Owning the property is only a requirement for hosting, which is also where the control over the cut and the approach sits.
What are the Elite and Criminal Mastermind challenges?+
They are bonus payouts on top of the normal take. Elite challenges are per heist and ask for a fast finale with conditions such as no deaths and a minimum accuracy. Criminal Mastermind is the big one on the classic heists: complete all five in order, on hard, with the same four players, without anyone dying once across every setup and finale. The Doomsday Heist has its own version across the three acts.
The rewards are large enough that experienced crews plan whole sessions around them. The catch is that a single death anywhere in the chain resets the attempt, so the crew has to play carefully from the very first setup.
Can heists be replayed and does the payout change?+
Yes. Every heist can be replayed as many times as you like. The classic heists pay the same each time. The Diamond Casino Heist changes its vault contents and its approach availability between runs. The Cayo Perico Heist changes the primary target each run, and it applies a cooldown between finales, longer if you run it alone.
The heist pages describe what changes between runs. Replays are where most of the money in GTA Online comes from, so it is worth learning one heist well rather than running each one once.
