GTA 5 endings: three ways the story can end and what each one changes

Below we explain who dies in each ending and how. If you haven't reached the finale yet and want to choose blind, stop here. The one spoiler-free tip: make a separate save before the choice.

The full list of missions leading up to the finale is on the GTA 5 missions page, and the final job itself is covered in the GTA 5 heists section.

After The Big Score, Franklin is squeezed from two sides. FIB agent Steve Haines demands that he kill Trevor. Devin Weston demands that he kill Michael. The decision is Franklin's, and the game offers three options.

Guides usually just call the endings A, B and C. The choice comes up when Devin visits Franklin at home (Gamepressure and SegmentNext both say so), and Franklin picks the option on his phone (per SegmentNext).

In A and B, Lamar is only available to hang out at night. The dead protagonist's unfinished missions disappear in both cases.

The share from The Big Score is big money: according to GTABase, up to $40 million per protagonist, depending on the approach and the crew. What happens to the dead protagonist's personal bank account is not covered by reliable guides. They only talk about the heist share.

Almost every guide recommends C (Deathwish, the mission The Third Way): as the table above shows, you lose nothing with it.

For 100% completion the ending formally doesn't matter: you can reach it with any of them. Only one of the three final missions counts among the 69 story missions, and from Strangers and Freaks only Franklin's tasks are required. But with C you keep all the content, so it is easier to finish off the percentage and simply keep playing.

Then there is the stock market. The Cluckin' Bell, Gruppe Sechs, Augury Insurance and Merryweather stocks depend on the ending you choose. And after A or B only two protagonists can invest instead of three. Details are in the GTA 5 stock market guide.

Only pick A or B if the story twist itself matters to you. In that case, make a separate save before the choice so you have a way back.

Tips are collected from Gamepressure and SegmentNext. Where only one of them says something, that is noted.

• A, Something Sensible. Trevor flees by car. You can’t catch him, so shooting from the car is pointless: just stay behind him. At the oil fields Michael rams his car into a fuel tanker. Franklin sets the fuel alight with a shot, and if you hesitate, Michael does it.
• B, The Time's Come. Michael runs, and per SegmentNext the chase ends on a tower at the Palmer-Taylor Power Station, where he shoots back on the ladders and catwalks. Michael can’t be saved: if Franklin pulls him up, he head-butts Franklin and falls anyway.
• C, The Third Way: the foundry. Franklin picks up Lamar. Inside, the FIB and Merryweather fight you and each other. SegmentNext advises staying in cover, blowing up explosive barrels, taking out enemies on the catwalks as Michael, not abandoning Lamar, who holds the outside, and aiming at the pilot of the helicopter.
• C: three targets. Both sources name the targets; locations and tactics are from SegmentNext. Trevor finds Steve Haines in a Ferris wheel cabin on the pier through a sniper scope and finishes him with a rocket launcher. Michael guns down Stretch and his gang on a basketball court. Franklin plants sticky bombs on Wei Cheng’s cars in a parking lot, ideally the middle one.
• C: Devin. Trevor storms the mansion head-on or snipes the guards from the hill opposite. Devin hides in a box by the pool (SegmentNext). Trevor drives him in the trunk to the coast, and the three push the car into the sea.

Yes, with a catch. You can watch the other finales via Replay Mission. The character killed in your playthrough won't come back, though. To keep playing with a different ending, you need a save made before the choice.

Sources disagree a little here: some sites say Replay lets you "change your choice". It is safer to assume your main playthrough can't be changed after the finale and to keep a separate save slot from before the phone call.

There are no separate achievements for each ending. Any finale gives the same one: To Live or Die in Los Santos (description: "Completed the final mission"). Something Sensible, The Time's Come and The Third Way are mission names, not trophies.

The full list of trophies and achievements is on the GTA 5 achievements page.

C is considered canon. Rockstar has made no separate statement about it; the conclusion comes from GTA Online, where Trevor is alive, so it is not A, and Michael is alive, so it is not B.

• In Smuggler's Run, Trevor is alive.
• In the Diamond Casino, Tao Cheng mentions that his father was killed at the Pacific Bluffs Country Club.
• Franklin is alive in The Contract.
• Michael appears in A Safehouse in the Hills (December 10, 2025). The Rockstar Newswire says players moving into the new mansion community are greeted by Michael De Santa and his wife Amanda. Some outlets (OpenCritic, GamingBible) called it official confirmation of the canon, but Rockstar’s announcement says nothing about the ending.
• In Money Fronts, Devin’s mansion stands empty.

More about the protagonists and their stories is on the GTA 5 characters page.

After any ending, Lester's optional assassination contracts remain. Franklin carries them out, and he survives in all three options. Guides recommend doing four of the five contracts after the finale, when the money from The Big Score lands in your accounts.

The step-by-step investing plan is in the GTA 5 stock market guide, and other ways to earn are in the how to make money in GTA 5 guide.