The original GTA Online heists in 2026: Rank 12 and an apartment, crew size, setups and finales of Lester's five heists, Normal and Hard payouts, Elite, Criminal Mastermind and whether they are worth it.
What you need to start
Data as of November 2026, after update 1.73.
The Heist Leader must be Rank 12 or higher and own a high-end apartment with a planning room; the cheapest cost GTA$200,000. Once you qualify, Lester calls and the first heist appears on the board in the apartment. Crew members don't need to buy anything: they join on the leader's invite.
The leader pays the setup fee: 11,500 for The Fleeca Job and 25,000 for each of the others (since The Criminal Enterprises update in 2022). Setups give the leader RP only; the cash for each setup goes to the crew. The leader earns only from the finale.
Crew size is fixed: exactly two for The Fleeca Job and exactly four for the rest. You can't launch with fewer players. Each heist unlocks after the previous finale, so a leader can't jump straight to Pacific Standard.
The five heists: clients, setups and finales
| Heist | Client | Players | Setups | Finale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Fleeca Job | Lester | 2 | Scope Out, Kuruma | rob a Fleeca bank branch: one player drives, the other drills the vault |
| The Prison Break | Agent 14* | 4 | Plane, Bus, Station, Wet Work | break out Professor Maxim Rashkovsky: the "officer" and the "prisoner" go inside, Demolition intercepts the bus, the Pilot picks up the target in the Velum |
| The Humane Labs Raid | Agent 14 | 4 | Key Codes, Insurgents, EMP, Valkyrie, Deliver EMP | the Valkyrie pilot and gunner cover two players who break into Humane Labs |
| Series A Funding | Trevor Philips | 4 | Coke, Trash Truck, Bikers, Weed, Steal Meth | defend Trevor's warehouse and drive two Mule trucks to El Gordo Lighthouse |
| The Pacific Standard Job | Lester | 4 | Vans, Signal, Hack, Convoy, Bikes | Pacific Standard bank: crowd control, hack, thermal charges on the vault, escape on Lectro bikes and a Dinghy |
* GTA Wiki lists Agent 14 as the Prison Break client, GTABase lists Lester. Setups and roles per GTABase, GTA Wiki and GTA Boss.
After The Fleeca Job the Karin Kuruma (Armored) drops to a trade price of 525,000 instead of GTA$698,250 (GTABase, GTA Boss).
Normal and Hard payouts after update 1.73
Amounts in GTA$ for the whole crew before cuts, per GTABase and GTA Boss (they match except where marked):
| Heist | Easy | Normal | Hard | First of the week, Normal | First of the week, Hard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Fleeca Job | 100,625 | 201,250 | 250,250* | 301,875 | 377,344 |
| The Prison Break | 350,000 | 700,000 | 875,000 | 1,050,000 | 1,312,500 |
| The Humane Labs Raid | 472,500 | 945,000 | 1,181,250 | 1,417,500 | 1,771,875 |
| Series A Funding | 353,500 | 707,000 | 883,750 | 1,060,500 | 1,325,625 |
| The Pacific Standard Job | 750,000 | 1,500,000 | 1,875,000 | 2,250,000 | 2,812,500** |
* GTA Boss lists 251,563 for Fleeca on Hard, exactly +25% over Normal; GTABase and GTA Wiki say 250,250. ** Per GTA Boss; GTABase shows 2,212,500, which doesn't match the 1.5x multiplier.
Where these numbers come from. On July 26, 2022, in The Criminal Enterprises update, the Fleeca, Prison Break, Humane Labs and Series A finales got +75% and Pacific Standard +50%. Before that Normal paid 115,000, 400,000, 540,000, 404,000 and 1,000,000. The setup fee was cut to 25,000 at the same time.
In July 2026, alongside The Kortz Center Heist, Rockstar cut Cayo Perico, Diamond Casino and Doomsday but left the original heists untouched. They were added to the first-run-of-the-week bonus: if the leader hasn't finished that finale since the Thursday reset, the payout is multiplied by 1.5. Hard always pays 25% more than Normal, Easy half as much.
How much the leader keeps
The leader sets the cuts before the finale, but every crew member must get at least 15%. So in The Fleeca Job the leader can take up to 85%, and in the four-player heists up to 55%. The leader's maximum on Normal, before setup costs:
| Heist | Leader's cut | Regular run, GTA$ | First of the week, GTA$ |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fleeca Job | 85% | 171,063 | 256,594 |
| The Prison Break | 55% | 385,000 | 577,500 |
| The Humane Labs Raid | 55% | 519,750 | 779,625 |
| Series A Funding | 55% | 388,850 | 583,275 |
| The Pacific Standard Job | 55% | 825,000 | 1,237,500 |
A crew member on the minimum cut in Pacific Standard gets 225,000 on Normal and 337,500 if it's the leader's first run of the week, plus cash for each of the five setups. A fairer split for a crew you want to keep until Criminal Mastermind is something like 40/20/20/20.
Elite Challenge for each heist
The Elite Challenge is three conditions in the finale. Meet all of them in one run and everyone gets a bonus on top of their cut:
| Heist | Conditions (all in one run) | Bonus, GTA$ |
|---|---|---|
| The Fleeca Job | under 5:20, vehicle damage under 6%, nobody gets wasted | 50,000 |
| The Prison Break | Rashkovsky takes 1% damage or less, extraction under 4:40, nobody gets wasted | 100,000 |
| The Humane Labs Raid | under 11:00, vehicle damage under 2%, nobody gets wasted | 100,000 |
| Series A Funding | under 6:30, 75 kills, nobody gets wasted | 100,000 |
| The Pacific Standard Job | under 10:15, NOOSE not called, nobody gets wasted | 100,000 |
Conditions per GTABase and GTA Wiki, amounts also confirmed by GTA Boom. The hardest are Humane Labs (a nearly undamaged Valkyrie) and Prison Break (4:40 for Rashkovsky's extraction).
All in Order, Loyalty and Criminal Mastermind
These awards count the whole chain, from the first Fleeca Job setup to the Pacific Standard finale:
| Award | Condition | GTA$ |
|---|---|---|
| All in Order | every setup and finale of the five heists in order | 1,000,000 |
| Loyalty | every setup and finale with the same crew | 1,000,000 |
| Criminal Mastermind | in order, same crew, on Hard, with no deaths at all | 10,000,000 |
| First Person (Another Perspective) | every setup and finale in first person, locked by the leader | 100,000 |
Conditions match in GTA Wiki and GTA Boom, and GTABase confirms the Criminal Mastermind amount. The awards are one-time: once per account according to GTA Wiki, once per character according to GTA Boom.
Criminal Mastermind covers the requirements of the other two: complete it and All in Order and Loyalty are done as well, $12M in total. A single death by anyone at any stage resets the attempt, so only go for it with a steady four-player crew that already knows these missions. The Doomsday Heist has its own set of these awards, see the Doomsday guide.
Are the original heists worth it in 2026?
As a one-off project, yes. A GTA$200,000 apartment is the cheapest way into heists, and a crew that clears the chain for the first time on Hard without deaths gets $12M in awards on top of the payouts.
As regular income, only Pacific Standard and only as the first run of the week. Comparison on Normal:
| Heist | Players | Crew payout (Normal), GTA$ | What to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Standard, first of the week | 4 | 2,250,000 | apartment from 200,000 |
| Pacific Standard, repeat | 4 | 1,500,000 | apartment from 200,000 |
| Diamond Casino, diamonds | 2-4 | 2,303,000 | Arcade from 1,235,000 |
| Cayo Perico, Pink Diamond | 1-4 | 910,000 + secondary loot | Kosatka for 2,200,000 |
| Kortz Center, first sale of the week | 1-4 | ≈1.3-2.1M | mansion from 11,500,000 + Art Studio 4,700,000 |
The main downside of the originals is people and time: Pacific Standard needs exactly four players for five setups and the finale, and the leader earns nothing from setups. Cayo Perico and Kortz Center can be done solo. More: Cayo Perico solo, The Diamond Casino Heist, The Kortz Center Heist. Every heist in one table is on the GTA Online heists page, and whether 2X applies to the originals this week is in the weekly update.
FAQ about the GTA Online original heists
How do I start the first heist in GTA Online?
Reach Rank 12 and buy a high-end apartment with a planning room (from 200,000). After Lester's call, start The Fleeca Job from the planning board; the setup costs 11,500.
How much does The Pacific Standard Job pay?
1,500,000 on Normal and 1,875,000 on Hard for the whole crew. The leader's first run of the week on Normal pays 2,250,000. The leader can keep up to 55%.
Can you do the original heists solo?
No. The Fleeca Job needs exactly two players, the other four exactly four. Cayo Perico and Kortz Center are the solo options.
How do you get $10 million for Criminal Mastermind?
Finish every setup and finale of the five heists in order, with the same crew, on Hard and with no deaths. Together with All in Order and Loyalty that is GTA$12 million.
Can I start with Pacific Standard right away?
As the leader, no: heists unlock in order, and Pacific Standard comes after Series A Funding. As a crew member you can join someone else's Pacific Standard at any time without an apartment.
Were original heist payouts cut in 2026?
No. In July 2026 Cayo Perico, Diamond Casino and Doomsday were cut, while the original heists got a 1.5x bonus for the first run of the week.
Read next
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Sources
- Official: Rockstar Games, Rockstar Newswire, Rockstar Support, Take-Two Interactive
- Databases and guides: GTABase, GTA Wiki, GTA BOOM, PowerPyx
- Press: GamesRadar, PC Gamer, IGN, VGC, Game Informer
Every fact is checked against official sources or at least two independent ones; player-sourced data is labelled in the text. Images are official Rockstar Games material. GTA Top is not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.