There are many ways to make money in Grand Theft Auto Online, from joining dangerous heists to running your own nightclub or establishment, and some take a little more time to yield cash than others.
Generally, these businesses earn a lump sum of money every in-game day, which takes 48 minutes in real life. However, not every GTA Online business makes the same amount, so check out the options below if you want to maximize your passive profits.
The best ways to generate passive income in GTA Online
Arcade
Typically the arcade is purchased to gain access to the Diamond Casino Heist, but this business does generate some passive income. By upgrading all of the arcade missions in the business, you will earn up to $5,000 every in-game day, which will automatically get deposited in the arcade’s safe.
The arcade’s safe has a maximum capacity of $100,000, so the business will fill up pretty quickly. Upgrading the machines will cost you a pretty penny, as they cost anywhere between $50,000 to $666,000.
Finally, in the basement of the arcade, you can find a Master Control Terminal that allows you to view the inventory and stock of all your other businesses, a handy tool for knowing when to restock supplies or sell cargo.
Agency
By purchasing an agency, you will gain access to a special mission featuring Dr. Dre himself, and the ability to earn legitimate money as a fixer. On top of these jobs, the agency comes with a safe built into the office, allowing you to earn up to $20,000 every in-game day.
Completing security contracts, or short missions, for your agency will increase the amount of money the safe generates, up to $20,000. To earn this amount of money, you will have to complete 200 security contracts, but after finishing these missions the business can be left to generate passive income.
Bunker
Owning an underground gun smuggling operation is a great way to make $55,000 in one hour by stealing guns and military vehicles. All the bunkers work similarly to other passive methods of making money, where you must collect or purchase supplies for your staff.
After you have enough supplies, the business will generate products that can be sold for profit or pilfered by other players. Luckily, when selling with a bunker, you will have access to powerful vehicles, like armored trucks, that make the job much easier.
Cocaine Lockup
To be a leader of a motorcycle club you must first purchase a clubhouse, which allows you to own up to five different passive businesses. The most profitable motorcycle club business has always been the Cocaine Lockup, generating about $60,000 per hour.
Just like other motorcycle club businesses, you will need to either purchase or source supplies for your workers, and using the lockup to generate large amounts of product to sell will spawn multiple vehicles that must be transported. If you do not have friends willing to help you move these goods, then selling your coke will be incredibly tedious and time-consuming.
Cargo Warehouse
As one of the oldest businesses in the game, the Cargo Warehouse used to generate a solid amount of money, in exchange for a large amount of work. Luckily, an update now allows you to pay your staff $7,500 to source crates, thus passively generating supplies.
Once your warehouse is full of crates, you’ll enter a selling mission where players in your GTA Online lobby can try to steal your products. If you can get this sale off without being griefed, you’ll generate roughly $250,000 from a single sale. Alternatively, you can always keep your warehouse fully stocked in preparation for an event week, where sales are doubled or tripled.
Salvage Yard
The Salvage Yard is the superior car-related business because it allows you to passively and actively gain money simultaneously. Once you purchase a Salvage Yard you’ll head around Los Santos in a tow truck to collect broken-down cars.
These cars will be stripped for parts by your workers, which generates money to sell on missions. While this is happening, the safe inside your Salvage Yard will passively gain money, so long as you always have two cars in the scrapyard.
Acid Lab
Although this business only generates about $60,000 an hour, it is widely regarded as the best business to purchase for solo players. The Acid Lab functions like a motorcycle club business but doesn’t require you to own a clubhouse.
Just like the other drug labs, you can purchase or collect supplies on your own, using workers to passively craft products. Best of all, no matter how much acid you create, every selling mission will only generate a single vehicle to transport.
Nightclub
Without a doubt, the Nightclub is a fantastic way to passively earn income in GTA Online, but the building does come with a bit of a catch. The Nightclub earns you money in two different ways—club popularity and the underground warehouse.
You can raise the popularity of your Nightclub via promotion missions or by hiring a new DJ, which will passively earn $50,000 every in-game day. Remember that your nightclub safe can store a maximum of $250,000, so collect your income every few hours.
On top of your nightclub’s popularity income, there is also a basement warehouse where you can collect extra income from owning various businesses. In this warehouse, you can hire up to five technicians who will collect supplies from your other businesses, which can then be sold for even more money.
