GTA V Heist Guide — Best Approach & Maximum Payouts (2026)

The five story mode heists in GTA V are the biggest paydays in the game. Choosing the right approach and crew members is the difference between walking away with $20M or $40M+ per heist. This guide covers every heist with the optimal setup for maximum profit.

📌 Before starting heists, read our Stock Market Guide — investing heist earnings into stocks can multiply your money 10x. Also see: Money Locations Guide

• Best approach: Smart (Option B)
• Hacker: Rickie Lukens (cheap, gives enough time)
• Gunman: Packie McReary (cheapest skilled option)
• Driver: Karim Denz (cheapest, adequate for this heist)
• Payout: ~$4.5M total — each protagonist gets ~$1.5M

💡 The Smart approach avoids combat entirely. You gas the store, grab the jewels, and escape on motorcycles through the storm drain.

• Approach: Either works — no money reward regardless
• Note: This heist gives NO money. It's story-only. Don't stress about crew picks.

• Approach: Only one option available
• Gunman 1: Chef (cheapest functional gunman)
• Payout: ~$8M total — but most goes to pay off debts. You keep ~$1.2M each.

• Best approach: Roof Entry (Option B)
• Hacker: Rickie Lukens
• Gunman: Norm Richards (cheap, survives this mission)
• Driver: Not needed for Roof approach
• Payout: No direct cash — but sets up The Big Score

• Best approach: Obvious (Option B) — pays significantly more than Subtle
• Gunman 1: Chef — takes 12% cut
• Gunman 2: Norm Richards — takes 7% cut (use him on earlier heists first so he levels up)
• Driver 1: Karim Denz — takes 8% cut
• Driver 2: Taliana Martinez — takes 5% cut
• Hacker: Rickie Lukens — takes 4% cut
• Payout: ~$41.6M per character with Obvious approach = $124.8M total

⚠️ Critical: After The Big Score, immediately invest all earnings in the stock market using Lester's assassination missions. See our Stock Market Guide to turn $124M into $2+ billion.

Use these cheats during heist preparation missions (not the heist itself) to save time:

• Invincibility — Survive setup missions without dying
• All Weapons — Skip weapon shopping before heists
• Spawn Buzzard — Get to prep locations fast

👉 Full cheat lists:

• 🖥️ PC Cheats | 🎮 PS5 | PS4 | PS3
• 🎮 Xbox Series | Xbox One | Xbox 360