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Worth it or not?

GTA sells you a hundred shiny things and tells you nothing about which ones pay you back. This index does: every major purchase, one honest label, payback time, and the order to buy them in.

Community-consensus data Last verified: 2026-07-06. Prices are in-game catalog values (base price unless noted) and shift with updates and weekly discounts; earnings figures are long-standing community consensus. Cross-checked against established community tables 2026-07-06. This is judgment plus math — the verdicts are ours.How we verify →

The labels:

Kosatka submarine

gateway
GTA$2,200,000Payback: ~3 hours (2–3 Cayo Perico runs)Buy order: #1

The best purchase in GTA Online, full stop. Unlocks Cayo Perico — the top solo money method since 2020 (~$900k/hr). Buy this before anything else on this list.

Acid Lab (equipment upgrade)

profit
GTA$750,000 (Unlocked via free First Dose missions + $750k upgrade)Payback: ~2–3 salesBuy order: #2

Best money-per-dollar-invested business in the game, and it fits in a van. The budget pick if the Kosatka is still far away.

Agency

profit
GTA$2,400,000Payback: ~3 Dr. Dre contracts (~$1M each)Buy order: #2

Top-tier active money with zero supply management: security contracts plus the $1M contract on repeat. Arguably the best post-Kosatka buy.

Bunker (+ staff & equipment upgrades)

profit
GTA$3,500,000 (~$1.65M base + ~$1.85M upgrades (location dependent))Payback: ~15–20 sell cycles (weeks of casual play)Buy order: #3

The classic background business — produces while you do anything else. Slow payback but permanent income. Run our bunker calculator before every sale.

Nightclub (+ warehouse techs)

profit
GTA$3,000,000 (~$1.7M base + techs/upgrades)Payback: Slow (weeks) — but nearly zero effort once runningBuy order: #4

The best passive income in the game: safe fills to $250k, warehouse accrues from your other businesses without sell-mission pain. Buy after you own businesses for it to leech from.

Executive Office (CEO)

gateway
GTA$1,000,000 (Maze Bank West, cheapest)Payback: Indirect — unlocks CEO abilities + cargo businessesBuy order: #5

Buy the cheapest one. It's a key, not an investment: registers you as CEO, unlocks crates/vehicle cargo and free-mode abilities. The expensive offices add nothing but decor (that part is cosmetic).

Arcade

gateway
GTA$1,500,000Payback: ~1 Casino Heist (with a competent partner)Buy order: #5

Exists to unlock the Diamond Casino Heist (~$2M+ per run with a crew). Solo players: Kosatka first — Cayo needs no friends.

Auto Shop

profit
GTA$1,800,000Payback: ~6–8 contractsBuy order: #6

Steady mid-tier: ~$300k/hr from contracts, no supplies to babysit. Good, not great — buy after Agency.

Salvage Yard

profit
GTA$2,500,000Payback: Several weeks of robberies + tow incomeBuy order: #7

Weekly vehicle robberies are fun and decent; passive tow income is small. Middle of the pack — buy for variety, not optimisation.

MC Clubhouse + Cocaine Lockup

profit
GTA$1,900,000 (Clubhouse ~$500k + best-location lockup ~$1.4M, before upgrades)Payback: ~10–14 upgraded sell cyclesBuy order: #8

Solid numbers ruined by multi-vehicle sell missions solo. Buy it primarily to feed a Nightclub; sell at half stock if soloing — see our cocaine calculator.

Terrorbyte

quality of life
GTA$1,400,000Payback: None directly — saves ~minutes on every resupply/job startBuy order: #9

Pure convenience: launch client jobs and resupply everything from one screen. Worth it once businesses are humming; pointless before.

Hangar

quality of life
GTA$1,500,000 (+ upgrades; LSIA cheapest useful)Payback: Very slow via air freight even after buffsBuy order: #9

Buy it as aircraft storage that occasionally pays you, not as a business. Air freight is better than it was and still not why you own this.

Oppressor Mk II

quality of life
GTA$8,000,000 (~$6.4M+ after unlock discount paths; requires Terrorbyte for missiles workshop)Payback: None directly — the biggest time-saver in the gameBuy order: #10

Earns nothing, saves everything: flies over traffic straight to every objective. The correct LAST major purchase — grinders' endgame, not a starter flex.

Deluxo

cosmetic
GTA$5,750,000Payback: None

A flying DeLorean. Objectively worse than the Mk II at a similar price for utility — you're buying the Back to the Future feeling, and that's fine, but be honest about it.

Galaxy Super Yacht

bad ROI
GTA$6,000,000 ($6M–$10M by tier)Payback: Never

The most expensive screensaver in Los Santos. A handful of one-time missions, then it sits there costing docking fees of dignity. Peak flex, zero return.

Luxor Deluxe (gold plane)

bad ROI
GTA$10,000,000Payback: Never

The canonical bad buy: $10M for a slower version of a plane that costs $1.5M, but gold. The reason this index exists.

Own the businesses already? The sell calculators squeeze the most out of every sale. This index is opinionated on purpose — disagree with a verdict?Tell us why and change our mind with evidence.