How to Complete The Prison Break Heist in GTA Online

The Prison Break quick facts

How much The Prison Break pays

The Prison Break heist payout is a total take that the crew splits by cuts. There's a standard rate, and a higher rate when the host has not yet completed the finale in the current weekly period.

The higher column is a 1.5x bonus. In Rockstar's words, rewards increase "for all players if the host has not yet completed the associated Finale in the current weekly period." Once the host has completed it, later finales they host that week pay less.

If you want every heist's payout side by side, the heist payouts comparison lists The Prison Break with the rest of the Original Heists.

Why older guides show lower numbers

The Criminal Enterprises update (July 2022) raised the Prison Break finale by 75%. Before it, the take was GTA$ 200,000 / GTA$ 400,000 / GTA$ 500,000, and the setup cost was GTA$ 40,000; it's now GTA$ 25,000. Title Update 1.73 (14 July 2026) cut payouts on many heists, but not on the Original Heists. It added the weekly bonus above instead.

Setup pay and cuts

Setups pay the crew only. The host gets no setup cash and earns only from the finale. Title Update 1.73 increased setup-mission pay for the Original Heists.

Because the host pays the setup cost and gets nothing from the setups, a common community convention is around 35–40% for the host and about 20% each for the other three. That's a habit, not a rule: agree the split before the finale.

No cash to lose

There's no loot to carry here, since the target is a person. Unlike the Pacific Standard Job, the take isn't reduced by damage.

How to start The Prison Break

Finish The Fleeca Job first. Afterwards Lester calls about a job. The host heads to their high-end apartment, a man (Agent 14) arrives, and the heist launches from the apartment's planning room.

The host needs:

• Rank 12 or above.

• A high-end apartment with a heist planning room. The High-End Apartments page lists them.

• GTA$ 25,000 for the setup cost, paid up front.

Four players, no exceptions

The Prison Break needs exactly four players for every setup and for the finale. The host can't launch with fewer, and the job fails if someone leaves. There's no solo, two-player or three-player way to run it, so line up a full crew before you start.

The four setup missions

Plane, Bus and Station can be done in any order. Wet Work unlocks after all three, and the finale unlocks after Wet Work.

Plane

Steal the Vagos' Velum 5-Seater from McKenzie Airfield in Grapeseed. One player is the Pilot and takes the plane, while the three-player Ground Team clears the airfield of Vagos. Expect reinforcements to arrive in cars. The Pilot then flies the Velum to LSIA.

Bus

Hijack the prison bus from a convoy guarded by an FIB car and a police helicopter. Lose the cops (going off-road helps, and someone should take out the helicopter), then store the bus at a scrapyard near Sandy Shores.

Station

The crew splits into two teams:

• Cop Station: steal a police cruiser, walk into Mission Row Police Station and take the prison bus schedule, then burn the cruiser.

• Cargo Ship: take Rashkovsky's Lampadati Casco out of a container at the Port of Los Santos and drive it to the same Sandy Shores scrapyard.

Wet Work

Two teams of two:

• City Hall: kill two lawyers outside City Hall, grab their deposition and fight off the police.

• Mansion: silently kill Rashkovsky's business partner, Dima Popov, in Richman Glen. If his guards spot you, he runs for his car, so thin the guards out quietly first.

The finale: all four roles

Each player takes one of four roles, and every role has to land its part for the escape to work.

Prison Officer and Prisoner

These two ride the stolen prison bus into Bolingbroke in disguise. Walk, don't sprint: the cover only holds until a suspicious guard stops you, and after that a fight is unavoidable. Fight your way up to Rashkovsky, give him a gun, clear the NOOSE team, then take a riot van to the plane.

Demolition

Intercept the real scheduled prison bus before it reaches the prison, kill the driver, drive it to Sandy Shores Airfield and destroy it. Then steal a Buzzard (two guards protect it), protect the Velum from the Lazer jets and cover the ground team against the police.

Pilot

Take the Velum from LSIA to Sandy Shores Airfield in time. Lazer jets come after you, so fly evasively and let Demolition shoot them down with the Buzzard. Land to collect the others, lose the cops, then fly Rashkovsky to the drop zone.

The ending

The three players in the Velum parachute to a beach, where Demolition picks them up in the Buzzard and flies the crew back to the city.

How the finale fails (and how to avoid it)

The game fails the finale if any of these happen:

• You get a wanted level on the way into the prison.

• The guards are alerted before you get inside.

• Rashkovsky dies.

• The Velum or the Buzzard is destroyed.

• The scheduled prison bus reaches the prison.

• You fly too far from Los Santos with a wanted level.

• The Pilot doesn't get the Velum to Sandy Shores Airfield in time.

• Demolition's stolen prison bus is destroyed before it reaches Sandy Shores Airfield.

• The crew runs out of lives.

• A player leaves.

Most of these come down to the role brief above: the bus crew stays calm until it's inside the prison, Demolition stops the real bus before it arrives and only destroys it at Sandy Shores Airfield, the Pilot heads straight for Sandy Shores Airfield, the Buzzard keeps the jets off the Velum, and the Pilot stays close to Los Santos while the cops are chasing.

The Rashkovsky bug is fixed

Rashkovsky sometimes refused to follow the ground team. Title Update 1.73 (14 July 2026) fixed it: "Fixed an issue that resulted in Rashkovsky not following players during The Prison Break Finale." If it still happens, restart the finale.

The Elite Challenge

Hit all three in one run:

The reward is GTA$ 100,000, paid on top of your cut rather than added to the pot you split. Reportedly, the extraction clock runs from finding Rashkovsky to the plane reaching the drop zone.

Vehicles, awards and what comes next

Finishing parts of the heist unlocks three vehicles at trade price:

Completing the heist also earns the "Go To Jail" award and the "Parole Day" achievement or trophy.

The Prison Break unlocks The Humane Labs Raid, the next Original Heist. The strand ends with the Pacific Standard Job, the last and biggest of the set.

Prison Break heist FAQ

How much money does the Prison Break heist give in GTA Online?

The total take is GTA$ 350,000 on Easy, GTA$ 700,000 on Normal and GTA$ 875,000 on Hard, split by cuts. If the host has not yet completed the finale in the current weekly period, rewards increase for all players: the total take becomes GTA$ 525,000 / GTA$ 1,050,000 / GTA$ 1,312,500. Once the host has completed it, later finales they host that week pay less. The Elite Challenge adds GTA$ 100,000 on top of your cut.

Do you need four players for the Prison Break heist?

Yes. Every setup and the finale need exactly four players. The host can't launch with fewer, and the job fails if someone leaves, so there's no solo, two-player or three-player run.

What does the demolition do in Prison Break?

Demolition intercepts the real scheduled prison bus before it reaches the prison, kills the driver, drives it to Sandy Shores Airfield and destroys it. They then steal a Buzzard, shoot down the Lazer jets chasing the Velum, cover the ground team against the police, and fly the crew back to the city at the end.

How do you start the Prison Break heist?

Finish The Fleeca Job, and Lester calls about a job. The host needs rank 12 or above, a high-end apartment with a heist planning room and GTA$ 25,000 for the setup cost. Agent 14 arrives at the apartment and the heist launches from the planning room.

How long does it take to do Prison Break in GTA 5?

It depends mostly on your crew: there are four setups plus the finale, each needing a full crew of four, and a failed mission has to be played again. A crew that agrees roles in advance and avoids the fail conditions moves through it much faster.

Is the Rashkovsky glitch fixed?

Yes. Title Update 1.73 (14 July 2026) fixed Rashkovsky not following players during the finale. If it still happens, restart the finale.

What heist comes after The Prison Break?

The Humane Labs Raid. The Prison Break itself is unlocked by finishing The Fleeca Job.