Is GTA Online free to play in 2025?

It’s a new year, and that means there’s tons of great content to look forward to for Grand Theft Auto fans. Not only are we teeming with anticipation for the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6, but GTA Online is also moving forward with plenty of updates.

If you’ve never gotten your hands on GTA Online, you may be wondering if you can join the havoc of Los Santos for free. We’re here to give you all the info you need on whether GTA Online is free to play in 2025.

Can you play GTA Online for free in 2025?

The short answer is no, you can’t play GTA Online by just downloadi🅠ng the game for free and hopping in. However, the reality is a bit more complicated. 

If you have a PS Plus Extra or PS Plus Premium subscription, however, Grand Theft Auto 5 is free to add to your game library through the membership. With this comes full access to the online version of the game, which is GTA Online. You do have ๊to pay for the PS Plus subscription, and if you decide t🦄o cancel your membership, you’ll lose access to the game.

GTA 5 was added back to the PS Plus Extra and Premium library back in November 2024, after being removed for a꧂ few months. We don’t know how long it will remain as part of the PS Plus catalog, so it’s best to download and play it now while you still can.

If you’ve already purchased GTA 5, the latest solo story-based game in the franchise, then you’ve already purchased GTA Online. These two were developed side by side, and you can hop between solo and multiplayer as you please. You are also able to buy GTA Online as a standalone for a cheaper price. 

Since you need an online subscription to enjoy the online world of GTA Online anyway, we’d highly rec🐭ommend just paying for PS Plus Extra or Premium instead of buy꧋ing the full game. You’d need to purchase PS Plus even if you bought the standalone game, so you’ll just be paying even more money.

Will GTA Online ever be free to play?

For a short time in December 2024, PlayStation let users play GTA Online completely for free, even without the PS Plus subscription. However, this period came to an end on December 24, and it was removed from players’ libraries if they chose not to purchase a copy of the game or the membership.

It’s unknown whether, in the future, Rockstar will ever make GTA Online completely free to pl🐼ay like they did in December, but for now, the game is likely to remain as it is. Free for PS Plus Extra and Premium me🧜mbers, and available to purchase for everyone else. 

But, with GTA 6 on its way, there♏’s always hope for the future.