Do I need to pay to play GTA 5 online?

No I mean technically yes it depends on what you play one On PS4 and Xbox One and 360. You have pay for online,but if you play on PC then its free. PC MASTER RACE. read more

I didn't say steam lags, GTA V does as it uses P2P so the game is only as good as other peoples connections. On the Xbox, it uses the XBL servers which are some of the best servers in the world. The sad truth is, when it comes to online multiplayer and servers, The XBL platform is the master race. read more

While XBox Live & Playstation Network Plus do have subscription fees to maintain their online services, the PC / Steam version only requires players to buy the game. There's no subscription fee imposed for GTA Online by Rockstar, as they run on the free-to-play model with microtransactions for in-game currency. read more

You do have to either buy an Xbox Live membership, or a PlayStation Live membership to be able to access the game, unless you’re playing on PC which is free other than the cost of the game its self. read more