The Short Version: What You Choose Once, and What You Can Change Later
Your GTA Online character is built in the creator the first time you play, and almost everything about the face can be redone later for GTA$100,000. Two things cannot be changed afterwards: your character's gender, which is locked at creation, and their name, which is simply your account name.
On PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Enhanced), new characters now start through the Career Builder, which hands you a business and GTA$4,000,000 before you design your face. The creator itself still works the way it always has, built around choosing two parents and blending their features.
You also get two character slots, not one. Your characters share a bank account but nothing else, which makes the second slot the real answer to most "can I change…" questions in this guide.
Key Takeaways
- Faces are built with the heritage system: pick two parents, then adjust resemblance and fine features.
- Gender is chosen at creation and can never be changed, not even by the paid appearance change.
- Change Appearance costs GTA$100,000 from the Interaction Menu and reopens the creator without losing any progress.
- There is no in-game rename option. Your character displays your platform or Social Club nickname.
- Two character slots share one bank account; rank, properties, vehicles and stats stay separate.
1. How the Creator Works: Heritage, Features and Style
The creator's core is the heritage system. You choose a mother and a father from the preset lists, then use the resemblance slider to decide which parent your character takes after, with skin tone blended in the same way.
From there you adjust the details: facial features such as brow, eyes, nose, cheeks, jaw and chin, then the appearance layer of hairstyles, facial hair, eyebrows, eye colour, makeup and signs of ageing. A final style step sets your starting outfit, which matters very little because clothing stores cover the whole map.
The original version of the creator also tied your starting stats partly to lifestyle choices during creation. Whatever you pick at the start, stats are not fixed: they grow through play afterwards, from driving and shooting to building up your character's strength the long way.
Take your time with the face itself. Hair, makeup and clothes are cheap to change from the first hour onwards; the underlying features are the part that later costs real money to redo.
2. The Career Builder: How New Characters Start Now
On PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Enhanced), character creation now begins with the Career Builder. Rockstar's own support page describes it plainly: you pick one of four criminal career paths — Biker, Executive, Gunrunner or Nightclub Owner — and receive GTA$4,000,000 to spend on start-up essentials.
The money comes with rules. You spend it on the properties, vehicles and weapons offered inside the Career Builder, and you can carry a maximum of GTA$1,000,000 of it with you into freemode. Rockstar also states the offer can only be experienced once: deleting a character that used it does not give you the Career Builder or the money again.
The Career Builder is not part of the older versions of the game, which still use the original arrive-in-Los-Santos introduction. Our dedicated guide to starting a new character with the Career Builder walks through the four paths and how to spend the money well.
After the career step, you design your character in the same creator described above. If you are brand new to the game entirely, our GTA Online beginner guide covers what to do with your first hours once the creator is behind you.
3. Changing Your Look Later: The GTA$100,000 Appearance Change
Sooner or later most players want a new face. The option lives in the Interaction Menu: open it, go to Style, and select Change Appearance. The game charges GTA$100,000, taken immediately when you confirm, and sends you to the character creation screen to make your edits.
You keep everything. Rank, money, properties, vehicles, weapons and progress are untouched; only the character's physical appearance changes. When you finish, you rejoin a session wearing the new look. You can repeat the process as often as you can afford it.
What you cannot do in that editor is change gender. The option simply is not there, no matter how much you pay. It is worth deciding your character's gender carefully at creation, because this is the single most common regret players bring to the appearance editor.
Smaller changes do not need the editor at all. Barbers handle hair and facial hair, clothing stores handle outfits and masks, and tattoo parlours handle tattoos, all for small in-game fees in normal play.
One warning before you pay: the fee is charged when you confirm, whether or not you actually change anything in the editor. Go in knowing roughly the face you want, rather than browsing at GTA$100,000 a look.
4. Gender and Names: The Two Things That Never Change
Gender is selected once, at creation, and locked for the life of that character. Rockstar has never added a gender change option, and the paid appearance change does not include one. Clothing in GTA Online is sold in gender-specific ranges, which is part of why the game treats the choice as permanent.
Names work differently from most online games. Your character does not get a separate name of their own: the name other players see is your platform ID or Social Club nickname. There is no rename option inside the game, so the only way the displayed name changes is if you change your account name outside the game.
If you want a character of a different gender, the honest route is your second character slot. Creating one is free, takes a few minutes, and — thanks to the shared bank account described below — the new character is not starting from zero financially.
What you should not do is delete a developed character just to change its gender. Deleting a character removes that character's rank, properties, vehicles and progress permanently, while a second slot gives you the alternative look without destroying anything.
5. Your Second Character: What Is Shared and What Is Not
Every account has two character slots. You switch between them with Swap Character in the Online menu, and creating the second character costs nothing. The two characters live separate lives in almost every respect.
The one big connection is money in the bank. Both characters draw on the same Maze Bank account, so cash you bank with one is available to the other. Cash carried in a character's pocket does not transfer, and neither do rank, stats, properties, vehicles, weapons or clothing — each character owns and earns those separately.
There is one generous exception at creation. If your first character has climbed high enough, a new second character can be offered a starting rank copied from the first, capped at Rank 120. That skips the slowest early levels while leaving you to build the new character's garage and empire yourself.
A second character is also a practical storage and roleplay tool: a different look, a different gender and a second set of garages, all funded by the same bank account. For returning players comparing game versions first, our guide to GTA Online Legacy vs Enhanced explains which characters exist on which build of the game.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I create a character in GTA Online?
On current console and PC Enhanced versions, a new character starts with the Career Builder, where you choose a career path and spend the GTA$4,000,000 start-up grant, and then move into the creator. On older versions you go straight into the creator, build your face through the heritage system, and play the introduction.
Can I change my character's gender in GTA Online?
No. Gender is chosen at creation and stays locked for that character's whole life. The paid Change Appearance option does not offer it either. If you want to play as a different gender, create your second character with that choice — it is free and shares your bank account.
How much does it cost to change my appearance?
GTA$100,000. Open the Interaction Menu, choose Style, then Change Appearance, and confirm. The fee is taken immediately and you are sent to the character creation screen. You keep all progress, property and money; only the face and physical features change.
Can I change my character's name?
There is no rename option in the game. Your character does not have a separate name: other players see your platform ID or Social Club nickname above your character. Changing that name means changing your account nickname outside GTA Online.
How many characters can I have in GTA Online?
Two. Every account has two character slots, switchable through Swap Character in the Online menu. Older console versions showed extra locked slots in the menu, but Rockstar never enabled them, and two remains the limit on every version.
Do my two characters share money?
They share the bank account, but not cash on hand. Anything deposited in Maze Bank is available to both characters, while money sitting in one character's pocket belongs to that character alone. Rank, properties, vehicles and stats are all separate.
What is the Career Builder?
It is the current starting system on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Enhanced). You pick one of four career paths — Biker, Executive, Gunrunner or Nightclub Owner — and get GTA$4,000,000 for start-up properties, vehicles and weapons. You can carry up to GTA$1,000,000 of it into freemode, and the offer is one-time only.
What happens if I delete a character?
That character's rank, properties, vehicles, weapons and progress are permanently lost. Money already in the shared bank account survives, because it belongs to the account rather than the character. If the deleted character used the Career Builder, you do not get to use it again on a replacement.
Can I change my character's face for free?
There is no free full-face edit in normal play. The complete appearance change costs GTA$100,000 each time. Cheaper everyday changes — hairstyles at a barber, outfits at clothing stores and tattoos at a parlour — cost small amounts and cover most day-to-day restyling.
Does changing appearance reset my stats or progress?
No. Change Appearance only alters how your character looks. Your rank, stats, money, properties, vehicles, weapons and unlocks are exactly as they were, and you rejoin the session with the new appearance.
What It All Means
Build the face carefully, choose gender knowing it is permanent, and remember that GTA$100,000 buys you a second chance at everything except gender and name. Between the appearance editor and a free second character slot, almost every regret in GTA Online character creation has a fix — as long as you never delete a character in a hurry.
