The useful question about shop is income per hour, and almost nobody states it.

Short answer

Do the setup once properly, then repeat the short loop. That ordering is where the difference sits.

  • Calculate per hour, including setup and travel.
  • Finish the setup before starting the loop.
  • Stop and reassess after two failed attempts rather than repeating the third.

War Thunder models more of the vehicle than it tells you about, and the grind punishes guessing. Event weeks distort every comparison, and normal weeks are what you should plan around. Group multipliers change the ranking of methods completely, which is why lists disagree.

Methods that were nerfed

Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. A method that was patched still shows up in search results for years afterwards. Payout figures quoted without a time attached are marketing rather than information. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

The cap on a given activity matters more than its headline number. Idle income sounds appealing and is almost always the worst rate available. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

The loop worth repeating

Setup cost only matters relative to how long you intend to keep playing. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first.

  • Group up where the multiplier is meaningful.
  • Ignore anything that requires an external site or seller.
  • Check the version you are actually running before assuming anything is broken.
  • Check the patch date on any figures you are comparing.
  • Do the daily and weekly resets first — they are the best rate available.

Solo versus group

A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

Setup cost and payback time

Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. War Thunder is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look.

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it.

What it earns per hour

Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over.

Where people go wrong

  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.
  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.
  • Changing five things at once and then not knowing which one helped.

War Thunder FAQ

What is the fastest way to make money in War Thunder?

The dull repeatable one, almost always. Fast methods usually mean high variance rather than a high average.

Was this method nerfed?

Several popular ones were. Check the date on whatever you are reading before committing an evening to it.

What if none of this works for me?

Then something in your setup differs from the assumption — version, region or platform. Check those three before anything else.

Is the investment worth it?

If you will play more than a few dozen hours, comfortably. If not, skip it and do the free activities.

Bookmark it if you like, but honestly, once you have done it once you will not need to come back.