Free-to-play Old School Runescape is very much a compressed and consolidated version of its member's counterpart. You play on a world map smaller in size and have access to around half the skills that members do. Because of this, there are fewer money-making methods and very few that make a lot of money.
Even though F2P might not have the best money-making methods, it still has a decent variety and many that are suitable for newer players. There is also a community focused on the F2P side of the game, pushing this restrictive game mode to its limits, and thus lots of interesting money-making methods have been discovered and refined. Join us in this OSRS F2P money-making guide as we cover the best methods for the new player to the more experienced.
Getting Started
As a new adventurer in Gielnor, it’s important to get kitted out with decent armor, weapons, and consumables. Gold is needed to buy almost anything in OSRS, but getting your hands on some can be a bit of a daunting task as a new player. Before we discuss more consistent F2P money-making OSRS methods, it’s important that we first go over some very basic earners for new players.
Stronghold of Security
The stronghold of security is a four-tiered dungeon located in the center of Barbarian village. Each section contains increasingly more dangerous monsters, separated by a type of airlock gate. To get through each gate, you have to answer questions relating to account security. Although there are quite a few different gates, the answers are all very obvious, so no player should have much trouble.
The total reward from completing all stages of the stronghold of security is 10’000 gp, but you must have an authenticator active on your account to receive it. It is possible to complete this one-off money-maker with level 3 combat stats, but having higher health points will make it a bit easier.
Wilderness Looting
There are many items you can collect and sell as a quick, entry-level money maker with no requirements. Many players choose to take advantage of their combat level-3 status by entering a busy wilderness and collecting the items dropped on the floor. You’ll often find decent rune items, even in F2P worlds, which can add up in price after a period of looting. Due to it being in the wilderness and reliant on other players, this money-maker has variable returns. However, you can reasonably expect to make 100k+ gp/hr, which is not bad for a no-requirement OSRS money-making F2P method.
Collecting tinderboxes
Make sure to have an empty inventory and visit the Wise Old Man’s house in Draynor Village. Search his bookshelf, and you will receive a tinderbox. In order to receive more tinderboxes, you will need to keep dropping them before searching the bookshelf again. Once you have 27 tinderboxes on the floor and one in your inventory, pick up all the items from the floor and head to a bank. You’ll need to be fast when using this method, as items will de-spawn when left on the ground for too long. You can expect to make around 80k+ gp/hr with this method.
Best F2P Money-Making Methods
With regular game updates, the profitability and practicality of most of OSRS's best F2P money-making methods will vary over time. Some items may become particularly desirable due to a game update, like the release of a quest, and their price will increase dramatically. However, sometimes an item may become overtaken by a superior item or game mechanic and see its value drop. The free-to-play money-making methods we’ve chosen for this list have proven some degree of longevity, but it's important to research all methods before making a time commitment.
Crafting diamond jewelry
To begin this method, you will need level 43+ Crafting, a ring mold, and at least 1m in gold. After you’ve met these requirements, go to the grand exchange and purchase at least 1200 gold bars and 1200 diamonds. If you have the gold stack, you can buy as many as you want, but you’ll only be able to make around 1200 pieces of diamond jewelry an hour. To make this item, simply use all the items on a furnace, such as the one in Edgeville, until your inventory is filled with diamond jewelry. Because the diamonds and gold bars aren’t stackable, you’ll have to keep going back and forth to the bank. Overall you can expect to make over 180k gp/hr with this method.
Making pie shells
Pie shells are a desirable item due to their use in training cooking skill. Another reason people choose to purchase them rather than create them is that they give no experience in any skills, so it is often considered an XP waste. Fortunately, this creates a window for us to profit and has cemented pie shells as one of the best osrs F2P money-making methods. You will need around 500k gp to purchase an hour's worth of supplies.
The supplies you need (for 1 hour) are 2450x pastry dough and 2450x pie dish. Simply withdraw 14 of both items, then use the pastry dough on the pie dish and select the confirm option in the dialog window. Using the space bar to confirm the dialog box message is faster and lets you keep your mouse in the inventory box. Once the pie shells have been created, deposit them in your bank and repeat the process. You can make almost 300k gp/hr, but it’s important to check grand exchange prices before starting, as they can change a lot.
Mining runite ore
Runite ore can be mined at the Lava Maze runite mine, located in level 46 Wilderness. Because it is in the Wilderness, you run the risk of being PK’d, so only take items you can afford to lose. Some food to get to the mine is also a good idea, but just enough to avoid attacks on the way there so they don’t occupy too much inventory space. When you have a full bag of runite ore, return to a bank and repeat the process. Due to the risk, profits can be hard to predict, but above 400k is a good ballpark figure.
High-Alching
The high-alchemy spell is unlocked at level 55 magic, which you can achieve in a few hours and at little cost. There is often a discrepancy between certain items’ grand exchange/ traded value and their high-alch value, which can result in considerable profit. You are able to cast the high-alch spell up to 1200 times an hour, and although profits are variable, you can reasonably expect to make over 500k gp/hr. This method takes a bit of trial and error and can also involve fairly high initial investment costs to purchase the F2P items. Fortunately, third-party tools such as AlchMate can inform you of which items are currently profitable to high-alch. This has the potential to be the best F2P money-making OSRS method but is arguably not as reliable as the next option.
Smithing rune items
The best OSRS F2P money-making guide method is currently smithing rune items. Using optimum methods, players can earn over 700k gp/hr. This method does have steep requirements, with you needing the maximum smithing level of 99 to begin and a cash stack investment of at least 20m gp to purchase runite bars. To begin, withdraw a hammer and 27 runite bars, then head to an anvil and make whichever of the following items is the most valuable: rune 2h swords, rune platelegs, or rune plateskirts. The best F2P anvil to use is the one in Varrock due to its proximity to a bank. It is also close to the grand exchange, so you can sell items and buy bars if you don’t have a big initial gold investment.
OSRS F2P Money-Making Guide: FAQs
What is the best OSRS F2P Ironman money-making method?
Mining runite ore is currently the best F2P Ironman money-maker, as you don’t need to purchase items from the grand exchange. You can also sell the ores for gold at the mining guild.
What is the fastest way to make money in OSRS F2P?
High-Alching is a fast F2P money maker with a low requirement of 55 magic. Although other methods can make you more, alching is quick and easy to get started.
How do you make money in RuneScape F2P?
There are tons of OSRS F2P money-making guide methods. You can collect certain items and sell them to the grand exchange or various shops, perform high-alching to convert items to gold, mine for different ores like runite and adamant, and many more. Although not as varied as members' money-makers, there are still enough methods to get started in OSRS.
OSRS F2P Money-Making Guide: Conclusion
So as you should now hopefully see, there are a lot of OSRS F2P money-making guide methods, both for new and experienced players. While it is still preferable to become a member as soon as possible, for those wishing to remain in the F2P world, there is more than enough to be getting on with. It is also worth remembering that you can become a member by purchasing a bond from the grand exchange with gold you’ve made or received in-game, giving you a further incentive to have gold in OSRS.
