Is Guild Wars 2 free to play?

Partly. The core game of Guild Wars 2 is free to play, but ArenaNet treats a free account as a separate account type with its own limits, and the expansions are sold separately. ArenaNet's support site sets out the differences in a chart covering free, core and expansion accounts.

What can't you do on a free Guild Wars 2 account?

ArenaNet's chart lists these limits for free accounts:

• 2 characters per account, compared with 5 on core and expansion accounts, and room for 3 bags per character instead of 5.
• No Revenant, and no profession masteries.
• Central Tyria only, and only the starter maps until a character reaches level 10.
• No guild banks, guild enhancements, map chat, raids, daily login rewards or forum posting.
• Mail only to mutual friends, and no gold or items by mail.
• Whispers are limited to the same map (except with mutual friends), and squad chat and Looking for Group unlock at level 30.
• PvP: only Custom and Unranked Arenas until PvP rank 20. World vs World unlocks account-wide when one character reaches level 60.
• Trading Post buying and selling is limited to a selected list of items, and the currency exchange only converts gems to gold, not gold to gems.
• No world transfers, and Gem Store items a free account can't use aren't shown.

How much does Guild Wars 2 cost if you want more?

On Steam UK (prices read on 11 November 2026), the Starter Pack costs £17.99, and the expansions cost £21.99 to £25.99 each at standard price. The Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire pair is sold together at £25.99.

Does Guild Wars 2 sell paid random items?

Yes. The Black Lion Chest is opened with keys bought with gems in the in-game store, and ArenaNet publishes its odds. Every chest gives four guaranteed items, then there is a 10% chance of a fifth item from the rarer pools. The rarest contracts are 0.006% each, about one chest in 16,667. The Guild Wars 2 page works through the numbers, and the same maths applies to any published drop rate.

If you want a game where the whole download is free and the paid currency can be earned by trading, see is Warframe free to play.

How we checked

The free-account limits come from ArenaNet's account types article (the page shows no date). Prices are the Steam UK listings. Chest odds are from ArenaNet's Disclosure of Odds page. We re-read all three on 11 November 2026.