Short answer: if you play solo or small-group and want low-stress, consistent cash, the Acid Lab is worth it. It is cheap to stand up compared to older businesses, sells in one quick vehicle mission, runs in invite-only sessions, and has no raid risk. With the equipment upgrade, most players see around $80k-$120k net per hour when buying supplies, subject to weekly tunables and event modifiers. Confirm your exact numbers in-game after each title update.
Ranked for solo-friendly, mostly passive money right now: 1) Bunker - slightly steadier top-end hourly when buying supplies and equally simple one-vehicle sales; 2) Acid Lab - nearly tied with Bunker on hourly in practice, but wins on mobility and the lowest management overhead; 3) Nightclub (with feeder businesses) - great AFK-style value once built out, but slower to start and back-loaded; 4) MC Coke - strong on-paper hourly, but more setup babysitting and multi-vehicle sell risk if you overfill. If you already own Bunker or Nightclub, the Acid Lab is the clean next add; if you own nothing, it is a smart first or second pick.
Costs are straightforward: complete the First Dose story to unlock the Brickade 6x6 and then buy the Acid Lab install at the Freakshop (commonly reported at $750,000 - verify in-game). The Equipment Upgrade (after completing 10 Fooligan Jobs) is about $250,000 and is the key to competitive hourly. Buying supplies costs around $60,000 per order. Depending on tunables and upgrade state, one to two supply purchases typically fill you to a strong sell, so check the bar before spamming buys.
Earnings vary with tunables. With the upgrade, a full sell commonly lands in the $200k-$250k gross range, sometimes higher during event weeks; without the upgrade, expect materially less. Production time for a full bar is usually in the 2.5-4.0 hour real-time window, again dependent on weekly settings. Netting out supplies, most owners land around $80k-$120k per hour buying supplies, or higher if you self-resupply and value your time differently. Because it is a single-vehicle sale that you can do in an invite-only session, it is one of the least stressful ways to keep cash flowing between active grinds.
Verdict: buy it, get the upgrade, and treat it as a backbone passive alongside Bunker or a built Nightclub. Keep an eye on weekly bonuses, confirm current fill times and sale values after each update, and avoid overfilling so you can sell in one quick run whenever you log on.
