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There are many advantages of no-annual-fee credit cards. First of all, you’re not paying anything to hold these cards, so you’re able to keep them as long as you wish. Since the length of your credit history is one of the factors that make up your credit score, it can be prudent to hold on to a no-annual-fee credit card indefinitely.
Another advantage of having a no-annual-fee card is that you earn rewards at no additional cost to you, especially on items you’d purchase normally — it’s a win-win all around.
Some no-annual-fee cards come with additional benefits that can save you money. You’ll find 0% APR introductory periods for purchases and balance transfers that can save you interest fees when you utilize these introductory offers. You’ll also find cards that offer travel insurance and benefits, shopping protections, and even complimentary hotel elite status.
All of these advantages are great. But how do you choose the right no-annual-fee credit card for your situation? Our recommended no-annual-fee credit card list can help you decide just that.
As you read through, keep your greatest expenses in mind. Evaluate each card, considering how you might want to redeem the rewards you earn, and note if there are any complimentary benefits that might be useful to you.
| Card | Best For | Welcome Bonus | Card Rewards |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited® | Travelers | INTRO OFFER: Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back! |
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| Chase Freedom Flex℠ | Rotating Bonus Categories | Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months. |
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| U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card | Rotating Bonus Categories | Earn a $200 bonus after spending $1,000 on eligible purchases within the first 120 days. |
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| Citi Custom Cash® Card | Rotating Bonus Categories | Earn $200 cash-back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. |
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| Citi® Double Cash Card | Everyday Spending | No welcome offer available. |
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| Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card | Dining | Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months. |
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| Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi | Dining | No welcome offer available. |
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| Ink Business Cash® Credit Card | Businesses | Earn $750 cash-back after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. |
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| Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card | Businesses | Earn $750 cash-back after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months |
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| The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express | Businesses | No welcome offer |
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In no particular order, here are our favorite credit cards with no annual fee that offer a great balance of rewards and perks to cardholders.
This is a straightforward card that earns rewards on every purchase you make, especially for travelers. The Freedom Unlimited card earns cash-back in the form of Ultimate Rewards points that can be redeemed multiple ways, including for travel via the Ultimate Rewards travel portal at a base rate of 1 cent per point.
If you also have a premium Chase credit card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can combine the points earned on your Freedom Unlimited card to redeem them for an increased value of up to 50% more. Your Ultimate Rewards points can also be transferred to any of the Chase airline and hotel partners as well.
The Freedom Unlimited card also comes with rental car insurance, purchase protection, and extended warranty coverage.
Unfortunately, the card does charge a 3% foreign transaction fee, making it a poor choice for international travel.
If this card sounds like it may be a fit for you, read more about the Freedom Unlimited card’s most valuable benefits, as well as more information on great reasons to apply for the card.
This simple card is a consistent earning tool for valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
The Freedom Flex card offers a simple way to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Each quarter, you’re able to activate bonus categories such as grocery stores, gas stations, wholesale clubs, home improvement stores, and more that can earn up to $75 in points each quarter.
Your points are worth up to 50% more when transferred to a premium Chase credit card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Chase Sapphire Reserve card and redeemed for travel.
While it’s difficult to find any downside to the card, there is one clear negative — foreign transactions made with the card are charged a 3% fee.
Selecting your bonus categories each quarter takes extra work, but the unlimited 2% earnings and up to $400 on 5% quarterly bonus earnings each year can be worth the trouble for the right cardholder.
The cards in this category offer simple earning structures that make everyday spending a rewarding experience.
These cards may be a good fit if you’d like to earn rewards on every purchase you make but have no interest in paying an annual credit card fee and don’t have time to decipher complicated earning schemes.
With the Citi Custom Cash card, you’ll earn big on purchases in your top eligible spend category, up to the first $500 each billing cycle. There’s no category to select — you’ll automatically receive 5% back on whichever category you end up spending the most on each month.
The card also offers a cash welcome bonus offer and a 0% intro APR offer.
While Citi has removed its core travel and purchase benefits from its cards, there’s plenty of value left when it comes to earning simple cash-back or transferring a high-interest credit card balance to take advantage of the 0% introductory APR.
This card’s cash-back can be used for a statement credit, direct deposit, check, or gift card. Its Citi ThankYou Points can be used for limited travel partners, or you can pair the card with a premium card such as the Citi Premier® Card to utilize all of Citi’s transfer partners.
Bottom Line: If you spend a lot in a specific category, it may make sense for you to compare no-annual-fee cards with certain cards that do charge an annual fee in exchange for higher earning potential, greater flexibility at redemption time, and a longer list of valuable travel and shopping benefits/protections providing extra value. Check out our guide to the best credit cards for each bonus category for our suggestions.
Foodies will love paying their dining tab with the Capital One SavorOne card and getting 3% cash-back on every dining and entertainment purchase.
Hot Tip: Want to earn even more points or cash-back rewards when dining out? Check out our collection of the best credit cards for restaurants and dining.
While there is no annual fee, this card requires a paid Costco membership.
Costco members can accumulate rewards throughout the calendar year. Rewards are paid out annually in the form of a voucher and can only be redeemed for cash or merchandise at U.S. Costco warehouses.
Bottom Line: While it may make sense to select a card that rewards well in your biggest spending category, be sure to look at the entire card package to review how the card rewards your overall spending mix, whether redemption options align with your preferences, and if the associated travel or shopping benefits deliver additional value.
When you’re operating a business, cash-back can make a difference to your bottom line.
Small businesses face unique challenges. The Ink Business Cash card can help manage those challenges by saving you interest on purchases in the first 12 months after card approval and providing valuable benefits and protections without an annual fee.
You’ll also find it easy to earn lots of rewards on your business purchases with bonus-earning categories. Rewards can be redeemed for travel or cash-back that can make a positive impact on your business’ bottom line.
Note that Ultimate Rewards points earned on the card can be redeemed for 1 cent each. They can also be transferred to premium Chase cards for up to 50% more in travel value.
Selecting a card that earns valuable Ultimate Rewards points is always a positive move, especially if you’re looking for your first business credit card.
Earning a solid 1.5% cash-back on every purchase, regardless of the category, makes earning lots of rewards an easy task. You can then redeem those rewards for what your business needs most — cash-back, travel, gift cards, or even Amazon purchases.
As with several other cards mentioned here, points earned on the Ink Business Unlimited card can be transferred to premium Chase cards for increased redemption value.
The card also comes with valuable travel benefits such as primary car rental insurance, roadside dispatch, and travel emergency assistance. Additionally, you’ll have shopping benefits such as purchase protection and an extended warranty.
It’s worth noting that, while the card does not have an annual fee, the card does charge foreign transaction fees.
Explore the benefits of the Ink Business Unlimited card to see if this card is right for your business.
Want simplicity in earnings from your business credit card? If you’re a busy small business owner, the Amex Blue Business Plus card could be that simple solution.
Top Reason To Get the Card
If your small business spends $50,000 or less per year, the Amex Blue Business Plus card could be an appropriate starter card. Spending $50,000 per year will earn 100,000 Membership Rewards points annually.
If you spend a lot in any specific category, you will likely earn more rewards with a business credit card that offers higher rewards in that specific category, even if you have to pay an annual fee.
At Upgraded Points, we select the best no-annual-fee credit cards based on how much value the card can provide to cardholders. To do this, we evaluate every factor that makes up a card, including its benefits, earnings structure, welcome bonus, redemption value, rewards program, and fees.
Here is some insight into our thought process when selecting the best no-annual-fee cards:
No-annual-fee cards aren’t usually known for offering many benefits, so anytime they do, that is a big win in our book. Given that, we give extra points to no-annual-fee cards that offer benefits such as purchase protection, extended warranty protection, and travel insurance.
The best credit cards offer strong rewards. For a no-annual-fee card to be worth holding, it needs to either offer solid rewards on all purchases or give users plenty of value in select bonus categories.
Not all no-annual-fee cards offer a welcome bonus, but those that do provide a great opportunity to quickly earn a large chunk of rewards. Given that welcome bonuses are a 1-time bonus, they do play a factor in how we evaluate cards because of how lucrative these bonuses can be.
We provide you with the current welcome bonus information available to us for each card, but we also encourage you to confirm the welcome bonus, check for elevated promotional offers, and review any earnings offered before applying for any card.
Aside from not charging an annual fee, we still weigh all of the other fees associated with a credit card. These can include foreign transaction fees and late payment fees.
At Upgraded Points, we prefer cards that earn flexible rewards, as they offer more redemption options. The best no-annual-fee cards provide the option to redeem points directly for travel, cash-back, statement credits, and more.
Hot Tip: While the most desirable benefits and features of a card will vary by person, our holistic approach gives readers a full picture of what to expect from every card we review. To learn more about how we review cards, read through our designated methodology page.
People who are looking to earn credit card rewards for their purchases but aren’t interested in paying an annual fee should consider getting a no-annual-fee credit card.
While many cards with annual fees offer significantly more benefits than those without, you should consider how often you think you’d actually use those benefits. That will help you determine whether or not a card that charges an annual fee is worth adding to your wallet.
For instance, a travel rewards card that charges an annual fee and offers travel-related benefits won’t make much sense for you if you don’t travel very often. On the other hand, if you’re simply looking for a card that can help you earn rewards on your purchases and offers consumer protections, a no-annual-fee credit card might be a perfect fit for you.
The best no-annual-fee card will vary from person to person based on the benefits you need. First, you should narrow down your options by deciding whether you’d like a card that earns cash-back rewards, travel rewards, or flexible rewards.
From there, you can take a look at the card’s bonus categories, then determine which ones would best fit your spending habits. Do you spend a lot each month on certain categories such as dining or groceries? Then you might want to select a card that offers bonus categories on those purchases. If not, then you could opt for a card that offers a flat rewards rate on all purchases.
After you’ve settled those 2 items, the next deciding factor should be the type of card benefits you’re looking for. Do you want a card that offers purchase protection, travel insurance, or some other type of benefit?
After you’ve considered all of those parameters, you should be able to narrow down a pretty short list of which no-annual-fee cards would be best for you.
Determining whether or not a card with annual fees is worth it depends on your individual needs for a credit card. Credit cards with annual fees can offer lots of great benefits such as statement credits, airport lounge access, expedited security, and increased bonus categories. You’ll want to determine how much value you think you’ll get out of the benefits and rewards each year, then compare that to the annual fee you’d pay.
If the value you’d receive exceeds the cost of the annual fee, then it would be worth it. If the benefits wouldn’t be that useful to you, then you should stick with a no-annual-fee card.
If you hold a credit card that charges an annual fee but feel like you’re not getting enough value from it, you can call the issuer to ask for a retention offer or even waive the annual fee.
To help convince you to keep the card, the issuer might offer to waive the annual fee for a year, reduce the annual fee, or offer some other sort of compensation like points or a statement credit. However, the issuer may not share any retention offer at all.
No-annual-fee credit cards make great starter cards that you can hold for many years. However, most credit cards with no annual fee do not offer the level of benefits, earning potential, or flexible redemption options that might come with cards that do charge annual fees.
Of course, finding a balance between paying annual fees, earning rewards, and utilizing card benefits will depend on your own personal preferences.
A no-annual-fee card can certainly earn a place in your wallet if any of its attributes add value you can use.
The information regarding the Capital One SavorOne Card Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Chase Freedom Unlimited® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Chase Freedom Flex℠ was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.
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Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in outlets like The New York Times.
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