FULL LIST OF EDITORIAL PICKS: BEST NO ANNUAL FEE CREDIT CARDS

 Before applying, be sure to check the details on the source’s website.

**Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card**

Our pick for: Flat cash back

Among flat cash back cards, the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card is hard to beat. It gives you unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases, which is excellent. Plus, the card offers an enticing sign-up bonus and a good introductory APR period on both purchases and balance transfers. It’s an impressive set of features that’s hard to find on a card with a $0 annual fee. Read our review.

**Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card**

Our pick for: All-around cash back

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card was already a great card when it offered 1.5% cash back on all purchases. Now it’s even better, offering additional rewards on travel booked through Chase, as well as restaurants and pharmacies. Plus, new cardholders get an introductory 0% APR period and the chance to earn an attractive bonus. Read our review.

**Citi Double Cash® Card**

Our pick for: Simplicity + High Rate

Over the years, the Citi Double Cash® Card has been a favorite among fixed-rate cash-back cards. You earn 2% cash back on every purchase — 1% when you buy and 1% when you pay. There’s no 0% introductory period for purchases and no rewards categories, but the high rewards rate makes up for the lack of extra features. Read our review.

**Discover it® Cash Back Card**

Our pick for: Quarterly categories + Matching Bonus

The Discover it® Cash Back Card offers extra cash back in quarterly categories that you can activate. In past years, these categories have included popular spending areas like groceries, restaurants, gas stations and some major retailers. The activation process can be a pain, but if your spending aligns with those categories (which is often the case for most households), you can earn big rewards. You also get a “cash back matching” bonus from the source in the first year. Read our review.

**Chase Freedom Flex® Card**

Our pick for: Quarterly categories + cash back

The Chase Freedom Flex® Card offers bonus cash back in quarterly categories you can activate, plus travel booked through Chase, restaurants, and pharmacies. Activating categories can be a pain, but if your spending aligns with the categories — which many people do — you can rack up hundreds of dollars a year. There’s a great bonus offer for new cardholders and an introductory APR, too. Read our review.

**Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Card**

Our pick for: Going out and staying home

Some credit cards offer great rewards for going out, while others reward you for staying home. The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Card is one of the rare cards that does both. It offers excellent cash back not only on dining and entertainment, but also on groceries and popular streaming services. With a good bonus offer and an introductory APR, this card is a winner. (See rates and fees.) Read our review.

**Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card**

Our Pick for: Extra Travel Rewards

The Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card offers so much value, it’s hard to believe there’s no annual fee. Start with a great rewards offer, then earn bonus rewards in a range of popular spending categories — restaurants, gas stations, transportation, travel, streaming services, and more. Read our review.

**Capital One VentureOne Rewards - Miles Boost Card**

Our Pick for: Simple Travel Rewards

With the Capital One VentureOne Rewards - Miles Boost Card, you don’t pay an annual fee, but you also don’t get the rich rewards of the regular Venture Card (see rates and fees). Still, the bonus offer 

makes it a great card

?IS A NO-ANNUAL-FEE CREDIT CARD WORTH IT

There are many ways to assess whether a credit card is worth keeping, but the simplest is: Does the value it offers outweigh the costs associated with it? When a card has no annual fee, the math seems easy, at least in theory. If you pay nothing to use the card and you get, say, $100 a year in rewards for spending, the card is “useful” from a purely numbers perspective. You earn $100.

But what if another card has a $50 annual fee but gives you $200 in rewards for the same spending? In that case, you’d earn $150. So you could say that choosing to keep the first card over the second cost you $50. From that perspective, a card with no annual fee may not actually be “useful.”

So deciding whether a card is worth it depends on looking not only at what the card offers versus what it takes, but also at what you can get from competing cards in the market.

Annual fees are more common with some types of credit cards than others. For example:

With some exceptions, the best cash-back cards don’t charge an annual fee. Those exceptions typically offer the best rewards rates in popular spending categories. These rates easily make up for the fee while still providing more value than no-fee alternatives.

Most airline cards charge an annual fee. But these cards often give you free bags, priority boarding, and other perks in addition to the rewards you earn. Ultimately, you’re saving money even with the fee, and the more you fly, the more you save. Some airlines offer cards with no annual fees, but they don’t have the same benefits.

Low-interest credit cards and balance transfer cards typically don’t charge fees. The point of these cards is to save you money on interest, so paying an annual fee will immediately reduce the value.

Some people simply don’t want to pay an annual fee. They see it as an upfront cost that may or may not be refunded over the course of a year, and they’d rather not worry about it. That’s a legitimate position. If this is how you feel, a no annual fee card is a logical choice for you.