The best no-annual-fee cash back cards

Featured cards

All 20 cards in this ranking, with what each one is actually best at. Tap any card to jump to its row.

1. 1 Capital One BJ's One+ Mastercard — Best overall for everyday spending with no fee: 2% on everything, no annual fee — 2.0¢ back per dollar
2. 2 Capital One T-Mobile Visa — 2% on everything, no annual fee — 2.0¢ back per dollar
3. 3 Citi Double Cash® Card — 2% on everything, no annual fee — 2.0¢ back per dollar
4. 4 U.S. Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card — 2% on everything, no annual fee — 2.0¢ back per dollar
5. 5 Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature — 2% on everything, no annual fee — 2.0¢ back per dollar
6. 6 Wells Fargo Active Cash — 2% on everything, no annual fee — 2.0¢ back per dollar
7. 7 Apple Card — 2% on everything, no annual fee — 2.0¢ back per dollar
8. 8 Schwab Investor Card from American Express — 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar
9. 9 Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards — Best for business spending: 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar
10. 10 Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards — 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar
11. 11 Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured — 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar
12. 12 Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards for Students — 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar
13. 13 Capital One Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's CLUB Business Card — 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar
14. 14 Capital One Spark Cash Select (Spark 1.5% Cash Select) — 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar
15. 15 Capital One BJ's One Mastercard — 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar
16. 16 Capital One Quicksilver — 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar
17. 17 Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students — 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar
18. 18 Capital One Quicksilver Secured — 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar
19. 19 Capital One REI Co-op Mastercard — 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar
20. 20 Chase Ink Business Unlimited — 1.5% on everything, no annual fee — 1.5¢ back per dollar

The ranking

How we rank

One arithmetic rule, applied by code to our maintained card database. There is no editorial pick, no hand-ordering and no sponsored slot.

• Printed earn rate. The base rate each issuer prints for all uncategorised spending, read from our maintained database. This page ranks on that rate alone, so a card's bonus categories don't inflate its position here.
• Conservative point value. Each rate is multiplied by our conservative mid-range value for the currency it pays, turning a multiplier into cents back per dollar. Every point value we use, published →
• Annual fee. Printed against every card and used to break ties, so the cheaper of two equal cards ranks higher. Every card on this particular page is fee-free by definition, which is the point of it.
• Caps and limits. Base rates are uncapped by definition — that is what makes them base rates. Where a card's bonus categories carry caps, those appear on the card's own page and in the category guides, not here.
• Pool and cutoff. 221 open US cards are in our database; 68 of them charge no annual fee and pay in straight cash back and qualify. The page publishes the top 20 by real value — the cutoff is #20, so 48 qualifying cards did not make it and can be found on the full card list.
• Rotating and pick-your-own categories. Kept out of the headline ranking, because they only pay in the right quarter or with the right election. Issuer-travel-portal-only rates are excluded for the same reason: they pay only if you book through the portal.
• Commission. The ranking code has no access to which cards pay us a commission — the ordering function never reads the affiliate file. Any apply link is attached after the order is already fixed, so it cannot move a card up or down. How that works.

Full methodology, including how each point value is set: how we value points and rank cards →

The honest caveat

A flat cash-back card is the simplest possible wallet, but a category card can beat it where you spend heavily — 4% on dining can out-earn 2% on everything if you eat out a lot. The optimizer settles that by scoring your real charges against both.

Common questions

More guides

Every guide on this site is built by the same code from the same card database, so the numbers on one page mean exactly what they mean on another. Jump sideways:

All 70 best-card guides → · Best card for a specific store or bill →