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The best cash back credit cards are the ones that earn you the most cash back based on how you spend your money. Review the best cash back credit cards and calculate which cards can earn you the best return based on your spend.
Cash back is the simplest of rewards due to the fact that you know how much your rewards are worth. There's no need to research best redemption options or worry about transferring rewards to partners to maximize your value. A dollar in cash back will typically be equal to a dollar in redeemable cash.
This page details our top picks for the best cash back credit cards from our partners. You can use the calculator to estimate which cash back cards can earn you the best average return on your spend.
The cards on this page are updated periodically. New cards are introduced from time to time and the benefits of current cards could change at any time. You can use our Credit Card Finder Tool to search by spend across all credit cards in our database.
The Upgrade Triple Cash Rewards Visa Card is a great option if you want to earn cash back across high-spend categories and need access to a large credit line.
It earns 3% cash back on home, auto, and health purchases and 1% back on everything else. Here's some examples of what applies to these categories:
These categories are very broad and typically feature large purchases which makes it very easy to earn significant amounts of cash back, especially when used for things like home projects, medical bills or emergency car repairs.
When using the Upgrade Triple Cash Rewards Visa Card, it can be used as a credit card or a personal loan.
When used as a credit card, you'll earn cash back on your purchases and any balance carried beyond the due date will be converted to an installment loan at a fixed interest rate with equal monthly installments over a set period.
When used as a personal loan, you can request funds be sent directly to your bank account from your card's credit limit. You'll be able to pay it back in the equal monthly installments at a fixed interest rate.
Overall it's a great card to have with no annual fee, no authorized user fee, and no foreign transaction fee. The card is opened to anyone with a FICO score of 600 or higher which makes it great for building credit as well.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is one of the best cash back credit cards for earning bonus cash back across select categories while still earning a great flat rate of cash back across all other spend.
It earns 5% back on Chase Travel, 3% back on dining at restaurants and drugstores, and 1.5% back on all other purchases which is great considering it has no annual fee.
The card earns Ultimate Rewards Points that can be redeemed for 1 cent each towards cash back. If you pair this card with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you'll be able to transfer your earned rewards to Chase's airline and hotel partners as well as redeem rewards for a higher value of 1.25 or 1.5 cents towards Chase Travel.
The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card is top-notch if you're looking to earn a high amount of cash back in a single category.
The card earns 5% cash back on the eligible you spend the most in during each billing cycle on up to $500 (then 1%). Eligible categories include: restaurants, gas stations, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, and live entertainment.
If you're able to dedicate this card to a single eligible category and hit the 5% cap every cycle, you'll sweep up an easy $300 in cash back every year which is great for a card with no annual fee.
On top of that, cash back earned with the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card can be converted to ThankYou Rewards Points that can be transferred to Citi's airline partners (such as JetBlue Airways) if you own the Citi Premier® Card or Citi Prestige® Card.
You can also pair the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card with the Citi® Double Cash Card. Use the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card to earn 5% back on your eligible category and use the Citi® Double Cash Card to earn 2% back on all other purchases. It makes for a fantastic money-making combo.
The Citi® Double Cash Card is a simple and straightforward cash back credit card with no annual fee.
It earns cash back at a flat rate of 2% back in which you'll earn 1% back on your purchases and 1% back when you pay off those purchases.
Cash back earned with the card can be converted to ThankYou Rewards Points which can be transferred to Citi's airline partners if you own the Citi Premier® Card or Citi Premier® Card. This significantly increases the value of the rewards earned with the Citi® Double Cash Card.
You can also pair this card with the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card to create and excellent combination of cash back credit cards which will ensure that you're always earning either 2% or 5% back on your purchases.
The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card gives you the option to choose your own eligible 3% cash back category and customize your cash back.
Eligible 3% categories include gas stations, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, and home improvement/furnishings. You'll also earn an automatic 2% back on grocery store and wholesale club purchases.
The 3% back category of your choice and automatic 2% categories share a combined cap of $2,500 per quarter. If you want to maximize your cash back, I suggest using the card for as much of the 3% category as possible.
Another big plus to banking with Bank of America is that you can earn a 10% to 75% bonus based on your relationship with them and how much money you have invested with them and their partners. This allows you to earn up to 5.25% on your selected category, 3.75% on grocery store and wholesale club purchases, and 1.75% back on everything else.
It's worth mentioning that this bonus also applies to several other credit cards they offer. If you have money to sit in an account, Bank of America's credit cards will easily offer more value than most credit cards in the market.
The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is one of the best credit cards on the market when it comes to earning high rates of cash back.
The card earns 6% cash back on the first $6,000 in annual spend at U.S. supermarkets (then 1%), 6% back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions, 3% back on transit and U.S. gas station purchases, and 1% back on everything else.
This card is best if you spend more than $270 per month across the U.S. supermarket and U.S. streaming service categories. If you plan on spending less than that per month, you may want to consider the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express.
The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is a great option if you don't spend as much at supermarkets to make the Blue Cash Preferred® Card worth it, but still want to maximize your spend.
It earns 3% cash back at U.S. supermarket on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%), 2% back at U.S. gas stations and at select U.S. department stores, and 1% back on all other purchases.
If you're looking at supermarket spend alone, the Blue Cash Everyday® Card is the best option if you spend less than $270 per month or around $3,240 per year. If you spend more than that at U.S. supermarkets, you'll want to go with the Blue Cash Preferred® Card as you'll earn a better return at the 6% rate even with the annual fee.
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ features categories that rotate quarterly.
You'll earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined spend between the categories featured during the quarter, then 1% for the remainder of that quarter after the cap has been hit. This means that you can earn $75 if you hit the cap.
The card also earns 5% back on Chase Travel, 3% back at restaurants and drugstores, and 1% back on everything else.
As with other Chase cash back credit cards, rewards are displayed as Ultimate Rewards Points. These points can be redeemed for 1 cent each for cash back.
Pairing this card with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card will greatly increase the value of your rewards as you'll be able to redeem them for 1.25 or 1.5 cents towards Chase Travel or transfer them to airline and hotel partners such as United, Hyatt, and Southwest.
The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of the most popular cash back credit cards because it's a straightforward no-annual fee card that earns easy to redeem rewards.
It earns an unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases and has no annual fee, no authorized user fee, and no foreign transaction fee. This means you can add as many authorized users as you want and you can use the card worldwide without worrying about additional fees.
Cash back earned with the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card can easily be redeemed for cash back, statement credits, and gift cards.
The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of the best credit cards for raking up cash back across popular everyday categories.
It earns 3% back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services, and at grocery stores and 1% back on everything else. There's no cap on how much cash back you can earn spending across these categories.
Along with having no annual fee, the card also has no foreign transaction fee which makes this a great card for earning across these categories internationally.
Pair this card with the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card and you'll have yourself a nice 2-card cash back combo.
| Credit Card | Annual Fee | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Upgrade Triple Cash Visa Card | $0 | Home Projects & Large Purchases |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited® | $0 | Flat-Rate Cash Back & Bonus Cash Back |
| Citi Custom Cash℠ Card | $0 | 5% Back On Select Category |
| Citi® Double Cash Card | $0 | 2% Back With No Annual Fee |
| Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card | $0 | 3% Back On Select Category |
| Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express | $0 the first year, then $95 | Earning High Cash Back |
| Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express | $0 | Supermarket Spending With No Annual Fee |
| Chase Freedom Flex℠ | $0 | High Earnings On Rotating Categories |
| Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card | $0 | Earning Cash Back Worldwide |
| Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card | $0 | Best For Dining & Entertainment |
Use the rewards calculator to get an idea of which credit cards will offer you the most cash back and best return based on your spending.
Results will consist of top-rated cash back credit cards from our partners. They will be sorted by net return which is total cash back earned, plus annual credits, and minus annual fees.
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These estimates are to help guide you towards making the best decision when it comes to picking up a rewards credit card. They should be used for illustrative purposes only.
All credit card links listed below will open in a new tab/window so that you will not lose your search results and all spend entered in the fields above will carry over to every credit card rewards calculator on the site so there's no need to re-enter spend.
