No Annual Fee Credit Cards

Comparing credit cards with no annual fee

Updated: February 13, 2020

Credit cards without an annual fee offer much-appreciated savings, a hassle-free experience and other benefits, say experts. In fact, the majority of our picks for the best credit cards have no annual fee.

“Yearly fees prevent consumers from buying what they really want,” says Julie Pukas, head of U.S. Bankcard and Merchant Solutions at TD Bank. She notes that millennials spend significantly more on dining than other consumers – TD Bank’s 2019 Consumer Spending index found that millennials spend annually almost $1,000 more on dining than Baby Boomers and more than $500 than Gen Xers.

“Some consumers may save their credit card rewards points so that they can pay off their annual fee,” says Pukas. “By switching to a card with no yearly fee, they can put those rewards to something they really want, like flights, dining out and more.”

The trick is to identify whether one suits your lifestyle. Here, we look at:

• Best no annual fee credit cards of 2020
• Compare top offers
• Methodology
• What is an annual fee?
• Who should get a no annual fee credit card?
• Common benefits
• What to do if you’re unhappy with your annual fee card
• Annual fee vs. no annual fee
• How to pair no annual fee and annual fee cards
• Frequently asked questions

Best No Annual Fee Credit Cards

Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card

Why it’s the best no annual fee card for new cardholders

It doesn’t get much simpler than this: Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases, no matter where or when you make them. No need to track spending, enroll in bonus categories or deal with complicated cash back redemption. Redeem in any amount, any time.

Pros

The Quicksilver’s unlimited flat cash back rate makes it a great choice for everyday spending, and earning the card’s sign-up bonus should be no trouble. You’ll score $150 after spending just $500 in the first 3 months.

Cons

The go-to variable rate after the 0% offer ends is crazy high, at 15.49%-25.49%, which means this is not a card you want to carry a balance on.

Discover it® Cash Back

Why it’s the best no annual fee card for low interest

Whether you need to carry a balance long term, pay down debt or finance a larger purchase, the Discover it Cash Back should help you save on interest: The card not only features a low-end APR that’s much lower than the average cash back credit card APR, but also comes with a solid 0% introductory APR offer on both balance transfers and new purchases (0% for 14 months and 13.49%-24.49% variable thereafter).

Pros

This card’s cash back match feature at the end of your first year can easily beat out other cash back cards’ sign-up bonuses. For example, while you would only get $150 back from the Capital One Quicksilver after a $500 spend within the first 3 months of card membership, you could potentially get $600 back the end of your first year with the Discover it Cash Back if you enroll quarterly and max out your 5% rotating category offer ($1,500 max spent each quarter comes to $75 back each quarter, $300 at the end of the year, then matched by Discover for a total of $600). Then earn unlimited 1% on all other purchases.

Cons

If it’s not your idea of fun to chase rotating categories, this isn’t the best choice for you. Not only do you need to keep track of which categories are active, but you have to sign up each quarter to activate those categories.

Bank of America® Cash Rewards credit card

Why it’s the best no annual fee card for sign-up bonus

The card’s sign-up bonus of $200 after you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days is solid for a no annual fee card, and since the card offers bonus cash back on such a wide variety of purchases, it shouldn’t be hard to meet the spend requirement.

Pros

You have control: Not only do you get 3% cash back in the category of your choice – gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores or home improvement/furnishings – and 2% back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (for the first $2,500 in combined purchases each quarter), you can switch your 3% bonus category once per month to better match your spending habits.

Cons

There’s a limit to how much you can earn: The card’s 2% and 3% bonus categories have a combined spending limit of $2,500 per quarter, which is low compared to some of the other cards in this category. After you reach the spending limit, you’ll earn just 1% back.

Wells Fargo Propel American Express® Card

Why it’s the best no annual fee card for travel rewards

Few travel cards offer such terrific everyday value without charging an annual fee. Since you’ll earn unlimited 3X points on dining, travel and transit, gas station purchases and select streaming services, you should have no trouble racking up points for a trip come summer.

Pros

Along with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 points if you spend $1,000 in the first 3 months – worth $200 when redeemed as cash back or for travel – the card offers a number of compelling perks, including cell phone protection. Just pay your monthly cell phone bill with the Propel card and you can get reimbursed up to $600 if your phone is damaged or stolen ($25 deductible).

Cons

One of the few down sides of this card is that you cannot transfer your points to other loyalty programs. They must be redeemed through Go Far Rewards.

Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card

Why it’s the best no annual fee card for no foreign transaction fee

It’s a great choice for international travel since Visa cards are accepted in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide and the VentureOne charges no foreign transaction fee (many cards charge a fee of 3% or more for each purchase made abroad).

Pros

Like the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card, the VentureOne Rewards partners with more than a dozen international airlines, including Alitalia and Etihad, yet the VentureOne offers no annual fee.

Cons

With a lackluster 20,000 miles bonus after a $1,000 spend within the first 3 months and only 1.25X miles for all spending, the VentureOne Rewards card is really for the occasional traveler who won’t be racking up a lot of travel expenses to justify an annual fee.

Chase Freedom Unlimited®

Why it’s the best no annual fee card for everyday spending

Since you’ll earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases, this card is a great choice if you want to score extra cash back on purchases not included in another card’s bonus categories. Most cards offer just 1% back on general purchases. Even better, you may be able to transfer rewards to a premium Chase card and boost their value by 25% or more when you redeem for travel.

Pros

You have a ton of flexibility in how you redeem: Opt for a statement credit or direct deposit into your bank account or use rewards for gift cards, travel and Apple and Amazon.com purchases.

Cons

The sign-up bonus is on the lower end and there’s a foreign transaction fee of 3%.

Capital One® SavorOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card

Why it’s the best no annual fee card for 0% APR

Not only does it offer a 0% intro APR for 15 months on both balance transfers and new purchases (15.49%-25.49% variable after that), the card is a great long-term option even after the introductory period ends, thanks to its solid ongoing cash back rate on everyday purchases like dining, entertainment and groceries.

Pros

Among cards with no annual fee, the SavorOne is top-notch for the restaurant-goer – earn 3% back on both dining and entertainment, as well as 2% back at grocery stores. And another restaurant-friendly feature of this card: Make reservations on the fly at elite restaurants throughout the country with Capital One’s OpenTable partnership with its Premium Access program.

Cons

If you anticipate that you might carry a balance from time to time, this card may not be the best choice, with a regular APR of 15.49%-25.49% variable. Other no-annual-fee cards can be found with a lower interest rate, such as Blue Cash Everyday (14.49%-25.49% variable) or Discover it Cash Back (13.49%-24.49% variable).

Citi® Double Cash Card

Why it’s the best no annual fee card for cash back

You’ll never be stuck with just 1% cash back because your spending doesn’t fit into a card’s bonus category. The Citi Double Cash Card offers a flat rate of up to 2% cash back on every single purchase (1% when you buy and 1% when you pay off those purchases), which matches the bonus cash back rate of many cards.

Pros

Along with its terrific ongoing cash back rate, the card comes with a 0% introductory APR for 18 months on balance transfers (15.49%-25.49% variable thereafter), which could make all the difference if you need to hit pause on mounting interest charges and pay off debt. Plus, you can transfer your cash back to Citi ThankYou points at a rate of $1 cash back to 100 ThankYou points.

Cons

One of the card’s major flaws is its lack of a sign-up bonus. Many cash back cards offer a sign-up bonus of $150 or more if you meet spending requirements in the first few months. Also, there’s no 0% introductory APR offer on new purchases, so it won’t be of much help if you need to finance a larger purchase.

Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express

Why it’s the best no annual fee card for U.S. gas station and U.S. supermarket purchases

It’s hard to match the Blue Cash Everyday Card’s 3% cash back rate at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 in purchases per year, then 1%) without paying an annual fee. If you max out this bonus category, you’ll earn close to $180 cash back per year. Plus, you get unlimited 2% cash back at U.S. gas stations.

Pros

Not only does this card have tiered ongoing rewards that more than compete with other cash back cards, the regular APR starts out quite low at 14.49%-25.49% variable, which kicks in after a solid 0% intro APR offer of 15 months on purchases and balance transfers.

Cons

The welcome offer has a high spend of $1,000 after the first 3 months, given the $150 you earn is pretty standard for cash back cards with no annual fee. Also, although the rewards are excellent for 3 key categories, it’s only 1% back on everything else.

Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa® card

Why it’s the best no annual fee card for balance transfers

The card comes with a solid 0% introductory APR offer of 15 months on new purchases and qualifying balance transfers made in the first 120 days (15.49%-27.49% variable APR thereafter). That gives you more than a year to pay down your balance without worrying about interest charges undoing all your progress. Plus, you only have to spend $500 in the first 3 months to earn the card’s $150 sign-up bonus.

Pros

The card offers a few unique features that should appeal to savings-minded cardholders: You can get up to $600 worth of cell phone protection against covered damage and theft ($25 deductible) if you pay your monthly phone bill with this card, and if you use Google Pay™ or Apple Pay® at checkout, you can boost the card’s cash back rate from 1.5% to 1.8% for the first 12 months.

Cons

While the card’s low-end APR of 15.49% variable is lower than the average cash back card APR, its high-end APR of 27.49% variable is extremely high. This could come back to bite you if you don’t manage to pay off your transferred balance or new purchases by the end of the 15-month introductory period.

Compare the Best Credit Cards with No Annual Fee

*For 15 months, then 15.49% – 25.49% variable APR.

Methodology

No annual fee credit cards analyzed: 2,744

Criteria used: Rates and fees, rewards rates, sign-up bonus, other promotional offers, redemption options and flexibility, regular APR, extra features and benefits, customer service, credit needed, security, ease of application, ability to upgrade

What is an annual fee?

An annual fee on a credit card is a charge made each anniversary year. An annual fee might be charged on a credit-builder card, a rewards card or a luxury card, for example. Typically, you are benefiting in some fashion for having the card, such as when it’s a hotel or airline card. In fact, we found in our November 2019 credit card fees survey that most annual fee credit cards are travel cards. In our survey, we found that 26 of the 100 cards we surveyed had annual fees, unchanged from the previous year.

Who should get a no annual fee credit card?

New credit card users

If you’ve never held a card before, you might want to jump in with a card that has no annual fee until you better understand the market. That way, you can get in the habit of remembering those monthly payments, keeping track of your expenses and searching for the next upgrade, be it a travel card or a 0% intro APR card.

People who need to consolidate debt

Already hold cards and want to consolidate those balances? There are a host of cards that offer 0% intro APR on balance transfers, such as the Discover it Balance Transfer card, with a 18-month offer for balance transfers (with a variable 13.49% – 24.49% after that).

Occasional credit card users

If you only plan to use your card occasionally, a card with no annual fee is probably best, because you would need to spend a minimum on a card with an annual fee to make it worth your while.

Cards without annual fees can also be easier to get, because they sometimes require a lower credit score. If you need a secured card or a card for bad or fair credit, you’ll want to see if there is an annual fee, which can be another cost when cash is short.

Also, while many rewards cards have annual fees, there are some without one, which is ideal if you don’t plan to use the card extensively.

Common benefits of a no annual fee card

Rewards

You don’t have to get a credit card with an annual fee to enjoy rewards. Most cash back cards don’t have an annual fee, for example, and there are a couple of travel cards for the occasional traveler with no annual fee, such as the Capital One VentureOne.

Free credit score

Many cards, such as the Discover it Cash Back card, now offer a free credit score monthly or quarterly without you taking a hit to your credit.

Car rental insurance & roadside assistance

Called secondary auto insurance, cards like Chase Freedom Unlimited allow you to use this product as a supplementary item to your primary insurance. Some no annual fee cards also offer roadside assistance for such events as towing, fuel delivery and tire changing.

Purchase protection & price protection

Some cards, offer a program called price protection, which allows you to get a refund for the difference you paid for an item and a lower price found by your card issuer.

Concierge service

Some no annual fee cards such as the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card, offer comprehensive, personalized assistance in dining, entertainment and travel 24 hours a day.

Extended Warranty

A favorite among no annual fee cards and products with annual fees alike is the extended warranty. With the many American Express cards, for example, you can get up to 2 extra years warranty of items bought with your card (applies to items with warranties of 5 years or less).

Building credit

If you get a credit card for credit building that has no annual fee, that’s one less fee to worry about. In addition, you can find credit-builder cards that have minimal fees, such as the Discover it® Secured and the Capital One® Secured Mastercard®.

What to do if you’re unhappy with your annual fee card

If you’ve committed to a card with an annual fee and now you’re feeling a bit trapped, there are actually ways to get out of the annual fee without harming your credit.

Option 1: Downgrade the card

If you’re unsatisfied with the card and perks, instead of closing the card, call the card’s issuer and request a product change to downgrade to a card with no annual fee, advises Chelsea Hudson, personal finance expert with TopCashback.com. This will allow you to skip the annual fee without affecting your credit score.

If you want certain benefits of the older card, such as the credit limit, you’ll want to stay within product groups. So, for example you wouldn’t transition as a downgrade from the Chase Sapphire Reserve to a Southwest card, although you might downgrade to a Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.

When you downgrade, everything transfers to the new card, including account number, credit line, payment history, even length of time you have had the card active. The payment history and length of history are particularly important, because those impact your credit, and by retaining these with a product change, you keep them beyond 10 years on your credit file. Also, by maintaining the credit line, you keep your credit utilization ratio low, provided your balances are low, which is another important part of maintaining a healthy score.

Option 2: Close the card

If your wallet is weighed down with cards, closing the card with an annual fee can be an option. You’ll want to pay off any debt (don’t just transfer it to another card) and make sure you don’t have high debt in your combined cards, because that can impact your credit utilization ratio, and therefore, your credit score. Also, think twice before closing an older card, because your oldest card and your average age are factored into your credit.

Option 3: Ask for the annual fee to be waived

There’s another little-known option – simply ask your issuer to waive the annual fee. The answer may surprise you. In fact, we found that 70% of consumers who asked successfully had their annual fees waived or lowered.

Cardholders who asked…

• Received a higher credit limit
• 85%
• Got a late fee waived
• 84%
• Got an annual fee waived or lowered
• 70%
• Got a lower interest rate
• 56%

Source: CreditCards.com study

Is it worth getting a card with an annual fee?

To know if a credit card annual fee is worth it, you’ll have to take a close look at a card’s features and decide if the rewards and benefits you’ll get justify paying a fee. This is sometimes easier said than done, since issuers often offer 2 versions of a similar card – one with an annual fee and one without – making it hard to tell at a glance which is a better fit.
If you’re debating whether it’s worth paying a credit card annual fee, consider the following:

• Sign-up bonus – Cards with annual fees usually come with more lucrative sign-up bonuses, which can eclipse the fee in the first year. That’s doubly true if the card offers to waive the annual fee for the first year. That said, you can’t expect to get a huge bonus every year to offset the card’s annual fee, so you’ll have to be sure its other features make it a good fit long term.
• Ongoing rewards and bonus categories – Cards with annual fees often feature higher ongoing rewards rates or unique bonus categories that can help offset a fee even after year one. Take a look at your spending habits and see how they line up with a card’s bonus categories. If you can pick out your largest expenses and find a card that offers rewards bonuses in that category of spending, the annual fee may pay for itself and then some.
• Perks & benefits – In addition to large sign-up bonuses and inflated rewards rates, cards with an annual fee often feature unique and potentially very valuable perks for cardholders. Many cards offer benefits like airport lounge access or credits for dining, transportation and expedited security screening. Depending on your lifestyle, these perks alone could help justify the cost of an annual fee.

To help clarify things further, let’s go through the process with a few cards, comparing no annual fee cards with cards that charge an annual fee and noting the differences in rewards, benefits and net earnings. We’ll use one of each type from American Express and Capital One as examples.

Comparing benefits between cards with and without annual fees…

As you can see, while the Venture cards have similar benefits, the Blue Cash products vary in the 0% APR offer, so it’s worthwhile to read the fine print. As expected, the rewards are better on the cards with an annual fee.

Which is better: annual fee or no annual fee?

While cards with annual fees often have superior benefits, money can be saved with a card that has no annual fee.

You can save money by avoiding an annual fee if you don’t plan to spend too high of an amount. For example, with the Blue Cash Everyday, which has no annual fee, and the Blue Cash Preferred, which has a $95 annual fee, with a $3,200 spend at U.S. supermarkets, the Blue Cash cards come out within a penny of each other.

Blue Cash Everyday vs. Blue Cash Preferred…

If you spend less, the Blue Cash Everyday is worth your while. If you spend more, then the Blue Cash Preferred is the best pick.

Take another example. The Capital One Venture Rewards has a significantly higher sign-up bonus than the Capital One VentureOne Rewards – 50,000 miles as opposed to 20,000. Also, the $95 annual fee for the Venture Rewards is waived the first year. But what about after the first year?

VentureOne Rewards vs. Venture Rewards…

So, you see that the VentureOne Rewards is worth your while if you plan to spend less than $12,750 a year after the first year.

How to pair no annual fee and annual fee cards

You’ve practiced on your no annual fee card, and you feel you have this rewards thing down. Now it’s time to think more strategically. It’s time to look at pairing cards.

While a no annual fee card can have great cash back rewards on all spending or even specific categories, it may not have the outsized rewards of a travel card. With a travel card, you can get travel and purchase benefits, travel credits, even credits with Uber – all things you likely won’t get with your cash back card.

But if you play it right, you can use the cash back, no annual fee card for, say, all spending, and use the travel card to get a sizeable sign-up bonus with your favorite hotel or airline brand, as well as outstanding ongoing rewards for that brand.

For example, the Wells Fargo Cash Wise will earn you 1.5% back on all purchases, while the Chase Sapphire Preferred gives you 2X points on travel and dining. Simply use the CSP for those purchases and the Cash Wise for everything else. In addition to the ongoing rewards, the Sapphire Preferred card will earn you 60,000 points after a $4,000 spend within 3 months.

What to know when pairing Chase cards

When pairing no annual fee cards and annual fee cards, there is no comparison when looking at the Chase cards.

Through the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, you can get the added travel bonus points of the Sapphire cards. In fact, the Sapphire Reserve, delivers a 50% bonus on points when you redeem for travel through Ultimate Rewards.

Then there is the Freedom Unlimited. While you can’t earn an Ultimate Rewards bonus with the no annual fee Freedom Unlimited card, you can match it up with Sapphire cards and transfer the Freedom rewards, use them toward travel, and get the boost that way.

Frequently asked questions

Is a no annual fee credit card the same as a free credit card?

Even if a credit card has no annual fee, it is most certainly not a “free” credit card, primarily because if you carry a balance, you may incur interest charges.

Then there are the other fees you’ll find. In November 2019, we surveyed 100 cards and we counted 438 potential fees listed on new cardholders’ credit card agreements, including not only annual fees, but balance transfer fees, cash advance fees and penalty fees. So an annual fee is only one aspect of the charges you can face with a credit card.

Can you get a no annual fee credit card with bad credit?

It’s rare, but there are credit cards without an annual fee for consumers with bad credit and even no credit history. In some cases, they even have rewards. For example, the Discover it Student Cash Back offers no annual fee as well as 5% cash back on rotating categories up to $1,500 spend a quarter (1% back after that), with a required quarterly sign up.

Do you have to pay an annual fee when you don’t use the credit card?

If you have a credit card with an annual fee, you are responsible for paying the fee even if you don’t use the card. However, there are ways to avoid paying the fee – for example, we’ve found that you have a strong chance of having your annual fee waived simply by asking the card issuer to do so. And then there is the card that waives the annual fee the first year. We found that of 100 cards surveyed in November 2019, 9 of those cards waived the annual fee the first year.

Want some more information?

Check out our reviews for no annual fee cards to explore more credit card offers that waive that cost every year.

Laura is an editor and writer at CreditCards.com. She has written extensively on all things credit cards and works to bring you the most up-to-date analysis and advice. Laura’s work has been cited in such publications as the New York Times and Associated Press. You can reach her by e-mail at laura.mohammad@creditcards.com and on Twitter @creditcards_lm.