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Cards approachable for a 670 to 739 FICO score. Strong rewards without the highest credit profile. Many of these are first or second cards for people who graduated from a student or secured card and want to step up to real rewards.
Still the strongest food-spend card in the market. The $325 fee nets down fast if the monthly credits fit your habits, and the 2026 refresh added real hotel earning.
The simplest good card in the market. 2% on everything with no fee. The 3% foreign transaction fee makes it a poor pick abroad.
The best no-fee card for households that eat out and stream a lot. The grocery bonus is a meaningful upgrade over flat 2% cards.
The grocery card to beat for families that hit the $6,000 cap. At $360 in supermarket cash back alone, the math works for almost any household with a full kitchen.
A no-fee cash-back card that punches well above its weight, especially when paired with a Sapphire that turns its cash back into transferable points.
A no-fee card that pays 5% back on Amazon, Whole Foods and Chase Travel as long as you keep an eligible Prime membership. The 5% rate depends on paying for Prime, and everyday spending outside the bonus categories earns only 1%.
The Active Cash alternative for households that already hold a Citi Premier. Pairing the Double Cash with a Premier turns your 2% into transferable ThankYou Points.
The $95 fee is easy to cover if you fly British Airways from the US, because the Reward Flight statement credits are worth up to $600 a year. Everyday earning is weak at 1 Avios per dollar, and Avios are only useful inside the Avios ecosystem.
One of the few no-annual-fee cards that pays 5% on categories most issuers ignore, such as home utilities and cell phone bills. It only works if you remember to re-select your categories every quarter, because unselected spending drops to 1%.
A fine starter card. The 1.5% rate trails the 2% flat cards, but no foreign transaction fee makes it the better no-fee pick for travel abroad.
A $95 airline card whose annual Companion Fare and free checked bag can cover the fee on one round trip for a pair of travelers. Earning outside Alaska and Hawaiian purchases is ordinary, and the points only work inside the Atmos Rewards program.
A travel card that charges no annual fee, waives foreign transaction fees, and still includes a Priority Pass membership and a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit. U.S. Bank points do not transfer to airlines or hotels, so they are worth about a cent each no matter how you redeem.
The best no-fee category card for BofA banking customers. Preferred Rewards turns 3% into 5.25% on the category you spend the most on.
Every purchase earns 2% and the rewards sweep straight into a brokerage, IRA, HSA or 529 account, with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. There is no welcome bonus, so its value comes entirely from long-term use.
A $149 business card for companies that fly Southwest often enough to use the free checked bags, Group 5 boarding and 6,000 anniversary points. Rapid Rewards points cannot be transferred to other programs, so the value depends almost entirely on Southwest fares.
The 2025 refresh raised the fee to $229 and killed the $75 travel credit, but bag fees on Southwest made the checked-bag benefit real money. Worth it for regular Southwest flyers, not for anyone else.
Flat 1.5% back with no annual fee, rising to as much as 2.62% for Preferred Rewards for Business members. The 3% international transaction fee makes it a poor fit for businesses that buy abroad.
A no-annual-fee dining card with a genuinely high 4X rate, held back by a $2,000 quarterly cap and a 3% foreign transaction fee. Points redeem at roughly a cent into a U.S. Bank account and cannot be transferred anywhere.
The default card for anyone who flies United a few times a year. The checked-bag benefit alone covers the fee for most, and the April 2026 bump to 3x on United purchases sweetened it.
The two-free-bags change in 2026 made this an easy call for Delta households. Earning rates are modest, so pair it with a stronger everyday card.
The top-tier Chase Disney card, at $149 a year, pays 10% back on Disney, Hulu and ESPN subscriptions and adds a $10 monthly streaming credit plus two anniversary bonuses worth $300 if you hit the spend thresholds. Rewards can only be spent at Disney or against airfare, so the fee is hard to justify without regular Disney spending.
A low-cost business card for companies that fly Alaska or Hawaiian, with a free checked bag for up to seven people and an annual Companion Fare that can cover the fee. Points are Atmos Rewards miles, so the value is tied to one airline group.
A $100 airline credit and a $120 Global Entry credit beat the $95 fee. PenFed stopped waiving that fee for military members and checking customers on September 28, 2026. PenFed points are worth $0.0085 to $0.01 each with no transfer partners, and the Priority Pass membership still charges $35 per lounge visit.
The card pays 4% on DoorDash and Caviar and covers a year of DashPass, so it works for people who already order delivery regularly. Outside food and groceries it earns 1%, and the DashPass benefit auto-renews at a charge unless you cancel or spend $10,000 a year.
A no-annual-fee flat-rate card whose first-year Miles Match effectively doubles the 1.5x rate to 3x for 12 months. Miles are only worth 1 cent each and there are no transfer partners, and Discover acceptance is weaker outside the United States.
Worth holding for the anniversary night alone if you stay at Marriott once a year. Everyday earning is weak because Bonvoy points run cheap.
Instacart spending earns 5%, but only on the first $6,000 a year, with another 5% on Chase Travel bookings. Chase lists no travel or purchase protections on this card, so it is narrower than most Chase cash back products.
The entry AAdvantage card: no annual fee, 2 miles per dollar at grocery stores and on American Airlines purchases, and Loyalty Points that count toward status. It has no free checked bag and charges a 3% foreign transaction fee, so it is a supplement rather than a primary travel card.
The 2% category is narrow and capped at $1,000 a quarter, but doubling your entire first year of cash back with no minimum spend is real value on a card that charges no annual fee.
A flat 1.5% on everything is easy to use and the $250 bonus is solid for a no-fee card, but the 3% foreign transaction fee makes it a poor choice to carry when you travel abroad.
5% cash back on up to $1,500 a quarter in rotating categories beats most flat-rate cards if you remember to activate every three months, and the first-year cash back match makes the effective return even better.
The 5% gas rate is one of the best available anywhere, but you're locked into paying for a Costco membership just to hold the card, and the cash back arrives once a year as a certificate instead of monthly statement credits.
A debt-payoff card, not a rewards card. The 21-month transfer window is the entire point.
A no-annual-fee card that returns 1% in Disney Rewards Dollars, which can only be spent at Disney. The park discounts and vacation financing are the real draw. The earn rate is below what a general 2% cash back card pays.
