Credit Card Comparison
Cards ranked by net rewards on your actual spending, earn rates × your budget, minus the annual fee, instead of whoever shouts the biggest percentage. Carrying a balance? Flip to Low interest and optimize the rate instead.
Net rewards per year on your spend
Top 10 in view. Ranked by your math, never by referral commissions.
The cards, best first for you
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| Card | Annual fee | Earn | Net rewards/yr |
|---|
Points cards are valued conservatively (~1¢/point), transfer-savvy travellers often do better. Carrying a balance? Rewards are noise: see the payoff calculator first.
How this is calculated
Net rewards/yr = Σ(monthly category spend × card earn rate) × 12 − annual fee, across groceries, gas & transit, dining, and everything else. With the welcome-bonus toggle on, the estimated bonus value is added as a first-year figure (bonuses need a minimum spend within a set window, shown per card).
Points programs are converted at a conservative ~1¢/point; Aeroplan and Membership Rewards routinely beat that with transfers, so treat travel-card figures as floors. Category caps (several 4–5% rates cap monthly or annually) are noted but not modelled, heavy category spenders should check the cap.
Low interest view: ranked by purchase APR, not rewards, if you carry a balance, a 12.99% rate beats any cash back. Pair with the payoff calculator and debt payoff planner.
What this doesn't model: earn caps, insurance packages, per-card point valuations, first-year-free promos, and credit approval odds. Figures as of , pending verification, issuer pages are the source of truth.
Credit card FAQ
How do I pick the best card?
Compute net rewards on your own numbers, category spend × earn rate, minus the fee. That's exactly what the table does; the "best" card changes with your budget, which is the point.
Are annual-fee cards worth it?
Only when the extra earn beats the fee, roughly $500+/mo in the card's bonus categories for a $120 fee at a 2-point edge. The toggle shows how bonuses distort year one.
Do welcome bonuses matter more than rates?
Year one, usually. But they rotate monthly, require minimum spend, and the card must still earn its keep in year two, check the ongoing rate.
Does applying hurt my credit score?
A hard inquiry costs a few points for a few months; one or two a year are immaterial. New credit can help long-term by lowering utilization.
Carrying a balance?
Then rewards are noise, 20% interest erases 2% cash back instantly. Optimize the rate (low-interest or 0% balance-transfer) and build the exit plan with the payoff calculator.