When you use a cash back credit card for purchases, you can get a rebate that often is 3%, 5%, or even 10% of your purchase. Some cards offer generous cash back on every purchase. Others give you cash back in specific categories. Here are our picks for the best cash back credit cards.
The best cash back credit cards
| Card | Why it makes this list |
|---|---|
 Chase Freedom Unlimited® Annual fee: $0 | 3% rewards everywhere for a year for new cardmembers. 1.5% cash back everywhere with extended warranty and purchase protection. The Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns 1.5% cash back everywhere, plus 5% on travel through Chase, 3% on dining, and 3% on drugstores. New cardmembers can get their first-year cash back doubled under the current welcome offer. And the card has an excellent extended warranty benefit. More on the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. |
 Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card Annual fee: $0 | 2% cash back rewards everywhere. The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card earns 2% cash back rewards on every purchase. The card requires no minimum reward redemption amount. More on the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card. |
 Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express $0 Introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95 | 6% cash back on up to $6,000 spent at U.S. grocery stores each year. Consumer insurance benefits. The Blue Cash Preferred® Card earns 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $6,000 per year (then 1%), plus 6% on select U.S. streaming subscriptions and 3% at U.S. gas stations and on transit. The card also includes the trifecta of Amex consumer insurance benefits: Purchase protection, extended warranty, and return protection. More on the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. |
 Citi Custom Cash℠ Card Annual fee: $0 | 5% on up to $500 spent in flexible bonus categories each month. The Citi Custom Cash card gives you 5% cash back on up to $500 spent in the eligible category in which you spend the most each month. Eligible categories include restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, and live entertainment. More on the Citi Custom Cash card. |
 Chase Freedom Flex℠ Annual fee: $0 | 9% on groceries by stacking welcome offer with bonus categories. Welcome offer offering 5% on up to $12,000 of gas and groceries. 5% in rotating categories. The Chase Freedom Flex features 5% cash back on up to $1,500 of spending in categories that change quarterly. The categories are frequently usable. And the current welcome bonus can get you up to 9% cash back rewards on your groceries in Q1 2024. More on Chase Freedom Flex℠. |
 Prime Visa Annual fee: $0 Requires paid Amazon Prime membership. | 5% rewards on Amazon with Chase extended warranty protection. With the Prime Visa, you can get 5% cash back at Amazon and your purchases are covered by Chase extended warranty protection. More on the Amazon Prime Visa. |
How we picked: Our methodology
In selecting cards for our best cash back category cards list, we wanted to make sure that we were making a list that was useful to you. We started with the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card, what we think is the current best 2% cash back credit card available with no annual fee.
We then added cards to the list if they gave us something valuable. Here are some reasons why cards might make our list:
- A welcome offer that offers additional cash back on all purchases or in common categories for the first year.
- Increased cash back in common, useful categories.
- 1.5% cash back paired with an extended warranty benefit, useful for purchases of electronics, appliances, and other items with warranties.
- Increased cash back at a general-merchandise retailer like Amazon. (We didn’t include cards offering increased cash back at specialty retailers.)
Why we included each of these cash back credit cards on the list
Chase Freedom Unlimited®: 3% everywhere for a year for new cardmembers
The Chase Freedom Unlimited is a great card for everyday cash back rewards. But it becomes perhaps the best card for everyday rewards when you consider one of its available welcome bonuses. Right now, new cardmembers can get their cash back rewards doubled in the first year of having the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. That means that you’ll get at least 3% total cash back everywhere and up to 10% in select categories.
Chase Freedom Unlimited® welcome bonus
To learn more about the Chase Freedom Unlimited welcome bonus, click over to our feature on the Chase Freedom Unlimited welcome bonus.
About Chase Freedom Unlimited®
Chase Freedom Unlimited® rewards
Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card: 2% cash back rewards everywhere with no annual fee
The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card gives you 2% cash back rewards with no annual fee. Of the 2% cash back rewards cards out there, it remains our favorite because it offers slightly more in the way of benefits than competing cards. With the Active Cash, you get 2% rewards, plus cell phone protection and a secondary auto rental collision damage waiver.
About the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express: 6% rewards at U.S. supermarkets. 3% at U.S. gas stations
For most people, groceries and gas represent a large part of their spending. And the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is simultaneously one of the best cards for groceries and one of the best cards for gas. We also like the card’s purchase protection, return protection, and extended warranty benefits. Between the cash back rewards and the stellar Amex benefits, we think it’s worth paying this card’s $95 annual fee.
Blue Cash Preferred® Card welcome bonus
To learn more about the Blue Cash Preferred® welcome bonus, click over to our feature on the Blue Cash Preferred® card.
About the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
Blue Cash Preferred® Rewards
| Groceries at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%. | 3% | |
| Gas at U.S. gas stations on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%. | 3% | |
| U.S. online retail purchases on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%. | 3% | |
| Other purchases | 1% |
Rewards are earned as cash back.
Citi Custom Cash℠ Card: 5% rewards at your choice of category
We like cash back cards that give us choices, and the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card offers 5% cash back on the category of our choosing. Technically, the card awards 5% cash back on the category where you spend the most each statement cycle. But we can choose which card we bring out of our wallet for each purchase. Used alongside our other cards that offer rotating categories or bonus cash back in categories, the Citi Custom Cash℠ can fill in the holes in almost any wallet.
Eligible categories include restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, live entertainment, select travel, select transit and select streaming services.
About the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card
The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card earns ThankYou® Points, but is marketed as a cash back card. With the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card, you can get 5% cash back on up to $500 in spending on the category where you spend the most each month. The Custom Cash carries no annual fee.
Eligible 5% categories include restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, live entertainment, select travel, select transit and select streaming services.
The best way to use the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card is to select a bonus category and use the card primarily for that bonus category. The card earns 5% rewards only in the eligible category where you spend the most each month, and only on your first $500 in spending in that category. Other purchases earn 1% rewards.
Citi Custom Cash℠ Card Rewards
| 5%* | Your chosen top eligible spending category each billing cycle. | |
| 1% | All other purchases |
*Earn 5% on the first $500 spent in your top eligible spending category each billing cycle. Eligible categories include restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, and live entertainment.
Chase Freedom Flex℠ card: 5% back in rotating categories + 5% on gas and groceries for new cardmembers
We like the Chase Freedom Flex℠ for its rotating 5% category rewards. The card earns 5% rewards on up to $1,500 of spending in its featured rotating categories each quarter. Historically, the categories on the Freedom Flex℠ have been useful. Here are a few categories that appeared in 2023: Grocery stores, Target, Lowe’s, Amazon.com, gas stations, PayPal, and wholesale clubs.
But we really like the card for its current welcome offer. New cardmembers can get a $200 welcome bonus, plus 5% on gas station and grocery store purchases (up to $12,000 of spending) in the first year they have the card. Better yet, the welcome offer stacks with the rotating category bonuses, meaning you can get 9% on your groceries in the first quarter of 2024. And you’ll be able to get 9% back on gas later in the year, if Chase offers gas as a category bonus.
About the Chase Freedom Flex℠
Chase Freedom Flex℠ rewards
Prime Visa: 5% cash back on everything Amazon
Store credit cards wouldn’t normally make our list of the best cash back credit cards. But if you are an Amazon Prime member, the Amazon Prime Visa is an essential cash back credit card. If you’re a Prime member, you probably spend more at Amazon than any other store. And the Prime Visa will offer you 5% cash back rewards at the place where you shop the most.
We especially like that the card offers Chase’s excellent extended warranty protection benefit. Many cash back cards drop the extended warranty benefit, meaning you’re forced to choose between earning maximum rewards and having your purchases protected. Not so with the Prime Visa. Qualifying purchases get automatic extended warranty protection for an additional year.
