Best Free Credit Cards

• Our picks
• Best free credit cards compared
• How we picked the best free credit cards
• Sources
• About the author
• User questions & answers
• Expert opinions

Chase Freedom Unlimited®

 

Why We Like It: The best free credit card is the Chase Freedom Unlimited® because it’s free to use ($0 annual fee) and it has a low intro APR for a long period of time (0% for 15 months). Plus, you’ll earn great rewards. Cardholders get 5% cash back on travel through Chase, 3% back at restaurants and drugstores, and 1.5% back on all other purchases (plus an additional 1.5% cash back on everything, up to $20,000 spent the first year). 

 

What We Don’t Like: This card does have a foreign transaction fee and a balance transfer fee, so you may want to consider other options if you’re likely to trigger those charges. In addition, you should not carry a balance from month to month once the intro APR expires if you want to avoid interest charges.
 

Who Should Get It: Apply for Chase Freedom Unlimited if you have a 700+ credit score and you want a great all-around credit card.
 

Alternatives to Consider: The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card also offers rewards at a high rate with no annual fee and low-interest promotions.
 

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Wells Fargo Reflect® Card

 

Why We Like It: The Wells Fargo Reflect® Card has the potential to be free for quite a long time, thanks to its $0 annual fee and introductory APR of 0% for 21 months from account opening. That combination can save you a lot of money on finance charges.

 

What We Don’t Like: This card has a balance transfer fee and the potential for a high regular APR. You also won’t earn rewards.

 

Who Should Get It: Consider applying for Wells Fargo Reflect if you have good credit and want to avoid interest charges for a long time.

 

Alternatives to Consider: If you have excellent credit, you should consider the BankAmericard® credit card, too.

 

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Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card

 

Why We Like It: The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card is the best free credit card with straightforward rewards. It has a $0 annual fee and a 3% foreign transaction fee. It offers an introductory APR of 0% for 15 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers. And it rewards cardholders with 2% cash rewards on all purchases. Plus, you can get an extra $200 cash rewards after spending $500 in the first 3 months.
 

What We Don’t Like: This card has a balance transfer fee and a fairly high regular interest rate.
 

Who Should Get It: Apply for Wells Fargo Active Cash if you have good credit or better and don’t want to wonder how much you’ll earn in rewards on any given purchase. It’s best if you can comfortably qualify for the card’s initial bonus, too.
 

Alternatives to Consider: The Citi Double Cash Card has very similar rewards.
 

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Capital One Platinum Credit Card

 

Why We Like It: The Capital One Platinum Credit Card (see Rates & Fees) is the best free credit card for building credit. It has a $0 annual fee, does not require a security deposit, and doesn’t add foreign transaction fees to purchases processed abroad.

What We Don’t Like: The downside is the card has no rewards, but free credit improvement is worth more when you’re just starting out. You just need to make sure you pay the bill on time every month and avoid maxing out your spending limit, and you should see solid credit score gains.
 

Who Should Get It: Apply for Capital One Platinum if you’re a newcomer who wants to build credit for free.
 

Alternatives to Consider: The Petal® 2 Visa® Credit Card is another free starter credit card worth looking into.
 

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Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card for Students

 

Why We Like It: The Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card for Students is one of the best free credit cards for students. It has a $0 annual fee, an introductory APR of 0% for 15 billing cycles, and valuable rewards. In addition to an initial bonus of $200 after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days, cardholders earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

 

That package is better than what most credit cards offer, let alone cards for students.

 

What We Don’t Like: You will need to choose another option if you study abroad because the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card for Students charges a foreign transaction fee. The card’s regular APR can also be pretty high, at 18.24% - 28.24% Variable.

 

Who Should Get It: Consider applying for the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card for Students if you’re a student with excellent credit who isn’t planning any international travel.

 

Alternatives to Consider: Compare WalletHub’s picks for the best student credit cards, all of which are free to own.

 

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Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

 

Why We Like It: The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card (see Rates & Fees) is one of the best free credit cards for travel rewards. It has a $0 annual fee, an introductory APR of 0% for 15 months, an initial bonus of 20,000 miles for spending $500 in the first 3 months, and competitive ongoing rewards. Cardholders earn 5 miles per $1 spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, and 1.25 miles per $1 on all other purchases.

 

Plus, you can redeem your rewards for pretty much any travel expense.

 

What We Don’t Like: This card has a balance transfer fee and the potential for a high regular APR.

 

Who Should Get It: Consider applying for Capital One VentureOne if you have good credit and want to travel in the future but are either an infrequent traveler or a light spender.

 

Alternatives to Consider: You could get better rewards, for a fee, from the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

Bear in mind that the best free credit cards aren’t necessarily the same as the market’s best overall credit cards. That’s especially true if you have good or excellent credit and want a rewards card. Paying an annual fee could help you get more-lucrative perks in that case.

It’s also worth noting that we consider secured credit cards with no annual fee to be “free” despite their required security deposit. The deposit is fully refundable, after all.

Finally, remember that no credit card will be completely free if you use it irresponsibly. Missing due dates or carrying a large balance from month to month will lead to expensive late fees and finance charges, not to mention costly credit-score damage. If you aren’t sure what your credit score is, and thus what type of card to apply for, you can check your latest score for free on WalletHub.

To identify the best free credit cards, WalletHub’s editors regularly compare more than 1,500 credit card offers. We start by excluding all credit cards with monthly and annual membership fees, as well as any with one-time fees assessed prior to account opening.

We then evaluate the remaining membership fee-free credit cards based on expected cardholder savings. In particular, we project how much the average cardholder would save from a card’s rewards or its interest-free introductory financing period, depending on the card.

It’s important to remember that no credit card is guaranteed to be 100% free forever. But if you pick the right card and use it responsibly, you can avoid any added expense.

WalletHub actively maintains a database of 1,500+ credit card offers, from which we select the best options for different applicants as well as derive market-wide takeaways and trends. The underlying data is compiled from credit card company websites or provided directly by the credit card issuers. We also leverage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to develop cardholder profiles, used to estimate cards’ potential savings.