Best Credit Cards With No Annual Fee in 2024

An annual fee on a credit card is a fee that you pay once a year for the privilege of using the card and its benefits. Typically, you’ll find an annual fee on a credit card that fits into two categories:

• Travel credit cards typically charge annual fees because they offer a wider array of benefits — these may include free checked bags or lounge access or elevated rewards when you use your credit card to book your air and hotel reservations.
• Credit cards for people with bad credit may charge an annual fee (in addition to or in lieu of a security deposit) because applicants will likely struggle to qualify for better card options.

There are many credit cards that don’t have an annual fee and offer perks like cash back or cellphone protection.

With numerous credit cards offering no annual fee, you’ll want to find the right one that pairs your spending habits with financing and rewards that you can use. Ask yourself the following questions to evaluate the options as you choose the right credit card:

• Do I want an intro APR for balance transfers or new purchases? Cards that come with a 0% intro APR offer can help you out with managing your budget when you have a big expense. If you know that you have a large expense coming up and could benefit from having a year or more to pay it off, look for a no-annual-fee credit card that comes with a long intro APR offer.
• What type of rewards do I want? Cash back, airline miles and hotel points are just a few of the credit card reward currencies. Avid travelers (or those saving for a big trip) might prefer a card that offers travel rewards. Cash back or points that can be converted to statement credit or gift cards are good for everyone.
• How complex of a rewards program do I want to deal with? Do you want the best rewards with minimal effort? A flat-rate cash back, no-annual-fee card may be best — for example, you’ll get cash back on each and every purchase with a card like the Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card. But if you don’t mind activating categories and spending strategically to ensure you maximize rewards, a card with rotating categories (like the Discover it^® Cash Back) is worth checking out.
• Can I meet the spending requirements for the sign-up bonus? Most of the credit cards with no annual fee come with a sign-up bonus. While it’s a one-time offer that you use or lose, it’s essentially free money that you can get by meeting the issuers requirements. Do some quick math to ensure you’ll spend enough money on your card within the time frame to earn the bonus.

In many cases, yes, it is possible to switch to a card with no annual fee if the issuer has a suitable no annual fee option. In many cases, switching from a credit card with an annual fee to a card with no annual fee is considered “downgrading.” This is because cards with no annual fees tend to have fewer benefits and rewards than annual fee cards.

Remember that issuers can impose restrictions on product changes. They may:

• Require your account to open for a certain amount of time
• Disallow changes to a particular card
• Require that changes be kept within the same card “family” (e.g., Chase Ultimate Rewards® cards or Marriott Bonvoy cards)

If downgrading isn’t an option, you can cancel a credit card. But before you cancel your credit card with an annual fee, remember that the length of your credit history factors into your credit score. You may notice a slight drop to your credit score when you close a credit card. You can raise your credit score with positive actions like making payments on time and keeping your credit utilization ratio low.

A credit card with an annual fee may make sense for people who fall into one of these categories:

• Applicants with poor/bad credit. Opening a credit card without a credit check or security deposit, like the OpenSky^® Secured Visa^® Credit Card or AvantCard Credit Card, may help them build/rebuild credit in the easiest way. These cards charge annual fees to mitigate risk.
• Frequent travelers can access valuable travel benefits by choosing a travel credit card that has perks they’ll use and add up to more than the annual fee.
• Consumers who’ll make full use of the elevated rewards rates offered by a premium credit card. The Blue Cash Everyday^® Card from American Express and the Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express are in the same card family, but the latter offers a higher rewards rate in certain categories. If you maxed out the cards’ bonus categories, you would earn $265 more with the Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express card (with its annual fee considered).

In selecting the best credit cards with no annual fee, we evaluated factors including rewards programs, APRs and accessibility to consumers with varying levels of credit.

Further, some of the rewards cards on this list earn cash back, while others earn points or miles; which is best will depend on how you intend to use the card.

In addition, many of the cards here offer a chance for new cardmembers to earn a sign-up bonus, which was weighed as a positive factor.

Some of the cards on the list offer 0% intro APR periods, making them good choices for consumers looking to pay off debt without incurring interest for a certain amount of time.

Finally, useful features, such as extended warranty or rental car protection, were evaluated as well.