Best No-Fee Cash Back Rewards Credit Cards in 2023

Looking for a handful of fairly simple cashback rewards credit cards that will get you tons of rewards for minimal effort, all without any annual fees? This is the article for you!

If you’re not familiar with credit cards, I’d recommend checking out our previous article first:

Introduction to Credit Cards: Free Money?

Oh, and this won’t be like other “best credit card” lists on other websites that promote low-value cards simply to earn a referral bonus. This article is not just a click farm for referral links, and these are not paid advertisements. I am only recommending cards that I personally think are useful⁠—I want other people to enjoy the same benefits that I do!

Now with that out of the way, let’s get started! Or just scroll to the bottom for the TL;DR version.

PayPal Cashback Mastercard

• 3% back on PayPal purchases
• 2% back on everything else
• No foreign transaction fee

If you had to choose just one credit card, choose this one. This has been my main credit card for over 4 years. Most online purchases can be done via PayPal these days, which makes it quite lucrative, and 2% on everything else is pretty good too, if not unprecedented.

If you’re looking for an alternative card that gets 2% back on everything, you can consider the Citi Double Cash, which also has no annual fee (but doesn’t get a bonus on PayPal purchases).

Pros

• Good cash back rate, especially for PayPal purchases
• Easy to redeem cash to PayPal account any time with no minimums
• No categories to think about

Cons

• Not currently accepting new applications (waitlist only)
• Requires PayPal account (some people don’t like PayPal)
• Fraud detection isn’t very good (I’ve had my card frozen for fraud multiple times erroneously, including multiple times on Zipcar, which I have a monthly subscription to!)

Capital One SavorOne

• 3% back on dining, bars, grocery stores (except stores like Walmart and Target), entertainment, and select streaming services
• 5% back on hotels and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel website
• No foreign transaction fee
• $200 bonus when you spend $500 in your first 3 months

This is a pretty fantastic general card, since it has such a great cash back rate on such a wide variety of categories. The streaming category includes most popular ones like Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify, while the entertainment category includes movie tickets, sporting events, zoos, amusement parks, bowling alleys, and more. For a full list of what’s included in each category, see here.

Note that there is also another version of the card, the Capital One Savor, that offers 4% back (instead of 3%) on dining, bars, entertainment, and select streaming services (but still 3% on grocery stores). However, the Savor has a $95 annual fee, which means that you would need to spend more $9500 per year on on dining, bars, entertainment, and streaming in order for the upgrade be worth it. That’s almost $800 per month! If you’re a big spender on these categories, you might want to consider it. However, the $9500 minimum assumes that all of your spending goes on that card, which may not be the case. For example, a family member or friend might pick up the check sometimes when you eat out. Or if you have a card or two with rotating categories (like the Chase Freedom Flex and Discover it Cash Back mentioned below), you might prefer to use them instead during some parts of the year (if you have both, you can often get 5% back on restaurants for half of the year). So do the math if you want, or just stick with the SavorOne and don’t worry about it.

Pros

• Great cash back on many categories
• Categories don’t change
• Great signup bonus

Cons

• None?

American Express Blue Cash Everyday

• 3% back on gas, grocery stores, and US online retail purchases (on first $6000 in each category)
• 1% back on everything else
• $200 bonus when you spend $2000 in your first 6 months

Newly revamped with lots of great new rewards in July 2022, this is now another fantastic general card, since it has such a great cash back rate on common categories. Also included are dozens of special offers, many of which are pretty decent.

Pros

• Great cash back on common categories
• Categories don’t change
• Good signup bonus
• Car rental loss and damage insurance

Cons

• 2.7% foreign transaction fee

U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa

• 5% back on 2 categories you choose every 3 months, for first $2000/quarter (1% after)
• 2% back on a third category (no limit)
• 1% back on everything else
• $200 bonus when you spend $1000 in your first 4 months

This card lets you choose 2 categories every quarter to receive 5% cash back on. The 5% categories include:

• TV, internet, and streaming
• Fast food
• Cell phone providers
• Department stores
• Home utilities
• Select clothing stores
• Electronics stores
• Sporting goods stores
• Movie theaters
• Gyms/fitness centers
• Furniture stores
• Ground transportation

I personally use it for my internet and utility bills, since I don’t have another good card for those, and I don’t spend reliably enough in the other categories to make it worth it. My utility bills are about $400 per month, which means I get about $240 per year in cash back rewards. I don’t even need to think about this card either since I keep everything on autopay; I don’t even keep it in my wallet! It’s an easy win.

Pros

• Fairly versatile
• Includes uncommon categories that are hard to find on other cards
• Good signup bonus

Cons

• You need to activate your categories every quarter manually. Though luckily, it’s pretty easy, because they send you a reminder email and even give you a button to just keep using the ones you set for the previous quarter.
• As with most category-based rewards cards, the categorization of different purchases isn’t always what you might assume. For example, some bakeries are classified as restaurants, while others are classified as grocery stores.

Citi Custom Cash

• 5% back on the category you spend the most in each month, for first $500 per month (1% after)
• 1% back on everything else
• $200 bonus when you spend $750 in your first 3 months

This is a very interesting card because it dynamically adjusts to how you spend every month. For example, if you spent mostly at grocery stores in the past month, then it gives you 5% back at grocery stores. Some of the main categories are:

• Restaurants
• Gas stations
• Grocery stores
• Drugstores
• Home improvement stores
• Gyms
• Flights, hotels, and cruises
• Other travel (including car rentals, RV rentals, and taxis)

Obviously, this card works best if you use it almost exclusively for one category at a time. I personally use it as a restaurant card for most of the time. It really shines when you combine it with other cards like the Chase Freedom Flex and the Discover it Cash Back cards (mentioned below) that change their 5% categories every 3 months, because then you can just use this card to fill in whatever gaps they leave in your cash back strategy.

One thing to note is that the “month” schedule on your credit card doesn’t necessarily align with calendar months, which can make it harder to remember the optimal times to switch up your spending category. But you can actually fix this on the website by changing your payment due date.

You can also redeem your points at a discounted rate for gift cards (including electronic ones) on their website. Right now, most gift cards are offered at no discount, but there are 2 available that are 20% off (e.g. a $100 card for 8000 points) and that work at multiple locations, including Lowe’s, Subway, and a few other places (mostly restaurant chains).

Pros

• Very versatile; can be used as a “fill in the gap” card when you don’t have another good card available for a category you spend a lot in
• You don’t have to activate any categories; just use it
• Good signup bonus
• Decent gift card redemption options

Cons

• The limit of $500/month of spend on your 5% category is fairly low, especially if you wanted to use it for travel. You do at least still earn 1% back on all spend over $500 in your category.
• As with most category-based rewards cards, the categorization of different purchases isn’t always what you might assume. For example, some bakeries are classified as restaurants, while others are classified as grocery stores.

Chase Freedom Flex

• 5% back on categories that change every quarter (up to $1500 per quarter; 1% after)
• 5% back on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards website
• 3% back on dining and drugstores
• 1% back on everything else
• $200 bonus when you spend $500 in your first 3 months, plus 5% back on gas in your first year

This card gives 5% cash back on a different set of categories every quarter (i.e. every 3 months). The 5% cash back rate is extremely high, allowing you to earn up to $75 per quarter (5% of the $1500 limit) in cash back rewards just from the category bonus. For that reason, it’s one of my favorite cards. To get a sense of what this card offers, check out the 5% categories for the past several quarters:

• 2021 Q1: Wholesale clubs (like Costco); internet, cable, and phone services; select streaming services
• 2021 Q2: Gas stations; home improvement stores
• 2021 Q3: Grocery stores (except Target and Walmart); select streaming services
• 2021 Q4: Walmart; PayPal
• 2022 Q1: Grocery stores (except Target and Walmart); eBay
• 2022 Q2: Amazon.com; select streaming services

But of course, the main downside is keeping track of all of these categories. Personally, what I do is write a little note (on masking tape) that mentions what all the categories are (just like I did above), and then stick it to the card. Of course, that doesn’t always help if you forget to take the card out of your wallet or update the autopay card on your streaming services! But there are always things like calendar reminders and such that you can use to help you. Plus, Chase itself sends you an email reminder when it’s time to activate your new categories for the quarter.

Plus, another benefit of Chase cards is that they provide various “offers”, which are essentially coupons. Every once in a while, you simply check the website to see which are available; you’ll often see offers like 15% back at a particular store, or $20 off a particular streaming service. And there are often big names too, like Costco, Amazon, Airbnb, and more. Simply click a button to activate an offer, and the discount will automatically apply to your next purchase on the card. There’s usually a couple dozen offers available at any given time, and there’s no limit to how many you can redeem or activate at once. It’s worth noting that some other companies, such as American Express, provide offers as well, but in my opinion, most of their cards are nothing special. They could be worth it for the offers though, if you don’t mind accumulating even more cards.

You can also redeem your points at a discounted rate for gift cards (including electronic ones) via the Chase Ultimate Rewards website, often at a rate of 10% off. At the time of this writing, there are 15 gift cards available at this discounted rate, including various restaurants, clothing stores, and Lowe’s. There’s even a “Pay Yourself Back” option that is currently allowing you to donate to various charities by using your points at a 1.25x (i.e. 25% more) point value! There’s really quite a lot you can do with Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

And there’s yet another benefit here for those who own a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve card, because the points that the Freedom Flex earns can be transferred to the Sapphire cards! This allows you to get a 1.25x or 1.5x boost, respectively, when you spend your points via the Chase Ultimate Rewards website for travel or gift cards (as opposed to redeeming them for cash).

Pros

• Fantastic cash back rate on rotating categories
• Great signup bonus
• Synergizes with Chase Sapphire cards
• Good offers
• Many options to redeem points that provide even more value

Cons

• It can be difficult/annoying to activate and keep track of the categories
• $1500 limit ($500 per month) for 5% category cash back is fairly low
• As with most category-based rewards cards, the categorization of different purchases isn’t always what you might assume. For example, some bakeries are classified as restaurants, while others are classified as grocery stores.

Discover it Cash Back

• 5% back on categories that change every quarter (up to $1500 per quarter; 1% after)
• 1% back on everything else
• No foreign transaction fee
• All cash back earned in the first year is doubled at the end of the year

Overall, this card is extremely similar to the Chase Freedom Flex mentioned above, with the main differences being:

1. You only get cash back above 1% on the rotating 5% categories, whereas the Chase Freedom Flex gets 5% and 3% bonuses on a couple of static categories
2. No foreign transaction fee
3. Better gift card options (more on this later)
4. The category calendar is different!

The different calendar means that even though these cards are similar, it’s a good idea to get both the Discover it Cash Back and the Chase Freedom Flex, because then you get twice the 5% categories! For your reference, here are the category calendars for 2021 and 2022:

• 2021 Q1: Grocery stores (except Target and Walmart); fitness club and gym memberships
• 2021 Q2: Gas stations; wholesale clubs; select streaming services
• 2021 Q3: Restaurants; PayPal
• 2021 Q4: Amazon.com; walmart.com; target.com
• 2022 Q1: Grocery stores (except Target and Walmart); fitness club and gym memberships
• 2022 Q2: Gas stations; Target
• 2022 Q3: Restaurants; PayPal
• 2022 Q4: Amazon.com; digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay)

Again, just like with the Freedom Flex, I recommend putting a little piece of tape with this info on your card (as well as all your other cards, if you have trouble remembering what they all do).

Don’t forget about the gift cards! Another nice thing about the Discover it Cash Back is that the gift card redemption offers are actually quite good, especially compared to Chase. As of right now, I see over 100 options (compared to 15 at Chase), including:

• 5% off gift cards for Airbnb, DoorDash, Grubhub, Best Buy, Lyft, Uber, and Apple
• 10% off gift cards for Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Starbucks, REI, Petsmart, and various restaurants
• 20% off gift cards to Old Navy, Gap, Nike, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Domino’s

If you were planning on shopping at any of these places already, this is basically just free money, since you can get, for example, a $100 gift card for just $90 worth of points. They also come in electronic form, which means you can redeem them instantly, and you can redeem them in almost any denomination (e.g. $10, $15, $80, etc.).

Pros

• Fantastic cash back rate on rotating categories
• Good signup bonus
• Very good selection of gift cards at 5-25% off

Cons

• It can be difficult/annoying to activate and keep track of the categories
• $1500 limit ($500 per month) for 5% category cash back is fairly low
• Discover cards are only accepted at about 99% of places that take credit cards in the US, so make sure to take a backup Visa or Mastercard with you.
• As with most category-based rewards cards, the categorization of different purchases isn’t always what you might assume. For example, some bakeries are classified as restaurants, while others are classified as grocery stores.

Best Store Cards

• Usually 5% back at a particular store
• Usually 0-2% back on other purchases (or can only be used at that store)

This is not any particular card, but rather a general entry for store cards, which usually do 5% cash back for purchases through a particular store or company. Often, the rewards cannot be redeemed for cash, but can be applied toward purchases at the retailer (which is not a big deal if you shop there anyway). These cards can be very useful if there are a few places where you happen to spend a lot of money. Here are some examples of high-value cards for common retailers across various categories of goods:

• Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card (5% back with Prime membership, 3% otherwise; also applies at physical locations like Whole Foods; also includes 5% back on Chase Travel purchases)
• Amazon Prime Store Card (5% back requires Prime membership; can only be used on amazon.com; includes 5-15% bonus cash back on rotating categories)
• Target RedCard (5% back; also comes in a debit card version!)
• Walmart Rewards Card (5% back, but only works on walmart.com, including pickup and delivery orders, but not shopping in-store)
• Lowe’s Advantage Card (5% back)
• REI Co-op World Elite Mastercard (5% back)
• My Best Buy Visa Card (5% back, plus 3% on gas, 2% on dining/grocery, and 1% on everything else)
• Old Navy/Gap/Banana Republic/Athleta Card (5% back; this one regularly gives bonuses for using the card at non-affiliated retailers as well)
• TJX Rewards Platinum Mastercard (5% back at T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Sierra Trading Post, and Homesense)
• Verizon Visa Card (only 2% back on Verizon, but fantastic general card if you happen to be a Verizon customer; it gives a whopping 4% on grocery store and gas purchases, and 3% on dining)

Pros

• Fantastic cash back rate

Cons

• Carrying single-purpose cards in your wallet can be annoying
• Cash back can usually only be redeemed for store credit

So wait, where should I start?

Wow, that’s a lot of cards! If you’re overwhelmed and not sure which to pick, here’s a quick guide for you.

1. Start by getting a card that gets 2% back on everything, such as the PayPal Cashback Mastercard or the Citi Double Cash. If you want, you can just stop here, and you’ll be getting a lot of benefit for very little effort.
2. You might also want to consider picking up the Capital One SavorOne, since it’s such a great card for out-and-about purchases.
3. Next, take a look at your expenses and find out the categories/retailers you spend the most on. Find a card that gives good cash back on your top-spending category. Hopefully your application succeeds! If not, you may need to either improve your credit score or wait a little while (some issuers won’t give you a new card if you have too many recent applications on your credit report).
4. Repeat step 3 as many times as you want!

Once you have your cards, all you have to do when paying for something is just choose the one with the most rewards on that category. And if you don’t have one, just use your 2%-back card. Easy! Personally, I write down the rewards categories on a piece of masking tape stuck to each card, which helps me remember which card to use when buying something (though eventually, you’ll start to remember on your own).

Oh, and remember, just because you’re getting cash back doesn’t mean you should go on a shopping spree! It’s best to only spend money that you were planning on spending anyway, for stuff that you really need or want. Your card may give you 5% back, but saving that money instead is essentially 100% back! So spend happily, but not too much. 🙂

Updates

• 2022-08-18: Added American Express Blue Cash Everyday since it got revamped.
• 2022-10-05: Updated links for PayPal and REI credit cards; they are accepting applications again!
• 2023-01-30: Added My Best Buy Visa Card, updated post title from 2022 to 2023.
• 2023-04-24: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card now includes 5% back on Chase Travel purchases.