The Top Credit Cards of 2021

The Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer is a long-running champion in this category (it won the same NerdWallet honors in 2019 and 2020), thanks to its rich rewards rate of 2% cash back on all purchases: 1% when you buy, and 1% when you pay it off. There's no sign-up bonus, but among no-annual-fee cash-back cards, it continues to reign as a simple but extremely effective tool for everyday spending.

The Chase Freedom Flex℠ debuted in 2020 and immediately leapfrogged the competition with its impressive combination of bonus rewards: 5% rotating categories, yes, but also fixed categories like dining, drugstores and eligible travel. You’ll have to track and activate bonus categories, so it’s not the simplest rewards structure on the market — but it can be among the most lucrative.

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a repeat winner, largely because it's as straightforward and reliable as a travel card can get: Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on every purchase. Using those miles is also refreshingly easy: Redeem them at a value of a penny each toward any eligible travel purchase — from flights, hotels and car rentals to taxis, timeshares, travel agents and more. (You can also transfer rewards to various travel partners, although the per-mile value varies for that.)

The American Express® Gold Card has a healthy annual fee, but you get a lot of value in exchange, including super-rich rewards rates in two of the most popular everyday spending categories: restaurants and U.S. supermarkets. That can help you amass a pile of flexible points toward your next vacation. The card also earns generous rewards on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com, and it comes with multiple perks, transfer partners and credits.

The U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card stands out for its super-long interest-free promotion: You get a 0%* intro APR for 20 billing cycles on purchases and balance transfers*, and then the ongoing APR of 14.49% - 24.49%* Variable APR. That’s a 0% window approaching two years, and the fact that it also applies to balance transfers is key, given that balance transfer cards in general are harder to find right now. It does charge a balance transfer fee, and you won’t earn rewards. But if your goal is financing a large purchase or paying off debt, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better offer.

The Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card snags this award for the first time, in part because it launched two new bonus categories in the past year, making it a more useful card for everyday spending. It earns 2 miles per $1 spent at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, on top of the double miles it offers on eligible Delta purchases. The annual fee is waived in the first year, and there’s an extremely generous checked-bag benefit that other airline credit cards don’t come close to matching. Terms apply. It’s also worth noting that Delta topped NerdWallet’s list of the best airlines to fly during COVID-19, thanks to its health and safety protocols and flexible booking policies.

A winner here last year as well, World of Hyatt Credit Card continues to offer exceptional value for its $95 annual fee, including most notably a free night every anniversary year that can easily offset that cost — plus a way to earn a second one if you spend enough. It offers automatic elite status, too. There’s a rich sign-up bonus, not to mention high ongoing rewards in everyday categories, and those rewards are worth more than double the value of points you earn with larger rival hotel chains. And in NerdWallet’s analysis of hotels that have handled COVID-19 the best, Hyatt was among the top chains in terms of health and social distancing policies.

The Discover it® Student chrome won this award last year, too, and the same features push it to the head of the class again for 2021: simplicity and student-friendly rewards. Unlike some other Discover cards, there’s no tracking or activating of bonus categories — what busy student has time for that? Instead, you earn 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, and 1% back on all other purchases. You’re eligible for Discover’s cash-back match bonus, and if you have good grades you may qualify for a $20 credit each year for up to five years. One thing to note, however, if you’re studying abroad: Discover is not as widely accepted outside the U.S. as Visa or Mastercard are.

The $0-annual-fee Discover it® Secured Credit Card is a perennial winner here, and it’s little wonder why. For starters, it’s the rare secured card that offers ongoing rewards on your spending. More important, there’s a clear “graduation” path: After eight months, Discover automatically begins reviewing your account for a possible upgrade to a regular unsecured card, at which point your deposit can be returned to you.

The Capital One Spark Cash for Business has snagged this award multiple times, with good reason. It offers a simple yet lucrative value proposition for business owners: Earn an unlimited 2% back on all purchases, with no bonus categories or spending caps to worry about. And that’s cash back, not points — meaning even if you’re not traveling much these days, you can easily use your rewards. There’s an annual fee, but it’s waived in the first year.

If groceries have become an even bigger expense amid the pandemic, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express will reward you like no other card can, with an industry-leading 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 in spending per year (then 1%). Terms apply. And if you’re ordering groceries online, that rich rate also can apply to eligible third-party delivery services like Instacart, Peapod, Amazon Fresh and more. Plus, the card offers bonus cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions, U.S. gas stations and eligible transit spending (1% back on everything else). There is an annual fee: $0 intro for the first year, then $95. But you’ll offset it if you spend just $31 per week at U.S. supermarkets alone. Terms apply.

The U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card launched in 2020 with an essentially unrivaled value proposition: an eye-popping 4X rewards rate on dining — including takeout and delivery — for a $0* annual fee. To be sure, you can find cards that match or exceed that rate at restaurants, but those products all charge annual fees, ranging from almost $100 to nearly $500. This card costs nothing to carry and is also a solid option for groceries, gas and eligible streaming purchases.

In this new category for 2021, the $0-annual-fee Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card stands out for what it delivers on, well, whatever you get delivered. Yes, to get the card you must have an Amazon Prime membership, which isn’t free — but if you’re already among the well more than 100 million users of Prime in the U.S., it's an easy call. It offers 5% back at Amazon and Whole Foods, and that applies to purchases through services like Amazon Fresh, Prime Now and Prime Pantry. It also applies to WholeFoods.com. Plus, you’ll earn 2% back at restaurants, gas stations and drugstores, and 1% everywhere else. Streaming services aren't a bonus category, but Prime video and music streaming services are included with your membership — which you can pay for (and earn 5% back on) with this card.