Best Credit Cards of 2025

There's a credit card for everyone and every occasion, but before you can start enjoying the perks credit cards can offer, you need to find the right one. Whether you're looking for a travel card to earn points for a fabulous vacation, a cash back card to earn money back on your purchases, a starter or student card to build your credit, a balance transfer card to pay down debt, or a business card, you've got plenty of options.

Keep reading to learn more about our editors' picks for the best credit cards and find your match.

How we evaluate products

We evaluated the best credit cards based on a variety of factors to determine which cards to feature in each category. These factors include annual fees, rewards rates, intro APRs, ongoing APRs, credit requirements, and overall consumer value. We did not evaluate or include all credit cards available, and some cards featured here are from current or past FinanceBuzz partners.

Best balance transfer credit cards

Best travel credit cards

Best cashback credit cards

Best credit cards for building credit

Best business credit cards

How to choose the best credit card

Choosing the right credit card for you generally comes down to weighing six key factors. Here's how we recommend narrowing down your options.

Understand your credit score and credit history

Lenders use your credit score and credit history from the credit bureaus to help determine whether they should give you any money in the form of credit. Many lenders check your FICO score, which is a type of credit score. FICO scores typically use these ranges:

• Excellent: 800 to 850
• Very good: 740 to 799
• Good: 670 to 739
• Fair: 580 to 669
• Poor: 300 to 579

You usually need at least a good credit score for many of the better credit card options out there, including credit cards with elevated rewards and benefits. And with excellent credit, you have the best chance of being approved, but a certain score will never guarantee approval.

But there are also credit cards available if you have a fair or poor credit score or you're a beginner and need a credit card with no credit history. And creditors look at more than just your credit score, including your income and borrowing history.

Pay attention to types of rewards

You can typically earn credit card rewards in the form of points, miles, or cash back. Points and miles are often best if you prefer to redeem rewards for travel, such as flights or hotel stays. Cashback rewards are likely best for you if you don't need travel redemption options and prefer the opportunity to save money on everyday expenses.

Consider rewards categories and redemption

Along with types of rewards, you can earn rewards at different rates for each category. There are three different ways to define rewards categories: 

• Flat-rate rewards: You earn the same rewards rate on every purchase.
• Bonus categories: You earn more rewards on specific purchases. Typically, certain retailers are excluded from these categories. For example, Walmart and Target aren't often included under grocery store spending.
• Rotating categories: You can earn more rewards on specific purchases at certain times of the year with rotating category credit cards. These categories typically rotate each quarter, sometimes each month, and often require activation.

You might prefer a card with flat-rate rewards because it's simple, and you likely wouldn't have to carry more than one card in your wallet. But you might discover that your everyday spending habits typically align with certain purchase categories, such as groceries, gas, or streaming subscriptions. If that's the case, having a card that earns more rewards in those bonus spending categories could provide more value. If your expenses tend to vary, a credit card with rotating bonus categories might make sense. 

You also want to consider rewards programs and redemptions. Chase Ultimate Rewards points differ from American Express Membership Rewards points, for instance, in terms of redemption rates and how you can use your rewards. The portal you use to redeem your points, and your options for redemption, play a significant role in the value your card provides.

Learn more: How to Calculate the Value of Your Credit Card Points

Compare annual fees

Some credit card accounts have annual fees, while others don't. Cards with annual fees tend to have more benefits, but you have to consider the annual cost against the value of the benefits to see if it's worth it for you.

Keep in mind that both credit cards with no annual fee and cards with a fee could be worth it, depending on your situation.

Research interest and other fees

We don't recommend using credit cards if you plan to carry a balance that will collect interest or making late payments and having to pay fees. But sometimes things happen, and it's important to be aware of a credit card's interest rate and other fees, like late fees.

And if you're looking for a low-interest credit card, it could make sense to find a card with a 0% intro APR on purchases and/or balance transfers. This could help you avoid interest charges if you have an upcoming large purchase or want to pay down an existing balance.

If you're planning to travel abroad, consider credit cards with no foreign transaction fees. 

Note welcome offers

A welcome offer or welcome bonus is typically an offer for new card members that's available on rewards credit cards. These offers can vary, but they often follow the format of giving new cardholders a substantial amount of rewards for spending a certain amount of money on the applicable card within a few or more months of signing up.

For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card provides this sign-up bonus: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Credit card offers can provide loads of value and should be considered if you're comparing multiple credit cards. If two credit cards generally offer the same benefits, the one with the higher welcome bonus might be the better choice. But you shouldn't use a welcome offer as your only determining factor because you want to think about which card will provide the most benefits long-term, not just right now. It's also important to note spending requirements for welcome offers. Sometimes, these will feel reasonable for your current spending habits; other times, they might cause you to stretch your budget in ways you can't afford.

5 types of credit cards

Credit card companies provide many different types of credit cards to help people meet their specific financial goals. For example, you might want to earn rewards on everyday purchases, so you could be interested in comparing the best rewards credit cards to find the right card.

But do you want to earn bonus rewards in the form of cash back, points, or miles? And are you interested in earning a welcome bonus after spending a certain amount on your card within a few months of account opening? Or can you float an annual fee?

It can get slightly overwhelming trying to narrow down the type of credit card that might be right for you. To make it simple, we've separated the different types of cards into five primary categories and who they might be best for:

1. Travel credit cards

Travel credit cards focus on earning travel rewards in the form of points or miles and providing travel-related benefits. You can typically redeem your points or miles toward many types of common travel expenses, including airfare, flight upgrades, hotel stays, and rental cars. 

Travel rewards can typically be redeemed when you book travel through the card issuer or when you transfer points to the issuer's travel partners. You can typically also redeem your points or miles for statement credits. 

Travel benefits vary by card, but could include:

• Airport lounge access like access Priority Pass lounges
• Travel credit, such as a hotel credit that you can use through the card's travel platform
• Elite status with a loyalty program such as Hilton Honors or Marriott Bonvoy

Some travel credit cards also include travel perks like statement credits to help cover TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fees. 

You should choose a travel credit card if you want to earn rewards that you can redeem toward travel and you want benefits that can enhance your travel experiences. You should also consider the card's redemption options and travel partners before you settle on the right one for you. 

2. Cash back credit cards

Cash back credit cards are a type of rewards card that earns cash back rather than points or miles. Cashback redemptions vary by card but could include:

• Statement credits
• Deposits into a linked bank account
• Mailed checks
• Gift cards

You should choose a cash back credit card if you prefer earning cash back over points or miles. This typically means you're not as interested in redeeming rewards for travel. 

3. Balance transfer

Balance transfer credit cards often provide a 0% intro APR offer on balance transfers for a certain amount of time, usually between 12 and 18 months. This type of offer gives you an opportunity to move debt from another credit product onto your new credit card and not have to pay interest on the balance for the specified amount of time.

Note that you typically have to pay a balance transfer fee to do a balance transfer, regardless of whether you have an introductory period with a 0% APR.

You should choose a balance transfer credit card with the longest 0% APR if you need some time to pay off debt without worrying about interest charges for a while.

4. Credit cards to build credit

Credit cards for building credit are designed to help you build your credit history and improve your credit score if you have fair credit, bad credit, or no credit. Just about any credit card can help you build your credit, but you likely won't qualify for all types of cards if you have little or no credit history.

Fortunately, secured credit cards exist, as well as other unsecured cards that don't have strict credit requirements. These types of cards don't typically have high credit limits or many benefits, and secured credit cards typically require a security deposit. But they can help you build your credit score and qualify for better credit cards and other credit products.

You should choose a credit card for building credit if you don't qualify for other credit cards with elevated rewards and benefits.

5. Business credit cards

Business credit cards are for small business owners with business expenses. There's not much difference between personal credit cards and business credit cards, but you might find specific business-related benefits and rewards on a business card.

Business credit cards also typically have little impact on your personal credit score, even though you often need a decent credit score to qualify for many business cards. Additionally, business credit cards can help you separate personal and business expenses for tax purposes.

You should choose a business credit card if you're a small business owner who wants to separate personal and business expenses while benefiting from specific business-related card perks.

FAQs

Bottom line

The best credit card for you depends on your spending habits and preferences, credit profile, and financial goals. There are many excellent options for any type of credit card you might be looking for, whether you've got your eye on a travel credit card, a cash back or other rewards card, a balance transfer credit card, or something else. 

As you're searching, consider multiple issuers, look into credit requirements, research benefits and perks, think about how a new card would fit into your current wallet, and make sure you understand the fee schedule and interest rates for any card you're interested in.