The Ascent's 2023 Credit Card Awards

While not quite a one-size-fits-all, this card comes pretty close with everything it offers. Its annual fee is $0 for the first year, and very reasonable after that. It earns colossal high cash back at U.S. supermarkets and unlimited cash back at U.S. gas stations. The welcome offer and intro APR offer just sweeten the deal.

This card comes with a little bit of everything! It offers rewards, a sign-up bonus, balance transfer and purchase intro APR periods, and even cell phone protection. It somehow packs all that in without an annual fee.

The king of travel cards? Maybe. This card offers a travel credit and bonus miles every year that could pay for the card itself. Earn top-of-the-market points on travel purchases and even enjoy airport lounge access.

This card doesn’t offer the longest 0% intro APR period on the market, but used correctly it can earn the most value. Because this card offers a sign-up bonus, you can come out on top instead of getting another few months of 0% interest.

The strong transfer period here is the winner. It’s pretty simple. When needing to use a balance transfer, you want one of the longest options to pay off your balance. When refinancing debt it’s important to be smart and perks and sign-up bonuses just aren’t as important.

If you enjoy things like sign-up bonuses, high-tier status, free nights, and more then this card is probably for you. It can easily pay for itself by utilizing its benefits and those benefits span hotels, resorts, and flights!

This card manages to pack in incredible value while being a secured card. It has competitive cash back rates for any type of card on the market. And the cash back categories are ones you actually use frequently.

The race here is quite close, but the rotating cash back categories for this card are ones that college students will probably like more. Students can earn cash back on their regular spending and also have a great card to use if they study abroad.

This one is pretty straight to the point. It earns an incredible cash back percentage on gas as well as a ton of other categories. And it has no annual fee to boot.

This card offers market-leading cash back at U.S. Supermarkets. Tack on to that a ton of other perks you use in your everyday life, there is simply no beating this card here.

Fantastic cash back is earned with this card when eating out. Along with some other travel credits, and competitive fees, it’s almost a no-brainer in this category. The bonus spending categories are pretty great as well.

The rewards structure here really shines through with more than one chance to earn top tier points. With some excellent protections for business owners and a sign-up bonus, this card is a winner.

With a competitive annual fee, cash back on travel categories, free and discounted travel perks, as well as an annual fee, there is nothing not to like about this card.

Still holding this spot, Chase is the winner again for travel rewards programs. Other issuer rewards programs keep improving, but with its long list of hotel and airline loyalty partners, high point values, and quick transfers, Chase takes the top spot.

There are a ton of great credit card issuer apps, but American Express just continues to shine. You can manage a wide range of account needs, check your credit score, spend and split payments, access American Express offers and more.