The best credit cards with no annual fee

38 cards in the catalogue charge nothing to carry. American Express Blue Business Plus earns the most of them in a year: about $1,058.

Ranked by what each card earns in a year once its annual fee is paid — every rate converted to dollars with a dated point valuation, spending caps honoured, and rotating categories not credited. Priced on an illustrative household spending $2,205 a month on a card — the assumption, in full. Credits and perks are not priced: they are worth their face value only if you would have spent that money anyway.