Best Credit Cards Under ₹500 Annual Fee in India (2026)

The best credit cards under ₹500 annual fee are Axis ACE for everyday cashback, Flipkart Axis for Flipkart shoppers, Swiggy HDFC for food delivery, SBI SimplyCLICK for online partner shopping, IDFC FIRST Power+ for fuel and groceries, and Amex SmartEarn for low spenders who want an easy fee waiver. All six cost ₹500 or less a year, and most return several times that on modest spending.

Why a ₹500 card can beat a free one

A ₹499 fee costs about ₹589 with 18% GST. That's under ₹50 a month. If a card pays even 1% more than a free alternative on ₹5,000 of monthly spend, it covers the fee. Most cards below also waive the fee once you cross ₹1 lakh to ₹3.5 lakh a year. If you're weighing this choice in general, our guide on lifetime free vs paid cards has the break-even formula.

The shortlist

1. Axis ACE: best all-round cashback

• Fee: ₹499 joining and annual, waived on ₹2,00,000 annual spend
• Rewards: 5% on bill payments via Google Pay, 4% on online shopping (the two bonus categories share a ₹500 monthly cap), and an uncapped 2% on everything else
• Lounge: 4 domestic visits a year at select airports, per BestCard's data
• Network: RuPay, so it works on UPI
• Minimum income: ₹15,000 a month

That flat 2% base rate is what makes ACE special. Most cards drop to 1% or less outside their bonus categories. Apply for Axis ACE or read our Axis ACE review.

2. Flipkart Axis Bank Card: best for Flipkart and Myntra

• Fee: No joining fee, ₹500 annual, waived on ₹3,50,000 annual spend
• Rewards: 5% on Flipkart and Myntra, 4% on partners like Swiggy, Uber, PVR and Cleartrip, 1.5% elsewhere, with no cap listed
• Lounge: 4 domestic visits a year, one per quarter
• Minimum income: ₹15,000 a month

If you shop on Flipkart often, especially big purchases during sales, the uncapped 5% is hard to beat. View the card.

3. Swiggy HDFC Bank Card: best for food delivery

• Fee: ₹500 joining and annual, waived on ₹2,00,000 annual spend
• Rewards: 10% on Swiggy (food, Instamart, Dineout), 5% on other online shopping, 1% base; dining and online cashback are each capped at ₹1,500 a month
• Extras: 3 months of Swiggy One on activation
• Minimum income: ₹15,000 a month

Order ₹5,000 a month on Swiggy and that's ₹500 back every month. Fuel, rent, wallet loads, EMI and jewellery earn nothing. View the card.

4. SBI SimplyCLICK: best starter card for online shoppers

• Fee: ₹499 joining and annual, waived on ₹1,00,000 annual spend
• Rewards: About 2.5% (10X points) at partner online merchants, 1 point per ₹100 elsewhere; accelerated points capped at 10,000 a month
• Welcome: ₹500 Amazon voucher on joining
• Minimum income: ₹20,000 a month

The welcome voucher nearly covers the first-year fee, and the ₹1 lakh waiver is one of the easiest on this list. Apply for SBI SimplyCLICK or see our SimplyCLICK review.

5. IDFC FIRST Power+: best for fuel, groceries and zero forex

• Fee: ₹499 joining and annual, waived on ₹1,50,000 annual spend
• Rewards: Up to 6.5% savings on HPCL fuel, 5% on groceries and utilities (each capped at ₹2,000 a month), 1% base
• Forex markup: 0%, though international spends stop earning points from 26 October 2026
• Lounge: 1 domestic visit a quarter after ₹20,000 spend in the previous month
• Minimum income: ₹25,000 a month

A rare combination of fuel savings and zero forex at this price. View the card.

6. American Express SmartEarn: easiest fee waiver

• Fee: ₹495 joining and annual, waived on just ₹40,000 annual spend
• Rewards: 10X Membership Rewards points at partner apps like Flipkart, Uber, Zomato and BookMyShow, but each 10X category is capped at 500 points a month
• Welcome: ₹500 statement credit on ₹10,000 spend in the first 90 days
• Milestone: Vouchers worth up to ₹1,500 on ₹2.4 lakh annual spend

The ₹40,000 waiver means almost anyone keeps it free. The low caps mean it's a supporting card, not a primary one. View the card.

Summary table

Card	Annual fee	Fee waiver	Top rate	Base rate	Best for
Axis ACE	₹499	₹2,00,000	5% bills via Google Pay	2%	Everyday spending
Flipkart Axis	₹500	₹3,50,000	5% Flipkart, Myntra	1.5%	Flipkart shoppers
Swiggy HDFC	₹500	₹2,00,000	10% Swiggy	1%	Food delivery
SBI SimplyCLICK	₹499	₹1,00,000	2.5% partner sites	1 pt per ₹100	First card, online
IDFC FIRST Power+	₹499	₹1,50,000	6.5% HPCL fuel	1%	Fuel and groceries
Amex SmartEarn	₹495	₹40,000	10X partners (capped)	Varies	Low spenders

All fees are plus GST. Figures reflect BestCard's latest card data, and issuers revise rates and caps, so confirm on the issuer site before applying.

Worked example: ₹15,000 a month on Axis ACE

• Bills via Google Pay: ₹3,000 × 5% = ₹150
• Online shopping: ₹4,000 × 4% = ₹160 (₹310 in bonus cashback, under the ₹500 cap)
• Everything else: ₹8,000 × 2% = ₹160
• Total: ₹470 a month, ₹5,640 a year

Annual spend is ₹1,80,000, just short of the ₹2 lakh waiver, so you pay about ₹589 with GST. Net gain: roughly ₹5,050 a year. Push another ₹1,700 a month onto the card and the fee disappears too.

How to choose

1. Find your biggest spending category. Bills and everyday spends point to Axis ACE. Flipkart points to Flipkart Axis. Food delivery points to Swiggy HDFC. Fuel points to IDFC Power+.
2. Check the caps. Swiggy HDFC's ₹1,500 cap and Axis ACE's ₹500 bonus cap matter if you spend heavily.
3. Pick a waiver you'll hit naturally. Don't overspend to save ₹500.
4. Consider two cards. A ₹499 Axis ACE plus a ₹500 Swiggy HDFC still costs less than most mid-tier cards.

If you can stretch the budget a little, our best cards under ₹1,000 annual fee list adds SBI Cashback and HDFC Millennia. To match a card to your own spending, try the BestCard matcher or compare two picks on the compare page.