How we rank cards

BestCard ranks cards using a transparent, rule-based scoring model — not a black-box algorithm, and never by who pays the highest commission. Every card in our catalog is scored the same way for every user.

1. Eligibility filter

We first remove any card you likely can't get approved for, based on the credit score band, income, employment type, and age you tell us. If you don't know your credit score, we never use that as a reason to exclude a card — we just weight our estimate a little more conservatively.

2. Estimated annual value

For the cards you're eligible for, we estimate a net annual value: projected rewards earned on your declared monthly spend and top categories, minus the annual fee (accounting for fee waivers if your spend clears the issuer's threshold).

3. Category and goal fit

Cards get a boost when their strongest reward categories match your declared top spend categories, and when their benefits align with the goal you selected (cashback, travel, fuel savings, building credit, or low fees).

4. Why this card

Every recommendation is shown with the specific reasons it was ranked — the same factors used in scoring, in plain language. If we can't point to a concrete reason, we don't rank it highly.

5. Editorial value rating

Each card page also shows a fixed 1.0-5.0 rating. Unlike the personalized match score above, this number is the same for every visitor and every query — it's a rules-based read of the card's own published terms, not a crowd of user reviews. It weighs a blended reward rate across the base rate and category bonuses (35%), the annual fee on a diminishing-returns scale (30%), and how many distinct perks the card carries — lounge access, insurance, golf, travel, dining, and fuel-surcharge benefits (35%). We round to the nearest half point because a number more precise than that would overstate how exact this estimate is.

We do earn a commission from some issuers when you apply through our links — see our disclaimer for details. Commission arrangements never factor into the scoring above.

Want the background on how the inputs to this model work? See our credit card guides.