Six questions about what you already pay each month. The answer is a card stack built from your own numbers, starting with the bill most cards ignore: rent or the mortgage.
Only cards we hold a referral for are in the quiz, and we say so in the disclosure above. Each one is here because it wins a specific situation, not because it pays us more.
Per Bilt’s card page, every tier earns up to 1.25X points on rent or mortgage, with no transaction fee, paid through a payment portal, through Venmo, or by check via BillPay. Tiers: Bilt Blue (no annual fee, welcome offer stated as $100 of Bilt Cash), Bilt Obsidian ($95 annual fee, welcome offer stated as $200 of Bilt Cash), Bilt Palladium ($495 annual fee, welcome offer stated as $300 of Bilt Cash, plus 50,000 points and Gold status after $4,000 of spend in 90 days). Points transfer to 28 airline and hotel partners, or redeem for travel through the Bilt portal, for Lyft, for statement credits, or toward a home down payment. It is a personal card.
No annual fee. Rewards paid in bitcoin or 50+ cryptos: 4% on gas, EV charging and transit on up to $300 of that spend a month (then 1%), 3% dining, 2% groceries, 1% everything else. New cardholders who apply through a referral get $50 in crypto after approval and an eligible purchase, per Gemini’s referral terms.
$0 annual fee. Freedom Unlimited earns 1.5% or more on everything, 3% on dining and drugstores, 5% on Chase Travel. Freedom Flex earns 5% on rotating quarterly categories you activate (up to $1,500 a quarter), 3% dining and drugstores, 1% else. Both listed a 0% intro APR on purchases when we checked. Read the current intro offer on Chase’s page.
Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee and earns 5x on Chase Travel, 3x on dining, 3x on gas and EV charging, 3x on select streaming and online grocery, 2x other travel, 1x else, with airline and hotel transfer partners and no foreign transaction fees. Sapphire Reserve is the premium tier with a much higher fee. Check Chase’s page for current offers.
Per Bilt’s card page, all three Bilt cards earn up to 1.25X points on rent or mortgage with no transaction fee, paid through a portal, Venmo, or a mailed check via BillPay. We have not found another card that earns on a housing payment without a processing fee, which is why the quiz puts Bilt first for anyone with a rent or mortgage payment. Bilt Blue has no annual fee.
Yes. The Gemini Credit Card pays its rewards in bitcoin or 50+ other cryptocurrencies, with no annual fee. Per Gemini’s card page it earns 4% on gas, EV charging and transit on up to $300 of that spend a month (then 1%), 3% on dining, 2% on groceries and 1% on everything else. Crypto prices move, so the dollar value of those rewards can go down as well as up.
Usually two is the sweet spot: one card for the housing payment and one for everyday spending. Bilt earns on rent but only 1X on most everyday spend on the no-fee tier, so pairing it with Gemini (bitcoin) or Chase Freedom Unlimited (cash back) covers both sides. More than two cards rarely adds much unless you travel a lot.
It multiplies your monthly numbers by each card’s stated earn rates, counts points at 1 cent each (1.5 cents if you said you redeem for travel), subtracts any annual fee, and ignores welcome bonuses because they only pay once. It is an estimate to compare cards, not a promise of what you will earn.
No. It is a comparison tool. Approval, rates and terms are set by each issuer and change often, so read the issuer’s own page before you apply, and only charge what you can pay off in full each month. Interest wipes out any reward on this page.
Going deeper: the Bilt card walkthrough, paying rent with a credit card without a fee, Bilt vs Chase Ink vs Freedom and the best bitcoin credit card in 2026.