Top of the table: Amex Gold at 6.8¢ per dollar, against a $325 annual fee. Whether that beats a free card depends entirely on how much groceries spending you actually put through it.
Groceries — every card we track
| # | Card | Rate | Value per $ | Annual fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amex Gold American Express |
4× | 6.8¢ | $325 | — |
| 2 | Amex Blue Cash Preferred American Express |
6% | 6¢ | $95 | cap $6,000 |
| 3 | Bilt Obsidian Card Bilt |
3× | 5.4¢ | $95 | cap $25,000 |
| 4 | Chase Sapphire Preferred Chase |
3× | 5.4¢ | $95 | — |
| 5 | Discover it Cash Back Discover |
5% | 5¢ | — | conditional |
| 6 | Citi Strata Premier Citi |
3× | 4.5¢ | $95 | — |
| 7 | Bilt Palladium Card Bilt |
2× | 3.6¢ | $495 | — |
| 8 | Capital One Venture Capital One |
2× | 3.2¢ | $95 | — |
| 9 | Capital One Venture Business Capital One |
2× | 3.2¢ | $95 | — |
| 10 | Capital One Venture X Capital One |
2× | 3.2¢ | $395 | — |
| 11 | Capital One Venture X Business Capital One |
2× | 3.2¢ | $395 | — |
| 12 | Capital One SavorOne Capital One |
3% | 3¢ | $39 | — |
| 13 | Hilton Honors Amex Surpass American Express / Hilton |
6× | 3¢ | $150 | — |
| 14 | Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Chase / Southwest |
2× | 2.6¢ | $99 | — |
| 15 | Delta SkyMiles Gold Amex American Express / Delta |
2× | 2.4¢ | $150 | — |
| 16 | Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Chase / Marriott |
3× | 2.1¢ | $95 | conditional |
| 17 | Capital One Spark Cash Plus Capital One |
2% | 2¢ | $150 | — |
| 18 | Chase Ink Business Premier Chase |
2% | 2¢ | $195 | — |
| 19 | Citi Double Cash Citi |
2% | 2¢ | — | — |
| 20 | Bilt Blue Card Bilt / Wells Fargo |
1× | 1.8¢ | — | — |
| 21 | Chase Ink Business Preferred Chase |
1× | 1.8¢ | $95 | — |
| 22 | Chase Sapphire Reserve Chase |
1× | 1.8¢ | $795 | — |
| 23 | Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business Chase |
1× | 1.8¢ | $795 | — |
| 24 | Amex Business Gold American Express |
1× | 1.7¢ | $375 | — |
| 25 | Amex Business Platinum American Express |
1× | 1.7¢ | $895 | — |
| 26 | Amex Platinum American Express |
1× | 1.7¢ | $895 | — |
| 27 | World of Hyatt Chase / Hyatt |
1× | 1.7¢ | $95 | — |
| 28 | Chase Freedom Unlimited Chase |
1.5% | 1.5¢ | — | — |
| 29 | Chase Ink Business Unlimited Chase |
1.5% | 1.5¢ | — | — |
| 30 | Atmos Rewards Ascent Visa Signature Bank of America / Alaska |
1× | 1.4¢ | $95 | — |
| 31 | Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Citi / American Airlines |
1× | 1.3¢ | $99 | — |
| 32 | United Explorer Chase / United |
1× | 1.3¢ | $150 | — |
| 33 | Chase Ink Business Cash Chase |
1% | 1¢ | — | — |
| 34 | Wells Fargo Autograph Wells Fargo |
1× | 1¢ | — | — |
Cents-per-dollar figures use our standard point valuations, not transfer-partner rates. Transferring to an airline or hotel partner at the right moment can beat these numbers; routine redemptions generally will not. We publish the conservative figure on purpose.
Caps matter more than the headline rate for anyone who spends seriously in a category: a 5× rate that stops after $1,500 of spend is a different product from an uncapped 3×. Both are shown above.
This is a curated catalogue of the cards we track, not every card on the market. Rates can change without notice; confirm with the issuer before applying.
Disclosure — some Apply links pay us. Some of the cards listed here carry a referral link and some do not; each card’s own page says which. Where one exists, applying through it earns a referral reward for MaxMyPoints or for someone here, at no cost to you, and the offer through it is sometimes better than the issuer’s public one. Rates here are read from each issuer’s own published page, and the audit ranks cards on published rates and your own spending, and never reads which cards carry a referral link. These pages carry no application links.