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Congratulations on starting your money-making side gig! Now it’s time to explore the best credit cards for side hustles so you can maximize cash back and earn some sweet reward points.
We’ll lay out options for both personal and small business credit cards that might suit you. We’ll also cover the differences and other thoughts on applying for a business card vs. personal credit card at the end.
Best Credit Cards for Side Hustles – Business
Best Credit Cards for Side Hustles – Personal
Chase Ink Business Cash 🏆
Also, there’s a 0% APR for the first 12 months of spending. This is a huge benefit for people with side hustles need to pay for upfront start up costs and don’t have much revenue coming in just yet.
For the welcome offer, right now your can bonus_miles_full.Other card features:
- 5% cash back (up to first $25k) on office supply, internet, cable, phone bills.
- 2% cash back (up to first $25k) at restaurants and gas stations
- Also 1% cash back on all other purchases
- No annual fee, 0% APR for 12 months
Capital One SPARK Cash Select
As for the welcome offer, you’ll earn a $500 credit when you spend $4,500 in the first 3 months after opening an account.
Overview of main card features:
- No annual fee
- Earn 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars (must be booked via the Capital One travel portal)
- Unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other spending, anywhere
- Free additional users, which also earns 1.5% cash back
- All rewards and cash back never expire, for the life of the account
The Blue Business Plus® Credit Card from American Express
Summary of the card benefits:
- 15,000 point welcome offer opportunity
- Earn 2x reward points on every purchase (up to $50k each year)
- 0% APR on purchases within the first 12 months
- No annual fee!
One other cool perk to mention – American Express sometimes offer discounts to various retailers or even point conversions to travel partners. These are easy to find and manage in the Amex App or also on their online portal.
Learn more about card_name here!The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Here are more card features:
- Earn 5x points for every dollar spent on flights and hotels via Amex Travel
- 1.5x points earned on construction/hardware suppliers, electronic retailers, software providers, shipping, and also any purchase over $5,000 anywhere.
- $200 annual airline credit
- $189 CLEAR credit
- American Express Global Lounge Collection access at airports
- Also there’s about $1,000 in other value can be unlocked with discounts to partners.
If your side hustle is truly bustling and you have a hefty travel spend, this card may make sense. There’s about $1,600 value in perks that you can take advantage of in Year 1, which more than covers the annual fee. But watch out for those remaining years – if you don’t have the continual spending it may cost more to keep the card active vs. the other cards we’ve mentioned.
Check out the full card details and terms here: card_nameChase Sapphire Preferred® Card 🏆
Instead of cash back, using this card will generate Chase UR points. You can think of each Chase point being worth anywhere from 1 – 1.5 cents each.
Summary of benefits:
- A $50 hotel credit, annually
- 5x points on all travel booked via Chase
- 2x points on other travel (cabs, uber, travel booked on other sites)
- 3x points on other dining and take out
- Also 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Instacart free trial as well as DoorDash free trial subscription
Also, each anniversary you get a 10% points bonus for anything you spent on within the year. That’s pretty cool!
We’ve been singing the praises of the card_name for years. It’s also a great all-around personal card as well as for business use.Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Here are the main credit card features:
- 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months
- 2x miles on every day purchases, everywhere
- $100 credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry
- 5x Miles on hotels and also rental cars, booked via Cap One portal.
- 2 x complimentary visits to Capital One airport lounges each year
Needless to say, if you are a big travel spender, these perks are quite good. Another thing we love about Capital One is how easy the point redemption system is. Their mobile app also has a sleek interface which can manage most tasks and navigate redemption options easily.
Check out the full details and terms of the card_name here!Citi Double Cash® Card
Summary of perks:
- No annual fee
- Earn 2% cash back on all purchases (1% when you buy, and 1% when you pay the bill)
- 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months
We talk about the power of balance transfer cards in this article. If you currently have credit card debt, definitely look into this strategy as it could save you a meaningful chunk in interest as you seek to eradicate it.
As we mentioned at the start, the card_name is one of our personal favorite cards for everyday purchases.The Platinum Card® from American Express
American Express has stuffed so many perks into this package that the annual fee ($695) can cover itself in year 1 quite easily. We’ve also heard of people calling and getting reduced annual fees for the second year of ownership as Amex works hard to retain its loyal clients.
Here are some of best card features:
- $200 airline *incidentals* credit every year
- $200 hotel credit each year for Fine Hotels or Hotel Collection
- $240 digital entertainment credit annually
- $200 in Uber cash ($15/month and bonus in December)
- $300 Equinox credit annually
- $189 CLEAR credit for skipping airport TSA lines
- Free Walmart+ subscription
- Centurion lounge access at airports
- AND MORE!!!
With higher spending and frequent travel, this luxury credit card could make sense for you. There’s also the option to just own it for 1 year to take advantage of the welcome perks, and then downsize afterwards to a $0 annual fee card. It all depends on your spending!
Check out the entire list of perks and terms here: card_nameCheck out the entire list of perks and terms here:
Personal Credit Cards vs. Business Credit Cards
There’s no law against putting business expenses on a personal card, or personal expenses on a business card. Both card types function the same way, swiping (or tapping) to purchase things and then paying the bill later.
That being said, we strongly recommend keeping your business expenses completely separate from your personal ones. This makes accounting simpler, tax filings (and audits) cleaner, and demonstrates a clear division between personal and business entities. Mingling funds may come back to bite you later.
Here’s a table summarizing the key differences between personal and business credit cards:
Keep an open mind as you consider all these best credit cards for side hustles. Some of the less known perks might be most valuable to you 😉
A quick note on applying for a business card: If you don’t have an LLC or legal business name, that’s OK! Just enter your personal name in the business name section, and your SSN in the Employer Identification Number (EIN) section. This is common for freelancers as well as people using credit cards for side hustles.
The Bottom Line:
The best credit cards for side hustles are the ones that match your business spending and offer the features that are most important to you.
Whether it’s a business card with a 0% APR introductory period, or a personal card with killer travel perks, the choice is yours. You might even consider having a couple of cards up your sleeve (with no or low annual fees) to take advantage of multiple reward types as your business grows and changes.
Related:
- Best side hustles for couples
- Our “super chill” 3 credit card strategy
- Golden rules for using credit cards
*Advertiser Disclosure: How to Money has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. How to Money and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Lastly, the site does not include all card companies or all available card offers.
*Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
*User Generated Content Disclosure: Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.