The best cash-back credit cards of April 2023

When it comes to cash-back credit cards, it literally pays to do your homework. Using the right cash-back card strategically can earn you hundreds of dollars a year and thousands of dollars over time.

To help you find the right card, we analyzed 50 of the most popular cash-back cards using an average American's annual spending budget and digging into each card's perks and drawbacks to find the best of the best based on your consumer habits. (See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best cards.)

When choosing the cards in this roundup, we focused exclusively on cash-back offers, but of course there are lots of other cards to consider. Check out CNBC Select's picks of the best rewards cards for travel, online shopping, groceries and more.

Here are CNBC Select's picks for the top cash-back credit cards.

• Winner and best for no annual fee: Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card
• Best for flat-rate cash back: Citi® Double Cash Card
• Best for rotating bonus categories and welcome bonus: Chase Freedom Flex℠
• Best for students: Discover it® Student Cash Back
• Best for average credit: Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

Who's this for? Consumers who want a robust rewards card with no annual fee should consider the Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card. Cardholders earn 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3% on drugstores and dining at restaurants (including takeout) and 1.5% on all other purchases.

If you're looking to maximize your rewards, there's also a generous welcome bonus: On up to $20,000 spent in the first year, cardholders earn an additional 1.5% on all categories.

This card has no annual fee, and you can benefit from a 0% APR for the first 15 months on new purchases and balance transfers (after, 19.49% - 28.24% variable APR). There's an intro balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater, on transfers made within 60 days of account opening. After that it's either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.

Who's this for? The Citi® Double Cash Card is a solid choice if you're looking to maximize your money without having to worry about rotating reward categories. Earn 1% cash back on purchases and 1% when you pay off your bill. That makes the card's appeal almost universal, as you won't have to miss out on reward opportunities.

There's no annual fee and an easy-to-use rewards program with no activation required and no limit to how much cash back you can earn. Cardholders can redeem cash back for checks or statement credits once they've earned $25 worth of cash back. Plus, if you forget to pay your card, Citi will waive your first late fee. (Though we recommend you pay off your credit card balance on time and in full each month to avoid interest charges.)

The Citi® Double Cash Card offers cardholders 0% APR for the first 18 months on balance transfers (then a 18.74% - 28.74% variable APR) initiated within 4 months of opening an account.

In addition to the cash-back rewards, there are a number of special cardmember programs, including Citi Entertainment℠, which gives cardholders first access to purchase tickets for thousands of concerts and events. The card also provides access to Citi® Identity Theft Solutions, a service that will help you if you're a victim of identity theft.

Who's this for? If you're looking to maximize rewards, consider a rotating bonus category card like the Chase Freedom Flex℠. This card offers 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate, then 1%. The cash-back calendar changes every quarter. (Learn more about how Chase classifies bonus category purchases.)

In addition to rotating rewards, you can earn 5% cash back on travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal, 3% cash back on dining at restaurants and at drug stores and 1% cash back on all other purchases.

The Chase Freedom Flex℠ also has one of the best welcome bonuses around: Earn $200 cash back after you spend $500 on purchases in your first three months from account opening. That's like earning 40% back.

You can benefit from World Elite Mastercard benefits, such as cell phone protection and Fandango credits. Plus, the Freedom Flex card has no annual fee and offers a competitive 0% APR for the first 15 months on new purchases and balance transfers (after, 19.49% - 28.24%  variable APR). There's an intro balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater, on transfers made within 60 days of account opening. After that it's either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.

Who's this for? Building credit while you're in college is a great way to establish good credit by the time you graduate. A student card, like the Discover it® Student Cash Back, can help you build credit while also earning cash back. To qualify, you need to meet a few requirements: attend a two- or four-year college, be over 18 and a U.S. citizen.

The Discover it® Student Cash Back has no annual fee and, upon activation, provides 5% cash back every quarter on rotating categories, up to a $1,500 maximum each quarter (then 1%). All other purchases earn unlimited 1% cash back automatically.

There are no foreign transaction fees, which makes it a good choice for students studying abroad.

If you need to finance textbooks or dorm room essentials, you can take advantage of the introductory 0% APR for the first six months on new purchases. After the intro period, there's a 17.74% - 26.74% variable APR. We always recommend you pay your balance on time and in full in order to avoid interest charges.

Who's this for? Many of the best cash-back cards require good or excellent credit, but there are some cards for people with fair/average credit that offer good cash-back rates. Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card gives consumers a competitive 1.5% cash back on all purchases, with no limit on the amount of cash back you can earn. And cash back can be redeemed at any amount, without the typical $25 minimum some other cards set.

This card has a $39 annual fee, but the average American can earn $289 a year in cash back, which is more than enough to offset the fee. After five years, you could earn $1,444.

The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card charges no foreign transaction fees and comes with travel accident insurance, auto rental collision damage waiver and 24-hour travel assistance services.

There are many types of credit cards that offer a range of perks and rewards programs, especially when it comes to cash-back credit cards. The three main types are flat-rate, bonus rewards and rotating category.

• Flat-rate cash-back cards offer the same amount of cash back on all purchases.
• Bonus rewards cash-back cards offer extra rewards on select purchases, such as gas, groceries, dining and travel.
• Rotating category cash-back cards offer higher cash-back rates on certain categories that change every month or quarter.

Depending on your spending habits, you can benefit from having one or more of cash-back cards.

It can be hard to select just one cash-back card since there are so many to choose from. In order to choose the best card for your needs, you'll need to consider several factors. Here are some tips on how to choose a credit card:

1. Consider the annual fee: While many cash-back cards have no, or low annual, fees, consider if you're willing to pay for your credit card.

2. Do you want to take advantage of a 0% APR: Many cash-back cards provide an introductory 0% APR period that can save you money on interest charges. If you have large purchases coming up, or debt to refinance, consider a card with no interest for over a year, such as the Freedom Flex card with an intro 0% APR for the first 15 months on purchases and balance transfers (then 19.49% - 28.24% variable APR).

3. Review your spending habits: Taking the time to consider how you use your card, can help you narrow down the type of cash back you want to earn. If you spend a lot at the supermarket, consider a grocery rewards card, such as the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. But if your spending habits are unclear, stick with a flat-rate cash-back card, like the Citi Double Cash.

If you're having trouble narrowing down the best cash-back card for you, it can be helpful to compare credit cards. You should first list the benefits you're looking for and any deal breakers, such as an annual fee. Then make a list of cards that offer those benefits so you can do a side-by-side comparison.

For instance, if you want a simple cash-back card that doesn't require bonus activation, consider the flat-rate Citi Double Cash. But if you don't mind activation and want to maximize rewards, opt for the Chase Freedom Flex.

In order to make the most of your cash-back card, you should familiarize yourself with the various credit card benefits and fees. Review the annual fee, foreign transaction fees and the APR. Plus consider the cash-back rates and redemption options.

Once you're familiar with the terms of your card, you can begin to optimize them. Set up autopay to ensure payments are made on time and consider how you want to redeem cash back. If there's an automatic redemption option, that can be a simple way to redeem rewards.

And if you have multiple credit cards, make sure you know the best time to use each card. Let's say you have the Citi Double Cash Card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited Card. Use the Freedom Unlimited card for all your Chase Ultimate Rewards travel purchases (5% cash back), dining (3% cash back) and drugstore (3% cash back) expenses, then use the Double Cash for all your other purchases to earn an effective 2% cash back.

To determine which cards will put the most money back in your pocket, CNBC Select evaluated 50 cash-back credit cards offered by the biggest banks, financial companies and credit unions that allow anyone to join. We compared each card on a range of features, including cash-back rewards, annual fee, welcome bonus, introductory and standard APR, balance transfer fee and foreign transaction fees, as well as factors such as required credit and customer reviews when available.

CNBC Select teamed up with location intelligence firm Esri. The company's data development team provided the most up-to-date and comprehensive consumer spending data based on the 2019 Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. You can read more about their methodology here.

Esri's data team created a sample annual budget of approximately $22,126 in retail spending. The budget includes six main categories: groceries ($5,174), gas ($2,218), dining out ($3,675), travel ($2,244), utilities ($4,862) and general purchases ($3,953). General purchases include items such as housekeeping supplies, clothing, personal care products, prescription drugs and vitamins, and other vehicle expenses.

CNBC Select used this budget to estimate how much the average consumer would save over the course of a year, two years and five years, assuming they would attempt to maximize their rewards potential by earning all welcome bonuses offered and using the card for all applicable purchases. All rewards total estimations are net the annual fee.

It's important to note the value of a point or mile varies from card to card and based on how you redeem them. When we calculated the estimated returns, we assumed that cardholders are redeeming cash back for a typical maximum value of 1 cent per point or mile. (Extreme optimizers might be able to achieve more value.)

Our final picks are weighted heavily toward the highest five-year returns, since it's generally wise to hold onto a credit card for years. This method also avoids giving an unfair advantage to cards with large welcome bonuses.

While the five-year estimates we've included are derived from a budget similar to the average American's spending, you may earn a higher or lower return depending on your shopping habits.

For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, click here.

For rates and fees of the Discover it® Student Cash Back, click here.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.