- Our picks
- How to choose your first credit card
- Methodology
- About the author
- User questions & answers
- Expert opinions
Our Picks for the Best Credit Cards for First-Timers
Your goal in shopping for your first credit card, once you turn 18 and can qualify for your own account, should be to find an offer with low fees and approval requirements that you can comfortably meet. So WalletHub’s editors compared hundreds of credit cards in search of deals fitting that description. Below, you can compare our picks for the year’s best first credit cards for 18-year-olds (and up) in a few key categories.
Best First Credit Cards Comparison
Credit Card | Best For | Annual Fee |
Chase Freedom Rise℠ | Winner | $0 |
Discover it® Secured Credit Card | Building Credit | $0 |
Petal® 2 Visa® Credit Card | Rewards & No Fee | $0 |
OpenSky® Plus Secured Visa® Credit Card | No Credit Check | $0 |
Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card (see Rates & Fees) | Cash Back | $39 |
How to Choose Your First Credit Card
- Check your credit score.
If you have no prior credit experience, you won’t have a credit score. So you can focus on cards designed for people with limited or no credit. But you will if you’ve used credit in the past, even as an authorized user. And how good (or bad) your resulting score is will dictate what cards you should consider.
- Get a student card if you can.
The best first credit card for students is definitely one branded for student use. College student credit cards tend to have the best terms of all the cards available to people with limited or no credit. And if you have an active college or university email address, you’ll be able to qualify for one.
- Focus on low fees.
The best feature a first credit card can have is no annual fee. Most first credit cards simply don’t offer enough rewards or interest savings for paying a fee to make sense. So you’re better off saving your money for bill payments.
- Take advantage of existing relationships.
A great place to get your first credit card is the bank or credit union that you already have a banking relationship with, as that could make it easier to get approved. Your personal relationships could also help you become an authorized user on a friend’s or family member’s account in order to boost your credit-building efforts. However, the rewards, interest rates and fees that your first credit card offers are still more important than where exactly you get it.
- Try to apply just once.
Applying for numerous credit cards within a short period of time can hurt your credit score. So don’t apply in bunches or for a card that requires much better credit than you currently have.
- Get a card with no credit check if you’re rejected.
If you don’t get approved for your first choice, consider simply placing a refundable deposit on a secured credit card that won’t check your credit history when you apply.
So don't drag your heels when it comes to applying for your first credit card, or think your job is over once you’ve opened it. One of the best ways to learn about credit is to simply watch how your credit score changes over time in accordance with your spending and payment habits. And WalletHub is the best place to do so, as it is the only site that offers free credit scores and full credit reports that are updated on a daily basis. Your free WalletHub account will also provide personalized grades for each component of your credit score and customized recommendations for credit-card upgrades when the time come.
Methodology for Selecting the Best First Credit Cards
To identify the best first credit card for different types of first-time credit card users, WalletHub’s editors regularly compare more than 1,500 credit card offers based on key WalletHub Rating components, including their approval requirements, fees, rewards, interest rates, and credit-reporting practices. This enables us to find the best first-time credit cards with the lowest two-year cost, which will allow you to save as much money as possible while you build credit.
How Two-Year Cost Is Calculated
Two-year cost is used to approximate the monetary value of cards for better comparison and is calculated by combining annual and monthly membership fees over two years, adding any one-time fees or other fees (like balance transfer fees), adding any interest costs, and subtracting rewards. Negative amounts indicate savings. When fees or other terms are presented as a range, we use the midpoint for scoring purposes.
Rewards bonuses and credits have been taken into account for two-year cost calculations. However, bonuses applicable to only a very small portion of cardholders are not considered. For example, credits and bonuses awarded for spending or redeeming rewards through a company portal with non-co-branded cards have not been taken into account. Similarly, bonuses and credits related to spending with specific merchants using a non-co-branded card have not been taken into account (for example, if Card A offers credits with DoorDash, this feature would not be factored into calculations because it is hard to assess how many cardholders would use the benefit or exactly how much value they'd get from it).
Cardholder Spending Profiles
Given that different users have different goals and are likely to use their credit cards differently, we identified spending profiles that are representative of different users’ financial priorities and behaviors. For each cardholder type, we have assumed a specific amount of monthly spending by purchase type (e.g., groceries, gas, etc.), as well as an average balance, balance transfer amount, amount spent on large purchases and average monthly payment. Spending assumptions are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data.