WalletHub's Picks
There are two main types of credit cards to build credit with: secured credit cards and unsecured credit cards for people with limited or no credit. A student credit card may also be an option if you’re in college.We recommend seeking out the cheapest offer that you can get approved for. Your goal at this stage should be to start building your credit as soon as possible. If you’re looking for a card to rebuild your credit with, check out the best credit cards for bad credit.
Best Credit Cards for Building Credit in May 2026 Compared
| Credit Card | Best For | Editor's Rating | Annual Fee |
| Discover it® Secured Credit Card | Overall | 5/5 | $0 |
| opensky® Plus Secured Visa® Credit Card | After Bankruptcy | 4.5/5 | $0 |
| OneMain Financial BrightWay® Card | No Deposit | 3/5 | $0 - $89 |
| Petal® 2 Visa® Credit Card | No Credit | 5/5 | $0 |
| Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa® | Fair Credit | 4.2/5 | $0 |
Methodology
We start by identifying the cards with the lowest annual fees, preferably $0 per year, as it is best to keep costs low while building credit. We then identify the cards with the best rewards, using low APRs as a tiebreaker, because people working to build credit should strive to pay their credit card bill in full every month. Finally, the cards with the lowest two-year cost are selected.
WalletHub's Key Rating Components
Two-Year Cost: 35% – We estimate the overall cost or savings for a cardholder with little or no credit history over a two-year period by accounting for all required fees and rewards. Negative totals represent net savings.
Other Features: 17% – We look at credit-building tools, credit limit growth opportunities, reporting to the major credit bureaus, free access to credit scores, security deposit requirements when applicable, other approval requirements, and features that promote responsible credit use.
Fees: 17% – We analyze all fees tied to the card, including annual fees, monthly fees, and any upfront or one-time costs.
Rewards: 13% – We assess any rewards the card offers and how straightforward redemption is. Since most credit-building cards offer modest rewards, we prioritize consistent, easy-to-use rewards that provide practical value without encouraging overspending.
Editor’s Rating: 11% – WalletHub editors evaluate each card based on ease of approval, affordability, effectiveness at building credit, and overall value compared to other credit-building cards.
User Reviews: 6% – We factor in cardholder feedback to capture satisfaction with fees, rewards, customer support, credit reporting accuracy, etc.
A few cards on this page are listed to address different needs and use a slightly different scoring framework as a result. They include store cards, student cards, and cards for people with bad credit.
How Two-Year Cost Is CalculatedTwo-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.
Sources
WalletHub actively maintains a database of 1,500+ credit card offers, from which we select the best credit cards to build credit for different applicants as well as derive market-wide takeaways and trends. The underlying data is compiled from credit card company websites or provided directly by the credit card issuers. We also leverage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to develop cardholder profiles, used to estimate cards’ potential savings.
