Best Cards For Less Than Perfect Credit

If you have poor to average credit there are still plenty of great options for you to consider. Most of the cards we have rounded up below are focused on helping you build your credit and some even offer rewards and other useful card features. 

CreditStrong Revolv

Annual Fee
$99 annual membership fee, automatically renewed each year
Recommended Credit Score
Poor – Fair
Credit Check Required
No
How It Works
CreditStrong Revolv helps you build credit fast without a credit card. For $99 a year Revolv adds a minimum of $1,000 revolving credit line to your credit profile in order to improve your credit utilization ratio which can improve your credit score. You then have the option to make monthly deposits into your account to unlock a better credit utilization rate and generate monthly payment reporting to the credit bureaus. It is essentially like opening a secured credit card, but you do not have access to the money. You can cancel your account at any time with no fees or penalties charged or you can change you saving commitment to $0 to continue to help your revolving credit utilization.

OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card

Purchase APR
25.64% Variable APR
Balance Transfer APR
N/A
Annual Fee
$35
Recommended Credit Score
Poor – Fair
300 – 607
Rewards
Up to 10% Up to 10% back on select purchases
Intro Bonus
N/A

OpenSky® Plus Secured Visa® Credit Card

Purchase APR
29.99% Variable APR
Balance Transfer APR
N/A
Annual Fee
$0
Recommended Credit Score
Poor – Fair
300 – 607
Rewards
Up to 10% Up to 10% back on select purchases
Intro Bonus
N/A

Aspire® Cashback Rewards Credit Card

Purchase APR
29.9% or 36% variable
Security Deposit
None
Annual Fee
As low as $85
Recommended Credit Score
Fair – Poor
520 – 680
Rewards
1% – 3%Earn a 3% cash back reward on eligible gas, grocery, and utility bill payments

Earn a 1% cash back reward on all other eligible purchases of goods and services and payments minus returns and other credits
Credit Check Required
Yes

Fortiva® Mastercard® Credit Card

Purchase APR
29.9% or 36% variable
Security Deposit
None
Annual Fee
$49 to $175 the first year; up to $49 thereafter
Recommended Credit Score
Fair – Poor
520 – 680
Rewards
1% – 3%Earn a 3% cash back reward on eligible gas, grocery, and utility bill payments

Earn a 1% cash back reward on all other eligible purchases of goods and services and payments minus returns and other credits
Credit Check Required
Yes

Capital One Platinum Credit Card

Purchase APR
29.99% (Variable)
Security Deposit
None
Annual Fee
$0
Recommended Credit Score
Average, Fair, Limited
580 – 740
Rewards
N/AN/A
Credit Check Required
Yes

Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

Purchase APR
29.99% (Variable)
Security Deposit
None
Annual Fee
$39
Recommended Credit Score
Average, Fair, Limited
580 – 740
Rewards
1.5% – 5% Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day

Earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you’ll get Capital One’s best prices on thousands of trip options. Terms apply
Intro Bonus
N/A

Self Visa® Credit Card*

Purchase APR
28.74% variable APR
Balance Transfer APR
N/A
Annual Fee
$25
Recommended Credit Score
Poor – Fair
300 – 607
Rewards
N/A
Intro Bonus
N/A

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.
*CardCritics references a FICO® 8 score, which is one of many different types of credit scores. A financial institution may use a different score when evaluating your application.