How We Rank Cards & Value Benefits
Where the data comes from
Everything on this site is generated from the MaxWorth database — the same database that powers the MaxWorth iOS app. It currently covers 387 cards across the United States, Canada and Australia, including 200 U.S. cards, with 2,084 individual benefits catalogued line by line: annual fees, welcome bonuses, category earn rates, credits, statuses and protections.
Card data is entered and verified by hand against issuer websites — not scraped in bulk. When an issuer changes a fee, a credit or an earn rate, we update the database and the change flows to every affected page on this site. The site itself is rebuilt from the database at least once a day; every page shows the date its data was last refreshed.
How point values work
Comparing a 4x-points card against a 4% cash-back card requires converting points to dollars. Each rewards program in our database carries a program-level point valuation (for example, Chase Ultimate Rewards at 1.5¢ per point, Hilton Honors at 0.4-0.5¢) based on realistic redemption patterns — transfer-partner sweet spots for transferable currencies, typical award pricing for hotel and airline programs. A card's "true cash-back value" for a category is simply its multiplier × its program's point value: 4x in 1.4¢ points ranks as 5.6%.
How rankings are generated
Our Best Cards pages are computed, not curated. For each spending category, every card in the database is sorted by its true cash-back value in that category. Three editorial rules apply:
- Issuer-portal-exclusive rates are excluded. A 10x rate that only applies when booking through an issuer's own travel portal isn't comparable to an open-market rate, and portal prices often differ from booking direct.
- Single-brand rates are included but flagged. A 14x Hilton rate only applies at Hilton — it appears in the Hotels ranking with an explicit "Hilton stays only" label.
- Cards closed to new applicants are excluded from rankings, though their data remains in the database for existing cardholders.
Premium-card rankings sort by total tracked benefit value instead of earn rates, because $300+ cards compete on their benefit stacks.
Face value vs. realistic value
Benefit totals shown on card pages (for example, "$3,698/yr") are face value: the sum of every benefit at its maximum annual worth. In reviews we sometimes also publish a realistic value — an editorial estimate of what a typical cardholder actually redeems, discounting credits that require behavior changes or niche merchants. Face value comes from the database; realistic values are clearly-labeled editorial judgments, and your own numbers will differ.
Independence
No card can pay to appear, rank higher, or be recommended. MaxWorth has no affiliate relationships with any issuer and earns no commissions from card applications. This site is funded by the MaxWorth app. Rankings change only when the underlying data changes. See our full disclaimer & editorial disclosure.
Corrections
Card terms change constantly, and despite hand-verification we will sometimes be behind or wrong. If you spot an error — a stale fee, a changed credit, a miscoded rate — contact us through the MaxWorth app and we'll verify against the issuer and correct the database, which corrects every page that uses it.