Driving for a ridesharing app like Uber or Lyft or a meals supply app like DoorDash or Instacart. Working as a author or graphic designer for rent. Educating English on-line in your spare time. These are among the many most popular side gigs and freelance alternatives for individuals trying to earn additional earnings.
These solopreneurs rely as self-employed people — small-business homeowners, technically — and are sometimes eligible for a lot of small-business credit cards. That is true even for these with no plans to show their facet enterprise right into a full-time enterprise.
What follows is an inventory of one of the best bank cards for freelancers and facet hustlers hoping to earn rewards for business-related purchases and lift their business credit score within the course of.
Finest Credit score Playing cards for Freelancers & Facet Hustles
The very best small-business bank cards for freelancers, sole proprietors, and facet hustlers pair modest annual charges — if they’ve annual charges in any respect — with beneficiant rewards applications whose bonus classes favor basic spending or a broad vary of on a regular basis enterprise bills.
Many even have engaging sign-up bonuses — also referred to as welcome affords, welcome bonuses, or early spend bonuses, relying on the issuer. And all settle for private ensures from candidates, which implies you’ll be able to apply utilizing your private credit score rating. That is very helpful when you don’t have any enterprise credit score historical past (otherwise you haven’t formally included your freelance enterprise in any respect).
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Earn limitless 1.5% money again on all purchases and luxuriate in an unusually lengthy 0% APR introductory promotion (for a enterprise bank card).
Rewards Fee
Limitless 1.5% on each enterprise purchases
Intro APR
0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases, then variable common APR
Common APR
18.49% to 24.49% (variable)
Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
Earn as much as 5% money again on on a regular basis enterprise purchases. Plus, make the most of an above-average 0% intro APR supply and sign-up bonus alternative.
Rewards Fee
As much as 5% money again
Intro APR
0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases, then variable common APR
Ongoing APR
18.49% to 24.49% (variable)
The American Express Blue Business Cash card
Earn 2% money again on the primary $50,000 in eligible purchases, then 1% money again on all eligible enterprise purchases. Plus, take pleasure in 0% intro APR for the primary 12 months on purchases.
Rewards Fee
As much as 2% money again
Intro APR
0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases, then variable common APR
Ongoing APR
18.49% to 26.49% APRs is not going to exceed 29.99% (variable)
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
Earn 2 factors per $1 spent on the primary $50,000 in eligible purchases, then 1 level per $1 spent. An above-average welcome supply and 0% intro APR on purchases add but extra worth.
Rewards Fee
As much as 2x factors
Intro APR
0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months, then variable common APR
Ongoing APR
18.49% to 26.49% APR is not going to exceed 29.99% (variable)
Methodology: How We Select the Finest Credit score Playing cards for Freelancers & Facet Hustlers
In case you’re a freelancer or sole proprietor out there for a bank card to cowl skilled bills, you’ll want to contemplate lots of the similar elements homeowners of (barely) bigger enterprises do when searching for small-business bank cards. These are crucial standards that we use to separate one of the best freelancer-friendly bank cards from the remaining.
Private Assure Requirement
Many freelancers and facet hustlers aren’t formally included and don’t have any want to be. As a result of they don’t have any “enterprise” within the technical sense, they don’t have any enterprise credit score. They’ll’t get accredited for enterprise bank cards that don’t settle for private ensures.
Because of this, a lacking private assure requirement is a deal-breaker. All of the playing cards on this checklist settle for private ensures or supply methods round them, like ensures primarily based completely on enterprise income fairly than credit score.
Credit score & Revenue Qualification Necessities
Most bank card issuers require candidates to again up their private assure (or enterprise assure) by assembly sure credit score and earnings requirements. For premium enterprise bank cards, these requirements may be excessive — successfully out of attain of the everyday freelancer or facet hustler.
So we search for freelancer-friendly bank cards with extra relaxed qualification requirements. Many of the bank cards on this checklist set minimal FICO scores close to 700, however they’re not as choosy as top-shelf enterprise playing cards and don’t ask candidates to show they’re pulling in tens of hundreds of {dollars} a month on high of that.
Rewards Program
Each card on this checklist has an above-average rewards program. When evaluating these applications, we search for playing cards that do one in every of two issues:
- Earn greater returns on widespread enterprise purchases, comparable to workplace provides and telecommunications
- Earn an above-average flat charge of return (1.5% or above) on most or all eligible purchases
We rule out playing cards that solely earn rewards on sure purchases or ask you to leap by means of too many hoops (like activating your money again earlier than every buy).
Welcome Presents for New Cardholders
Many of the playing cards on this checklist have spending-based welcome affords (aka sign-up bonuses) that improve their rewards applications’ enchantment. We deliberately exclude playing cards with uncomfortably excessive spending necessities — a $3,000-per-month tempo or above. The remaining affords’ spending necessities are lifelike for a lot of if not most freelancers.
Different Enterprise Advantages
Freelancers have much less use for widespread enterprise bank card advantages like Amazon Internet Companies credit and Salesforce integrations, however all else being equal, we favor playing cards that supply the choice. And a few enterprise bank card advantages are legitimately freelancer-friendly, like reductions on common bookkeeping software program.
Curiosity Fee & Introductory APR Promotions
We don’t advise anybody to hold a bank card stability if they’ll keep away from it, however enterprise homeowners — together with sole proprietors — typically don’t have any different possibility. With that in thoughts, we search for freelancer-friendly playing cards with low ongoing rates of interest and long 0% APR introductory promotions.
Annual Payment
All else being equal, we favor skilled bank cards with out annual charges. Nevertheless, dedicated freelancers can offset extra modest annual charges (underneath $100) with out an excessive amount of bother, so this checklist isn’t completely annual-fee-free.
Credit score Card FAQs for Freelancers & Facet Hustlers
Discovering and making use of for a freelancer-friendly bank card isn’t an excessive amount of totally different from the method for client playing cards. As soon as in your fingers, these playing cards work roughly the identical as client playing cards too. But when it’s your first time, you would possibly nonetheless have questions as you’re employed by means of the method.
Do You Must Incorporate to Get a Skilled Credit score Card?
Not essentially. Freelancer-friendly bank cards typically don’t ask candidates to show they’ve formally included their enterprise. This can be a good factor for part-time freelancers who don’t need the headache (and added value) of managing a authorized enterprise entity.
In contrast, some small-business bank cards do require formal incorporation. These playing cards don’t make this checklist.
How A lot Can You Spend on a Skilled Credit score Card?
It depends upon two elements: whether or not the cardboard has a preset spending restrict, and in that case, the restrict’s greenback worth.
Some enterprise bank cards don’t have any preset spending limits, together with some we contemplate freelancer-friendly. To forestall runaway spending, these playing cards often have a pay-in-full requirement, so you’ll be able to’t cost greater than you’ll be able to afford to repay (for lengthy, anyway). In case your freelance enterprise is prospering, these no-limit, pay-in-full playing cards often supply higher spending energy.
Different enterprise bank cards base spending limits on income. That is extra widespread for playing cards that underwrite primarily based on enterprise credit score, however when you’ve been freelancing for some time and might present constant earnings, you would possibly qualify for a beneficiant credit score restrict with no enterprise credit score rating.
Do Freelancer-Pleasant Credit score Playing cards Enable Private Ensures?
They need to in the event that they wish to be on this checklist. Some freelancers have included enterprise entities of their very own, however many don’t. This implies they’ll’t get a enterprise bank card that doesn’t settle for private ensures.
Does Your Skilled Credit score Card Have an effect on Your Private Credit score Rating?
In case you certified utilizing your private credit score and earnings, sure.
This impact may be optimistic, detrimental, or each at totally different occasions. In case you use your skilled bank card responsibly, your private credit score rating may improve over time. In case you bump up towards your credit score restrict or miss funds in your skilled bank card, your private credit score rating may endure.
What’s a Good Annual Payment for a Skilled Credit score Card?
Probably the most freelancer-friendly bank cards waive annual charges altogether. Nevertheless, playing cards with unusually beneficiant rewards applications or perks typically cost annual charges. In case you spend sufficient to offset these charges by incomes rewards and web greater than you’d have with a no-annual-fee various, it’s price the fee.
Last Phrase
As a result of freelancers and facet hustlers are eligible for a lot of bank cards historically marketed to small-business homeowners with staff or contractors on the payroll, this checklist overlaps significantly with our general checklist of the best credit cards for small-business owners.
The lists aren’t an identical, nevertheless.
A number of the high playing cards for small companies, such because the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and the Amex Business Platinum Card, aren’t preferrred for part-time entrepreneurship or freelance work as a consequence of some mixture of excessive annual charges, strict credit score underwriting necessities, and welcome affords that require heavier spending than most facet hustlers can handle.
That’s to not say these playing cards don’t enchantment to unusually prolific facet hustlers.
In case you’re lucky sufficient to have the ability to scale your facet enterprise right into a full-time enterprise with a stability sheet to match, you would possibly end up in the hunt for a bank card with a credit score restrict to fulfill your spending wants. When that day comes, you’ll be solely too glad to commerce up.
