Capital One Quicksilver vs. Chase Freedom Unlimited: card comparison

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If you want to earn cash back without worrying about rotating categories or bonuses on specific purchases, both the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card and Chase Freedom Unlimited® are potentially good options.

Both offer a flat 1.5% cash back on all purchases with no annual fee. Those are definitely the most important features of these cards. But if you’re deciding between the two, you have to look beyond those core featured to pick the right one for your wallet. For instance, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® also offers an extra cash back bonus for the first year after opening an account that’s worth noting.

Let’s take a look at the details of the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card versus the Chase Freedom Unlimited® to decide which may be the better credit card for you.

We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.

Capital One Quicksilver versus the Chase Freedom Unlimited: The biggest differences

	Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card	Chase Freedom Unlimited®
Annual fee	$0	$0
Sign-up bonus	$150 after you spend $500 in the first 3 months of acocut opening	$200 after spending $500 in the first three months from account opening Earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases* on up to $12k spent in the first year
Earning cash back	1.5% back on every purchase	1.5% back on every purchase
Using cash back	Check, statement credit, reimburse recent purchases, gift cards, Amazon.com purchases, experiences	Direct deposit, statement credit, gift cards, Amazon.com, travel with Chase Ultimate Rewards
Intro APR offer for purchases	0% intro APR for 15 months, then 15.49% – 25.49% variable APR	0% intro APR for 15 months, then 14.99%–23.74% variable APR
Foreign transaction fees	None	3%
Other benefits	Travel accident insurance, auto rental collision damage waiver, extended warranty, roadside assistance, travel assistance	Purchase protection, extended warranty protection

*not including Target or Walmart purchases

Sign-up bonus

Both cards feature a cash back sign-up bonus that you can earn after spending $500 within the first three months of opening a new card.

With the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card, you can earn a bonus worth $150 in cash back after hitting the $500 mark in new purchases.

With the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, you earn $200 after spending $500 in the first three months from account opening. That’s 33% more cash back to get you started.

The winner here is the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card. And that’s not even factoring in the recently added cash-back element to the card’s sign-up bonus.

For the first year, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card will earn new cardholders 5% cash back on grocery store purchases (not including Target or Walmart) on up to $12,000 in purchases (then 1.5%). That could be worth up to $600 in cash back, which is pretty huge for the first year. However, not everyone will spend an average of $2,000 per month on groceries to earn the full $600.

Earning cash back

For the long-term, both cards offer a flat 1.5% cash back rate. It doesn’t matter where or when you use it, you can earn the same 1.5% cash back on all purchases with no limits.

While the Chase card is the winner in the first year due to the sign-up bonus, after the first year, the cards offer identical cash-back earning opportunities.

Using cash back

Both cards give you a list of flexible ways to redeem your cash back, but for most people, the best way to redeem is either a check, direct deposit, or a statement credit. After all, cash is cash. But if you want to use your rewards for fun purchases, you can certainly do that as well with either card.

The Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card gives you a bunch of different ways to redeem cash back. Those include a check, statement credit, paying for recent purchases, gift cards, Amazon.com purchases, and experiences like VIP meals, concerts, and sporting events. With the ability to redeem cash back to reimburse yourself for any purchase, you can redeem for purchases including travel or anything else you buy with the card.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® gives you the ability to redeem for a direct deposit, statement credit, Amazon.com purchase, gift card purchase, or redeem for travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.

The option to redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards is even more lucrative if you also have a Chase Ultimate Rewards card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. If you do, you can combine cash back with your rewards points in those accounts at a rate of 1 cent to one point. Points are worth more than 1 cent depending on the Ultimate Rewards card you have, so that’s an opportunity to turn your Chase Freedom Unlimited® cash back into more valuable travel rewards.

Intro APR offer

Both cards offer identical introductory APR terms. With both cards, you’ll pay 0% on new purchases made within the first 15 months. After that, regular purchase APR kicks in.

This can be useful for a big home-improvement project or other planned expense that you’re able to pay off before the 0% intro period ends. Just make sure to pay it off completely by that point, as interest costs can add up fast and often cost more than the rewards you earn from card purchases.

Foreign transaction fees

For avoiding foreign transaction fees, the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card is the winner. You can use Quicksilver anywhere in the world the card is accepted and you won’t pay any additional foreign transaction fees or charges.

With the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, there’s a 3% foreign transaction fee. If you’re a frequent international traveler, that cost could be a deal-breaker for this card — or it might require you to keep a second card for international trips. If you want just one card and don’t want any foreign transaction fees, Capital One Quicksilver is the better choice.

Purchase protection and warranty

Both the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited® offer above-average benefits for a card with no annual fee. However, depending on your priorities, each has its own strong suit.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® includes purchase protection that covers new purchases against damage or theft for 120 days. This is worth up to $500 per claim and has a $50,000 lifetime limit per account. It also includes extended warranty coverage that gives you an additional year of protection on eligible warranties of three years or less.

The Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card has a similar extended warranty benefit but does not have purchase protection. Instead, it has stronger benefits for travel including an auto rental collision damage waiver (secondary rental car insurance), travel accident insurance, roadside assistance, and 24-hour travel assistance.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited is a bit strong when it comes to purchase protections and Capital One is definitely better for travel.

Which card should you get?

Both the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited® can be a great choice — it all depends on what you’re looking for in a cash-back card.

Both cards feature the same flat 1.5% cash back – but the Chase card offer a better sign-up bonus and bonus rewards rate for groceries the first year. After that, the two cards are the same.

For benefits, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is a little better for purchase protections but the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card offers more for travel and is better overall. That includes no foreign transaction fee compared to a 3% fee with the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.

Sign-up bonuses and benefits can change, but as of today, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is a winner if you’re looking for a bigger sign-up bonus and/or the potential to get more out of your rewards when redeeming for travel. But the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card has better travel benefits, plus no foreign transaction fees, which could offer more long-term value.