8 Best Credit Cards for Freelancers & Side Hustlers of 2023

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 fashionable facet gigs and freelance alternatives for individuals seeking to earn further revenue.

These solopreneurs rely as self-employed people — small-business house owners, technically — and are sometimes eligible for a lot of small-business bank 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 the most effective bank cards for freelancers and facet hustlers hoping to earn rewards for business-related purchases and lift their enterprise credit score rating within the course of.

Finest Credit score Playing cards for Freelancers & Facet Hustles

The most effective 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 packages whose bonus classes favor basic spending or a broad vary of on a regular basis enterprise bills.

Many even have engaging sign-up bonuses — often known as welcome presents, welcome bonuses, or early spend bonuses, relying on the issuer. And all settle for private ensures from candidates, which implies you may apply utilizing your private credit score rating. That is very helpful for those who don’t have any enterprise credit score historical past (otherwise you haven’t formally included your freelance enterprise in any respect).

Methodology: How We Select the Finest Credit score Playing cards for Freelancers & Facet Hustlers

If you happen to’re a freelancer or sole proprietor available in the market for a bank card to cowl skilled bills, it is advisable to think about lots of the identical components house owners of (barely) bigger enterprises do when purchasing for small-business bank cards. These are an important standards that we use to separate the most effective freelancer-friendly bank cards from the remainder.

Private Assure Requirement

Many freelancers and facet hustlers aren’t formally included and haven’t any want to be. As a result of they haven’t any “enterprise” within the technical sense, they haven’t any enterprise credit score. They will’t get accepted 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 record settle for private ensures or provide methods round them, like ensures primarily based fully on enterprise income moderately than credit score.

Credit score & Earnings Qualification Necessities

Most bank card issuers require candidates to again up their private assure (or enterprise assure) by assembly sure credit score and revenue requirements. For premium enterprise bank cards, these requirements will 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. A lot of the bank cards on this record 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 1000’s of {dollars} a month on prime of that.

Rewards Program

Each card on this record has an above-average rewards program. When evaluating these packages, we search for playing cards that do considered one of two issues:

• Earn greater returns on frequent enterprise purchases, reminiscent of workplace provides and telecommunications
• Earn an above-average flat fee 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 way of too many hoops (like activating your money again earlier than every buy).

Welcome Provides for New Cardholders

A lot of the playing cards on this record have spending-based welcome presents (aka sign-up bonuses) that improve their rewards packages’ enchantment. We deliberately exclude playing cards with uncomfortably excessive spending necessities — a $3,000-per-month tempo or above. The remaining presents’ spending necessities are reasonable for a lot of if not most freelancers.

Different Enterprise Advantages

Freelancers have much less use for frequent enterprise bank card advantages like Amazon Net Providers credit and Salesforce integrations, however all else being equal, we choose playing cards that supply the choice. And a few enterprise bank card advantages are legitimately freelancer-friendly, like reductions on fashionable bookkeeping software program. 

Curiosity Price & Introductory APR Promotions

We don’t advise anybody to hold a bank card steadiness if they’ll keep away from it, however enterprise house owners — together with sole proprietors — generally haven’t any different possibility. With that in thoughts, we search for freelancer-friendly playing cards with low ongoing rates of interest and lengthy 0% APR introductory promotions.

Annual Price

All else being equal, we choose skilled bank cards with out annual charges. Nonetheless, dedicated freelancers can offset extra modest annual charges (beneath $100) with out an excessive amount of bother, so this record isn’t fully 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 way of the method.

Do You Have to Incorporate to Get a Skilled Credit score Card?

Not essentially. Freelancer-friendly bank cards usually 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.

Against this, some small-business bank cards do require formal incorporation. These playing cards don’t make this record.

How A lot Can You Spend on a Skilled Credit score Card?

It is dependent upon two components: whether or not the cardboard has a preset spending restrict, and if that’s the case, the restrict’s greenback worth.

Some enterprise bank cards haven’t any preset spending limits, together with some we think about freelancer-friendly. To stop runaway spending, these playing cards normally have a pay-in-full requirement, so you may’t cost greater than you may afford to repay (for lengthy, anyway). In case your freelance enterprise is flourishing, these no-limit, pay-in-full playing cards normally provide higher spending energy.

Different enterprise bank cards base spending limits on income. That is extra frequent for playing cards that underwrite primarily based on enterprise credit score, however for those who’ve been freelancing for some time and might present constant revenue, you would possibly qualify for a beneficiant credit score restrict with out a enterprise credit score rating.

Do Freelancer-Pleasant Credit score Playing cards Permit Private Ensures?

They need to in the event that they need to be on this record. 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?

If you happen to certified utilizing your private credit score and revenue, sure. 

This impact will be optimistic, unfavorable, or each at totally different instances. If you happen to use your skilled bank card responsibly, your private credit score rating might improve over time. If you happen to bump up towards your credit score restrict or miss funds in your skilled bank card, your private credit score rating might undergo.

What’s a Good Annual Price for a Skilled Credit score Card?

Probably the most freelancer-friendly bank cards waive annual charges altogether. Nonetheless, playing cards with unusually beneficiant rewards packages or perks usually cost annual charges. If you happen to spend sufficient to offset these charges by incomes rewards and internet greater than you’ll have with a no-annual-fee different, it’s value the fee.

Ultimate Phrase

As a result of freelancers and facet hustlers are eligible for a lot of bank cards historically marketed to small-business house owners with workers or contractors on the payroll, this record overlaps significantly with our general record of the finest bank cards for small-business house owners.

The lists aren’t similar, nevertheless.

A few of the prime playing cards for small companies, such because the Chase Ink Enterprise Most popular Credit score Card and the Amex Enterprise Platinum Card, aren’t very best for part-time entrepreneurship or freelance work on account of some mixture of excessive annual charges, strict credit score underwriting necessities, and welcome presents 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.

If you happen to’re lucky sufficient to have the ability to scale your facet enterprise right into a full-time enterprise with a steadiness sheet to match, you would possibly end up seeking a bank card with a credit score restrict to fulfill your spending wants. When that day comes, you’ll be solely too blissful to commerce up.