Citi Double Cash® vs Wells Fargo Active Cash®
Side-by-side comparison
| Citi Double Cash® | Wells Fargo Active Cash® | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | No annual fee | No annual fee |
| Welcome offer | $200 cash back | $200 cash rewards bonus |
| Dining | 2x | 2x |
| Groceries | 2x | 2x |
| Gas | 2x | 2x |
| Travel | 2x | 2x |
| Streaming | 2x | 2x |
| Everything else | 2x | 2x |
| Est. yearly rewards* | $583 | $583 |
| Points type | Pools with Citi → transferable | Pools with Wells Fargo → transferable |
| Network | Mastercard | Visa |
*Estimated yearly rewards on typical household spending, every point valued at a flat 1 cent. Verified June 2026. See your own numbers in the calculator.
The verdict
On a typical year of household spending, the Citi Double Cash® earns about $583 a year in rewards and the Wells Fargo Active Cash® about $583, valuing every point at a flat 1 cent. The Citi Double Cash® has no annual fee, so its rewards are all profit. The Wells Fargo Active Cash® has no annual fee, so its rewards are all profit. These two are about as close as cards get: both pay a flat 2x on everything, neither charges an annual fee, and on that spending they finish within a few dollars of each other. The choice is not really about the rewards rate. Both earn points that only unlock airline and hotel transfers once you pair them with a premium card in the same family, so it comes down to which ecosystem you are building: Citi for the Citi Double Cash®, Wells Fargo for the Wells Fargo Active Cash®. One tiebreaker: the Wells Fargo Active Cash® adds cell phone protection, which the other does not. On the sign-up bonus, the two are currently comparable in size. A welcome bonus is a one-time event, so weigh it apart from the ongoing rewards.