If you pay rent or mortgage, the Bilt Blue Card card is the clear winner. It's the only $0 annual fee card that earns rewards on housing payments with no transaction fee; if you don't pay rent or mortgage and want simple cash back, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® wins.

Overview

Both cards cost $0 per year, but they serve very different types of spenders.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is the better pick if you want straightforward rewards without any extra setup. Spend $500 in your first 3 months and you'll pocket a $200 bonus right out of the gate. After that, you get 5% back on Chase Travel, 3% on dining and drugstores, and 1.5% on everything else. No rent payments, no program decisions, no tiers to think about.

The Bilt Blue card wins if you pay rent or a mortgage and want those payments to actually count for something. It's the only $0 annual fee card that lets you earn rewards on housing costs with no transaction fee, a category most cards completely ignore. You can earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases (when you elect to earn via Flexible Bilt Cash), which you can then redeem for Bilt Points when you pay your monthly housing bill.

Neither card is objectively better for everyone. The right answer really comes down to whether your rent or mortgage is a meaningful line item in your monthly budget, and how much you value simplicity versus a broader rewards program.

Final Thoughts on Bilt Blue and Chase Freedom Unlimited®

When you're weighing Bilt Blue vs Chase Freedom Unlimited®, your monthly rent or mortgage is the tiebreaker. Bilt Blue is built to turn housing payments into points, something no other similar card attempts. But if simplicity matters more, and you don't have meaningful monthly rent or mortgage payments, then the Freedom Unlimited gives you reliable rates without any decision fatigue.

That said, both cards don't have annual fees, so they're pretty hard to beat in any case.

FAQs

Is Bilt Blue or Chase Freedom Unlimited better for dining?

The Chase Freedom Unlimited clearly wins here: 3% back on dining versus Bilt Blue's base points earning, which is less straightforward to value directly. If dining is a top category for you, Freedom Unlimited is the simpler, higher-rate option.

Which card has better transfer partners?

Bilt Points transfer to airlines like Southwest, Alaska Airlines, Air Canada Aeroplan, and Air France-KLM Flying Blue, plus hotel programs like Hyatt. Chase Freedom Unlimited points are Ultimate Rewards points, but they can only be transferred if you pair the card with a premium Chase card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. On its own, the Freedom Unlimited can only redeem for cash back, travel through Chase Travel, or gift cards.

Bilt Blue gives you transfer access from day one with no premium card required. That said, if you already carry a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve, your Freedom Unlimited points pool together with those cards, giving you full transfer access without paying a second annual fee.

Should I hold both the Bilt Blue and Chase Freedom Unlimited®?

No and that's because they are both "catch all" cards. In fact, in order to use the Bilt Blue successfully, you need to actually spend on the card. If you elect to earn Flexible Bilt Cash, you'll earn 4% Bilt Cash for every dollar spent alongside the 1x you earn normally. When you redeem that Bilt Cash, you're (effectively) getting an additional 1.33 points per dollar spent, for a total of 2.33 points per dollar (versus the 1.5% cashback that the Freedom Unlimited provides).

Sure, you could argue that the Freedom Unlimited has 3% back on dining, but there are many other cards that also earn 3% on dining while partnering well with the Freedom Unlimited. For instance, the Citi Strata Premier® Card earns 3x ThankYou points on restaurants, supermarkets, and air travel.