Active Cash vs. Autograph: Flat 2% vs. Broad 3x Categories
Card data current as of July 2026.
Autograph's 3x rate spans dining, travel, gas, streaming, and transit — categories that make up the bulk of typical household spending — which outearns Active Cash's flat 2% by about $210/yr in our model. Active Cash only pulls ahead if the bulk of your spending falls outside those bonus categories (mainly groceries and general purchases), which would take an unusually large share of your budget.
Who wins for your spending?
Defaults to a representative household budget — edit any field to match your own; the numbers below update live.
What are your points worth?
We default to a conservative value per point. Redeem for premium travel and points can be worth more; cash out and they're worth about 1¢ — set your own.
Active Cash
No annual fee
$768/yr net
Autograph
AheadNo annual fee
$978/yr net
Autograph nets +$210/yr more on these numbers, before credits.
Your personal crossover
- Autograph wins while your groceries spend stays under ~$37,943/yr; above that, Active Cash takes over — holding your other numbers fixed at what's entered above.
- Autograph wins while your everything else spend stays under ~$41,943/yr; above that, Active Cash takes over — holding your other numbers fixed at what's entered above.
Category by category, on our representative persona
| Category | Active Cash | Autograph | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groceries | $160/yr | $104/yr | Active Cash |
| Dining | $120/yr | $234/yr | Autograph |
| Travel | $140/yr | $273/yr | Autograph |
| Gas | $60/yr | $117/yr | Autograph |
| Streaming | $18/yr | $35/yr | Autograph |
| Transit | $30/yr | $59/yr | Autograph |
| Everything Else | $240/yr | $156/yr | Active Cash |
| Total (before fee) | $768/yr | $978/yr |
Fee & credits
Active Cash
Autograph
The category table above is earn-only. The calculator's “after your credits” verdict folds in the credit amounts you set — seeded to a conservative estimate, never full face, since most people don't use every credit.
How we calculate this: each category is valued at its best-case bonus rate using conservative, program-specific point values (spend above a bonus cap is not counted; rotating quarterly bonuses and issuer status tiers are excluded). This page scopes two cards and one spend vector — it doesn't allocate spend across your whole wallet. These are estimates, not offers — always confirm current terms with the issuer. Read our full methodology ›
Frequently asked questions
- Which card earns more for a typical household?
- Autograph, in our model — its 3x categories cover most of what a typical household spends on, netting about $210/yr more than Active Cash's flat 2%. Neither card carries an annual fee.
- When does Active Cash win instead?
- If your spending is concentrated in groceries or general/uncategorized purchases — where Autograph drops to its 1x base rate — Active Cash’s flat 2% can out-earn it.
- Does Autograph’s bonus rate have a spending cap?
- Check current terms with Wells Fargo — bonus-category caps are common on cards with broad multi-category rates like this one, and we flag one on the category table below where it applies.
See the full ranking for these categories
More head-to-head comparisons
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