Chase Freedom Unlimited vs. Discover it Cash Back: Big Cash-Back Potential for Different Spending Styles
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Written by
Rebecca Lake
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Edited by
Jasmin Baron
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® and Discover it® Cash Back take different approaches to earning cash back, but both can be rewarding when you charge everyday purchases.
The Freedom Unlimited card offers a generous intro bonus, while Discover matches your cash back earnings after the first year. Both feature a low, introductory APR for purchases and balance transfers, and neither card charges an annual fee.
Which of these top cash-back credit cards is right for your needs? Here’s a closer look at Chase Freedom Unlimited vs. Discover it Cash Back.
How the Cards Compare: Chase Freedom Unlimited vs. Discover it Cash Back
Side By Side Comparison
Annual Fee
Purchase and Balance Transfer APR
Welcome Bonus
Ongoing Rewards
Earn 1% Unlimited Cash Back On All Other Purchases – Automatically
Pros & Cons
- Higher than average base rate of 1.5%
- Elevated 3-5% cash back on select categories
- Valuable bonus opportunity
PROS
- No ability to transfer points to travel partners unless you have an eligible annual-fee Chase card
- Charges a foreign transaction fee
CONS
- The dollar for dollar cash back match bonus at the end of your first year has no limit, so the earning potential is huge
- Cash back redemption options are flexible and robust
- No annual fee
PROS
- You have to activate the rotating categories each quarter
CONS
Learn More
Welcome Bonuses
Welcome bonuses can make cash back cards more appealing if the bonus is generous and relatively easy to earn.
Chase Freedom Unlimited Welcome Bonus
With the Freedom Unlimited card, you can earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on eligible purchases within the first three months of account opening. Rewards are issued as 20,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, which are worth 1 cent each when redeemed for cash back.
Only purchases count; balance transfers and cash advances won’t help you meet the spending requirement. Once you qualify, the bonus can take six to eight weeks to hit your account..
Discover it Cash Back Welcome Bonus
Discover credit cards, including the Discover it Cash Back, don’t offer a traditional welcome bonus. Instead, you can earn a Cashback Match®.
With the Cashback Match, Discover matches all the cash back new cardmembers earn in the first year. If you earn $100 in cash back, then Discover matches that with another $100. You don’t need to spend a certain amount to qualify, and the match is unlimited.
CardCritics™ Opinion
Is Freedom Unlimited vs. Discover it Cash Back the welcome bonus winner? For simplicity and the amount of rewards you could earn, Discover comes out ahead.
There’s no minimum spending requirement to satisfy and no cap on the amount of cash back Discover matches. You can redeem cash back earned throughout the year at any time, and it won’t count against your year-end match.
Earning Rewards
The Chase Freedom Unlimited and Discover it Cash Back can put cash back in your pocket when you use them for everyday spending. One card may prove to be more rewarding than the other, depending on where you shop the most.
How To Earn Rewards With the Chase Freedom Unlimited
The Freedom Unlimited card has a tiered rewards structure. That means you earn more cash back on some purchases than others. Here’s how the tiers work:
- 5% cash back on purchases made through Chase Travel℠
- 3% cash back on dining, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- 3% cash back at drugstores
- 1.5% cash back on all other purchases
Cash back is unlimited, and rewards don’t expire as long as your account is open and in good standing.
How To Earn Rewards With Discover it Cash Back
Discover puts a different spin on cash back rewards. With this card, you can earn:
- 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in categories that rotate each quarter (then 1%) after activation
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
Each quarter, you’ll have a new slate of purchases that qualify for the cash back rewards rate, and the categories sometimes align with seasonal spending. For example, in the past two years, the Q4 (October to December) categories have been Amazon.com and Target.
You have to activate the bonus each quarter to earn 5% back on eligible purchases; otherwise, you’ll earn 1% instead. However, Discover does send out emails before the quarter starts to remind you to activate the bonus. That’s something I appreciate as a sometimes forgetful cardmember.
CardCritics™ Opinion
Whether it makes sense to choose Chase Freedom Unlimited vs. Discover it Cash Back for rewards comes down to how you spend and the level of simplicity you prefer.
With the Chase Freedom Unlimited, you can earn unlimited 5% back on Chase Travel purchases and 3% back on dining and drug stores, which are excellent rewards rates for a cash-back card. However, if you don’t travel that often or don’t spend a lot at restaurants and drug stores, you won’t get much value in that sense.
Discover lets you earn 5% cash back on a variety of rotating spending categories, up to a limit. The quarterly spending limit is $1,500, which means the most you could earn in rewards at the 5% rate is $75 each quarter after you activate.
If you look at just the base rewards rates, which are unlimited, Chase has an edge since you can get 1.5% back on purchases vs. 1% back with Discover.
Redeeming Rewards
How you can redeem rewards is just as important as how you earn them when choosing a cash back credit card. Here’s how to redeem cash back rewards with the Freedom Unlimited and Discover it Cash Back.
How To Redeem Rewards With Chase Freedom Unlimited
Chase offers several ways to redeem the Ultimate Rewards points earned with the Freedom Unlimited card. You can choose from:
- Cash/statement credit: You may redeem points for a cash deposit into your bank account or a statement credit.
- Gift cards: Rewards are also good for gift cards and gift certificates to partner merchants.
- Travel: Points can be applied to travel purchases, when booked through Chase Travel.
- Pay with points: You can use your rewards to pay for products and services at partner merchants.
Chase points are worth 1 cent apiece when you use them for cash, gift cards and travel. Every 100 points is worth $1. Values for other redemption options vary.
You can move points earned with the Freedom Unlimited to another Chase card with Ultimate Rewards. The card must belong to you or a member of your household. This is a smart strategy if you have a premium Chase credit card, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Moving points to one of these accounts unlocks the ability to transfer them to Chase’s airline and hotel partners or redeem them at an improved rate through Chase Travel.
How To Redeem Rewards With Discover it Cash Back
Discover’s redemption options are similar to the Freedom Unlimited:
- Cash: You can deposit cash back to your bank account or apply it as a statement credit to your Discover balance.
- Gift cards: Discover partners with top merchants to allow cash back redemptions for gift cards and e-certificates. You’ll get at least 5% added value on every gift card redemption.
- Shop online: If you shop at Amazon or use PayPal checkout to make purchases online, you can use your Discover rewards to cover some or all of the total.
- Charitable donations: You can also donate your cash back rewards to a worthy cause if you don’t need to use them for anything else (this option will be discontinued on June 18, 2025).
Every $1 earned in cash back is worth $1 for redemption, unless you’re redeeming for gift cards. Then, redemption values vary.
CardCritics™ Opinion
If you’re looking for a cash back card that can help you save on travel, the Chase Freedom Unlimited is the winner. Of course, you’ll need to be comfortable booking through Chase Travel to get that benefit.
Gift card seekers may prefer the Discover it Cash Back, since you can get a bonus on every card you redeem cash back for. As someone who uses both cards, I keep it simple and redeem cash back for statement credits. With Discover, you can set up your account to apply rewards as a statement credit automatically.
Card Benefits
Rewards might be the main reason you consider the Chase Freedom Unlimited and Discover it Cash Back, but there’s more to them than just cash back. A comparison of benefits and features can help you better gauge each card’s value.
Chase Freedom Unlimited Benefits
The Freedom Unlimited offers a lengthy list of benefits, including decent travel insurance and purchase protections. Here’s what you get with this card:
- Purchase protection
- Extended warranty protection
- Secondary car rental insurance
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
- Travel and emergency assistance
- Chase Credit Journey credit monitoring
Chase also offers special benefits through partner merchants. For example, until Sept. 30, 2027, Freedom Unlimited cardholders earn a total of 2% cash back on Lyft rides. You can also receive six months of complimentary DoorDash DashPass membership (activate by Dec. 31, 2027).
Discover it Cash Back Benefits
The Discover it Cash Back doesn’t offer as many benefits as the Freedom Unlimited. For example, Discover no longer offers travel insurance or rental car insurance. Most Discover benefits also come standard with other credit cards, including:
- $0 fraud liability protection
- Identity monitoring, including Social Security number alerts
- Free FICO scorecard access
- Card lock/unlock feature
- Spending analyzer
- Tap or click to pay feature
You can also choose the design for your card that fits your personal style.
CardCritics™ Opinion
In terms of the range of benefits offered, the Chase Freedom Unlimited is a clear winner. Its travel benefits, in particular, may be attractive if you plan to take your card along on occasional or frequent trips.
Both cards take security seriously, and both let you check your credit. One key difference worth noting is that Discover gives you FICO score access, while Chase furnishes VantageScores.
Fees and Costs
Fees are always an important consideration with a rewards credit card. The Chase Freedom Unlimited and Discover it Cash Back cards have no annual fee, and as mentioned, both cards offer a low, introductory APR on balance transfers and purchases.
Both cards charge cash advance and balance transfer fees, though only one — Freedom Unlimited — has a foreign transaction fee.
Freedom Unlimited Fees and Costs
New Freedom Unlimited cardholders can take advantage of a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, followed by a 18.99% - 28.49% Variable APR.
The card has a straightforward fee schedule. Here’s what you’ll pay:
- Annual fee: $0
- Intro balance transfer fee: Intro fee of $5 or 3% of the transaction amount, whichever is greater, on transfers made within 60 days of account opening
- Regular balance transfer fee: Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
- Cash advance fee: $10 or 5% of the transaction amount, whichever is greater
- Foreign translation fee: 3% of the amount of each transaction in U.S. dollars
- Late payment fee: Up to $40
- Returned payment fee: Up to $40
The foreign transaction fee may be a sticking point if you plan to use your card for international purchases, including travel.
Discover it Cash Back Fees and Costs
Discover it Cash Back cardholders qualify for a 0% Intro APR on purchases and on balance transfers for 15 months, then 18.24% - 27.24% Variable APR.
Discover’s fee schedule is similar to what you’ll pay with Chase, for the most part. Here’s how the costs add up:
- Annual fee: $0
- Balance transfer fee: 3% intro balance transfer fee, up to 5% fee on future balance transfers (see terms)*
- Cash advance fee: $10 or 5% of the transaction amount, whichever is greater.
- Foreign transaction fee: None (Discover doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees on any of its cards)
- Late payment fee: None the first time you pay late; after that, up to $41
- Returned payment fee: Up to $30
Since the card doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee, it’s a good choice to use for international purchases.
CardCritics™ Opinion
The Discover it Cash Back surpasses Chase Freedom Unlimited for foreign transaction fees. While the late payment fee is a bit higher with this card, you get a pass on the fee the first time you’re late.
The intro APR terms are similar, so either card could be good for a balance transfer or a large purchase.
How To Choose Between Chase Freedom Unlimited vs. Discover it Cash Back
Here are some questions to weigh as you compare the Chase Freedom Unlimited vs. Discover it Cash Back cards:
- How easy is it to earn rewards with either card, and how much are you likely to earn annually based on your typical monthly spending?
- Would you prefer to earn an intro bonus if it means meeting a spending requirement, or wait until your first year anniversary to get your bonus?
- How do you typically redeem rewards? Do you need/want travel redemption as an option?
- Do you plan to use the card for international purchases?
Ultimately, the right card for you fits your spending style to help you maximize rewards, along with offering added benefits you’ll actually use.
When To Consider Neither Card
It’s possible that you may not choose the Freedom Unlimited or Discover it Cash Back. Neither card may be right for people who want a card that:
- Earns points or miles that transfer to travel partners
- Offers enhanced travel benefits, such as complimentary airport lounge access or Global Entry/TSA PreCheck fee waivers
- Has a consistently high rewards rate year-round on groceries or gas
- Earns a higher, flat rewards rate on all purchases with no quarterly bonuses to activate
Check out the best 2% cash back cards if you’re looking for a flat-rate rewards option.
The information related to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® was collected by CardCritics™ and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this product/card. Product details may vary. Please see issuer website for current information. CardCritics™ does not receive a commission for this product
Frequently Asked Questions About the Freedom Unlimited vs. Discover it Cash Back
Is Chase Freedom Unlimited hard to get approved for?
You’ll need at least a good credit score to be considered for the Freedom Unlimited, though Chase evaluates other factors, including your overall financial picture. A good credit score is 670+ on FICO’s scale, so it’s unlikely you’ll be approved if your score is lower than that.
Is Discover hard to get?
The Discover it Cash Back also requires a good to excellent credit score to be considered. If you’ve applied and been denied, you may consider a secured credit card with Discover instead. Secured cards require a cash deposit to open, but they can help you build a positive credit history with responsible use.
What is the difference between Chase Freedom Unlimited and Discover it Cash Back?
The Chase Freedom Unlimited offers a strong base rewards rate with a few bonus categories that earn higher rewards, with no spending caps or activation required. The Discover it Cash Back has rotating 5% bonus categories on up to $1,500 spent every quarter (then 1%) that require activation.
Which is better, Discover or Chase?
Chase is better than Discover for widespread acceptance, and some people may prefer its rewards structure. The Discover it Cash Back beats the Chase Freedom Unlimited in the foreign transaction fee category, since there’s no added cost to use your card for international purchases.
