Best cards for home improvement
Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards leads with 3% (choose this category; up to $2,500/qtr (combined); lower rate after the cap).
Rankings use issuer rates verified as of August 16, 2026.
Home-improvement / hardware stores (Home Depot, Lowe's).
#13%3%Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards
Bank of America · Visa · No annual fee · Choose this category · up to $2,500/qtr (combined) · Lower rate after the cap
#23x3xHuntington Voice Rewards Credit Card
Huntington · Mastercard · No annual fee · Choose this category · up to $2,000/qtr (combined)
#35x5xChoice Privileges Select Mastercard
Wells Fargo · Mastercard · $95/yr
#42x2xThe Business Platinum Card from American Express
American Express · Amex · Business · $895/yr · up to $2,000,000/yr (combined) · Lower rate after the cap
#52%2%Apple Card
Goldman Sachs · Mastercard · No annual fee · Pay with the mobile wallet
#65x5xKroger Rewards World Elite Mastercard
U.S. Bank · Mastercard · ≈1.17x after the cap · No annual fee · up to $3,000/yr · Lower rate after the cap · Pay with the mobile wallet
How to choose
The leader in this category is not a cash-back card. The Choice Privileges Select Mastercard earns 5x points at home-improvement and hardware stores, and under our conservative valuation those points are worth roughly 3% in cash terms — a useful reminder that a point is not a cent. It also carries a $95 annual fee, so the headline rate deserves a second look before it earns a spot in your wallet.
The runner-up shows the category's fine print in miniature. Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards pays 3% with no annual fee, but you have to choose this category, the rate is capped on combined spending, and it drops after the cap. The no-fee American Express business cards earn their 2% or 2x on up to $50,000 a year, and Apple Card's 2% only applies when you pay through the mobile wallet.
This ranking covers hardware and home-improvement stores such as Home Depot and Lowe's, and it leans toward business cards: Venture Business and three American Express business products fill four of the eight spots, with Capital One's Spark Cash Plus alongside them. If you are building a personal wallet, the realistic contest is the two 3% options at the top against a no-fee 2% card that also works everywhere else.
The math
On $250 a month of home improvement, Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards returns about $90 a year at our valuations — a flat 2% card returns $60. Mind the ceiling: Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards's top rate applies only up to $2,500/qtr (combined); past that, purchases drop to its lower rate.
Common questions
- What is the best credit card for home improvement?
- Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards leads with 3% (choose this category; up to $2,500/qtr (combined); lower rate after the cap).
- How does SwipeCaddy pick the best home improvement card?
- We rank each card by its reward rate times a conservative cash value of its points or miles — no inflated transfer valuations — and surface the fine print so the "best" rate is one you can actually get.
- Do home improvement credit cards have spending caps?
- Several do. Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards caps its 3% on combined category spending and pays a lower rate afterward, and the no-fee American Express business cards limit their 2% and 2x rates to $50,000 per year. Before a major renovation, check where your card's cap sits so the biggest purchases still earn the full rate.
- Is a flat 2% card enough for home improvement purchases?
- Often, yes. Most of this ranking already sits at 2% or 2x, so a simple no-fee flat card keeps you within one percentage point of the leaders without category choices, caps, or a $95 annual fee. If your projects are frequent and large, the 3% cash-value options justify their fine print; otherwise the boring card wins.
Rankings reflect published earn rates and a conservative valuation of each rewards currency. SwipeCaddy earns no affiliate commission.