Wells Fargo Active Cash Card vs Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Which rewards card is best?

The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card is one of the best cash-back cards on the market. With no annual fee, a decent welcome bonus, an introductory APR period on purchases, and 2% cash rewards on all purchases, the Active Cash card is a simple, unfussy card that can help you earn money on everything you buy.

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers a similar rewards structure — a minimum of 2X miles per dollar, and you can redeem those miles for travel, gift cards or transfer them to partner travel programs. It's a travel credit card with a $95 annual fee and has more bells and whistles than the Active Cash Card.

While both cards offer rewards on all purchases, they are extremely different. So which card is better? The travel credit card or the cash-back card? CNBC Select looks at the pros and cons of both to help you decide which is better for you.

Both the Active Cash Card and the Capital One Venture Rewards Card offer solid welcome bonuses given their spending requirements. With the Venture Rewards Card, you can earn more money but you'll also have to spend a lot more.

New Capital One Venture Rewards Card holders can earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel

The Active Cash Card has a much more modest bonus and spending requirement than the Capital One Venture Rewards Card. If you spend $500 in purchases within the first three months of card membership, you'll get $200 cash rewards.

Winner: The Venture Rewards Card. The Venture Rewards' bonus is worth at least $750 in travel, which is nearly four times as valuable as the Active Cash card's bonus.

Both cards have similar earning structures, but vastly different rewards programs. The Venture Rewards Card is a travel credit card, and cardholders earn:

• 5X miles on hotel and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
• 2X miles on all other purchases

The miles you earn on the Venture Rewards Card can be redeemed in a variety of ways. You can transfer them to hotel or airline partners, redeem them for gift cards or cash or use points to offset travel you purchase with the card (these statement credit redemptions must be made within 90 days).

The redemption value varies so be aware that you might get less than one cent per mile. Your best bet is to use the miles for travel — if you book flights or hotel stays through Capital One Travel, one mile is worth one cent. If you choose to redeem your miles by transferring to a travel loyalty program, you'll have your pick of more than 15 of them, including Air Canada's Aeroplan and Avianca's LifeMiles. By taking advantage of Capital One's best travel partners, you can increase the value you receive for your miles.

When you redeem your miles for cash, you'll either receive it as a check or a statement credit. The redemption value for cash is significantly lower than it is for travel, one mile is worth 0.5 cents. Unless you want your miles to be worth half as much, purchasing a flight or hotel room through Capital One Travel is a better choice than redeeming your miles for cash. You can also use your miles for purchases on Amazon.com, but the redemption rate is 0.8 cents per mile.

However, if you prefer a more straightforward credit card with simple cash rewards redemptions, the Active Cash Card is a better choice. It's a flat-rate cash-rewards card, and you'll earn 2% cash rewards for all spending. Your cash rewards can be redeemed in a variety of ways, including as a statement credit, through a Wells Fargo ATM by using a Wells Fargo debit or ATM card and as a direct deposit into a Wells Fargo savings account or checking account.

When we looked at the rewards cardholders could earn over a year and over five years, the Venture Rewards Card beat the Active Cash Card largely because of the welcome bonus.

We worked with the location intelligence firm Esri, who provided us with a sample annual spending budget of $22,126.

The budget includes six main categories: groceries ($5,174), gas ($2,218), dining out ($3,675), travel ($2,244), utilities ($4,862) and general purchases ($3,953).

Here's a breakdown of how much cash rewards you can roughly earn in each category with the Active Cash Card, annually (dollar amount is rounded up):

• Groceries: $103
• Gas: $44
• Dining out: $74
• Travel: $45
• Utilities: $97
• General purchases: $79
• Total: $442

We found that, in the first year of card membership, Active Cash Card users earned $642 in cash rewards, including the welcome bonus, and in five years, you'd earn $2,410 in cash rewards.

Here's how many miles you can earn with your Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card in each category, annually:

• Groceries: 10,348
• Gas: 4,436
• Dining out: 7,350
• Travel: 6,351 (including some 5X travel spending)
• Utilities: 9,724
• General purchases: 7,906
• Total: 46,115

For the Venture Rewards Card, you'd receive $1,116 in value, including the 75,000-point welcome bonus and subtracting the annual fee. Over five years, you would earn $2,581.

These earnings are assuming you're getting the maximum value of one cent per point or mile. By utilizing the best Capital One transfer partners, you could receive a higher value.

Winner: The Venture Rewards Card. If you manage to earn the welcome bonus, you'll earn more in the short and long run. The Venture Rewards Card also provides access to travel partners, so you'll have flexibility in how you use your rewards and a higher potential value per mile.

Since the Venture Rewards Card is a travel card, it offers more perks than the Active Cash Card. However, you should take time to decide if the perks are useful to you before you sign up for either card.

The Active Cash Card is light on perks. Cardholders can take advantage of cell phone protection if they use the card to pay their cell phone bill. If your phone is damaged, lost or stolen, Wells Fargo will reimburse the replacement or repair of your cell phone for up to $600 for two claims per 12 months (with a $25 deductible).

Additionally, Active Cash cardholders get access to certain Visa card benefits, such as the Visa Concierge® Service, a 24/7 personal assistance hotline that helps people with travel and entertainment-related requests like making hotel reservations or getting concert tickets.

Cardholders will also have access to the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection, a portfolio of curated hotels, resorts and properties. When cardholders book a hotel or resort stay through the collection, they may receive perks like a food and beverage credit or complimentary Wi-Fi.

The Venture Rewards Card is a travel card with an annual fee, so it's not surprising it has a few more bells and whistles. Cardholders can get up to $120 in credit for a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee every four years. It also has other travel-related perks like Travel Assistance Services*, Purchase Assurance*, MasterRental Insurance*, Master RoadAssist®*, Trip Cancellation/Interruption Coverage*, and extended warranty protection.

*Benefit available to accounts approved for the World Elite Mastercard product, subject to terms, conditions, and exclusions in the World Elite Mastercard Guide to Benefits. See Account Terms or Application Terms for more details. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply.

Winner: The Venture Rewards Card. In terms of the number of perks, the Venture Rewards Card outshines the Active Cash Card. However, if you don't anticipate traveling a lot, the perks offered by the Venture Rewards Card may not be of much use to you.

Depending on what you choose to do with your card, the Active Cash Card and Capital One Venture Rewards Card have different benefits and drawbacks when it comes to fees.

The annual fee is one of the most notable differences between the two cards. The Venture Rewards Card has a $95 annual fee while the Active Cash Card has no annual fee. To offset the cost of the Venture Rewards Card, you'd have to earn 2X miles on $4,750 in purchases a year.

If you don't think you'll spend enough to cover the annual fee, you should consider how much you value the perks and if the Venture Rewards Card annual fee is worth it. Do you think you'll save money by using up to $120 credit for the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee every four years? Will the auto rental collision damage waiver be useful if you're not renting cars frequently?

Another factor to consider is your travel habits. The Capital One Venture Rewards Card is better for international travelers as there are no foreign transaction fees. The Active Cash Card, in contrast, has a 3% foreign transaction fee.

However, if you don't have plans to travel abroad, and you're looking to transfer credit card debt to a new card, you should opt for the Active Cash Card because of the 0% introductory APR period 12-month from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers (after, a variable APR of 18.49%, 24.49%, or 28.49% applies; balance transfers made within 120 days qualify for the intro rate and fee of 3% then a BT fee of up to 5%, min: $5).

The Capital One Venture Rewards Card doesn't have a 0% introductory APR period, and its variable APR is 19.49% - 28.49%.

Winner: The Active Cash Card. When it comes to fees, the introductory APR period and the no annual fee, the Active Cash Card tops the Capital One Venture Rewards Card. However, if you're planning on using the card for purchases abroad, the lack of foreign transaction fees could make the Capital One Venture Rewards Card a better choice.

This was a toss-up because both cards are remarkably different when it comes to the welcome bonus, the annual fee, the foreign transaction fee and perks. What the cards did have in common was the opportunity to earn 2X miles or 2% cash back (or cash rewards).

When we broke it down, the Capital One Venture Rewards Card had more to offer despite its $95 annual fee. The generous welcome bonus, the lack of foreign transaction fees and the numerous travel-related perks made it the better card. Plus, you have more flexibility in how you redeem your rewards.

However, if you're a modest spender and don't think you'll receive the 75,000 bonus miles or don't plan on traveling abroad, the Active Cash Card can be a great option if you don't need travel-related perks and want a solid cash-rewards card with no annual fee.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit cards. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

Catch up on CNBC Select's in-depth coverage of credit cards, banking and money, and follow us on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.