Pay rent with a credit card: calculator
Pick a rent payment service, choose your credit card and enter your rent. We show the fee, the rewards your card would earn, and whether paying rent by card makes you money or costs you.
Free · No sign-up · Updated October 2026
Step 1 The service
Referral status can lower the Canadian-card fee; 1.75% is the standard rate. Charges your card 4 business days before rent is due.
Step 2 Your card and rent
- Service fee
- $35.00a month (1.75%), $420 a year
- Rewards earned
- $20.00a month, $240 a year (1% back)
- Net result
- −$15.00a month, −$180 a year
To break even, a card needs to return at least 1.75% on rent. This card returns 1% (counted as everyday spending).
Carry it instead of paying in full and one month of interest at 19.99% is about $33.32, more than most of the rewards above.
Chexy’s fees from its own site, checked 2026-10-22. Card earn rates and point values from our card data; the card’s annual fee isn’t included, since you’d pay it either way. Issuers decide how a rent payment is coded, so confirm it earns rewards (and isn’t treated as a cash advance) before you rely on these numbers.
How this calculator works
The service fee
Each service’s fee comes from its own website and depends on your card’s network (Visa, Mastercard or American Express). Where a service doesn’t accept your card’s network, or doesn’t publish its fee, the calculator says so instead of guessing.
The rewards
We run your rent through the same earn rates, caps and point values as our rewards calculator, counting it as everyday spending unless you tick the recurring bill option. Points are turned into dollars at the value we list for each program, which is an estimate that depends on how you redeem.
The welcome bonus, when you include it, is counted once in the first year at the value we estimate for it. It only applies if your rent helps you reach the bonus’s minimum spend in time.
What it leaves out
The card’s annual fee isn’t counted, since you’d pay it either way. Neither is interest: these figures assume you pay the card in full each month. The interest line shows what one month of carrying the rent would cost at the card’s purchase rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it worth paying rent with a credit card in Canada?
Only if your card returns more than the service’s fee. Most services charge around 1.75% or more on credit cards, and most everyday cards earn 1% to 2% on that kind of spending, so the fee often eats the rewards. It can make sense when rent helps you reach a welcome bonus’s minimum spend. Pick your card above to see your own numbers.
How do these services pay my landlord?
The service charges your card, then pays your landlord by e-Transfer, bank deposit, bill payment or cheque, depending on the service. Some require your landlord or property manager to use the platform; others don’t. Each service’s terms are in its own FAQ, and the article linked below compares them.
Will paying rent by credit card count as a cash advance?
Usually it’s processed as a purchase, but the card issuer decides how the transaction is coded, and a cash advance would mean fees, immediate interest and no rewards. Check with your issuer, or make a small first payment and look at how it appears on your statement before paying a full month’s rent.
Why doesn’t the calculator include my card’s annual fee?
You pay the annual fee whether or not you put rent on the card, so it doesn’t change whether paying rent by card is worth it. What matters here is the service fee against the extra rewards. If you’re choosing a new card for this, compare cards on their own pages, where the annual fee is counted.
Results are estimates for general information, not financial advice. Confirm rates, fees and terms with your card issuer or bank. See our methodology.