Is a paid crypto card tier worth it? The break-even math

The idea in one line

A paid tier is worth it when the extra cashback it earns you is bigger than the extra it costs. Below that spend, you’re paying for cashback you don’t earn. Above it, the upgrade pays for itself.

A real example: Tria’s three plans

Here’s how Tria’s plans looked in October 2026.

Start with Pro against Lite. Pro costs $89 more a year, about $7.42 a month, and pays 3 percentage points more on the first $1,000. So it covers its extra cost once you spend about $250 a month ($7.42 divided by 3%).

Now Max against Pro. Max costs $141 more a year, about $11.75 a month, and pays 1.5 points more on the first $1,000. That covers the extra fee from about $785 a month. Past $1,000 the gap gets much bigger, because Max still pays 6% on the next $1,000 while Pro has dropped to 1%.

These are Tria’s advertised rates. In our own test, Tria cost about 1.9% on purchases outside US dollars. That comes off whichever plan you pick, so it doesn’t change which plan wins, but it does change how much you keep.

Watch the caps

The higher the rate, the more the cap matters. Think of the cap as a ceiling, not a target.

Tiers you unlock by staking

Some cards unlock their best rates by staking their own token instead of charging a fee. The same math applies, but the cost is harder to see, because the token can fall. We assume locked tokens lose 15% of their value over a year (how we work that out), and each card page shows the monthly spend where a staked tier starts to pay for itself.

Run your own numbers

Don’t take our word for it. Put your monthly spend into the calculator and every card’s plans get compared at your number, fees and caps included.