ActiveCred vs Recurring Transaction
Both put a small charge on a card you no longer use, so the bank sees activity and does not close it for inactivity. They differ in how they price several cards, how often they charge and what they show you.
What does it cost to keep my cards open?
ActiveCred costs $56.41 a year less than Recurring Transaction for 5 cards, each charged once a month.
How these figures are worked out
ActiveCred
- Optimizer plan, for 4 to 6 cards: $2.99 a year
- 5 cards × 12 charges a year = 60 charges at $0.50: $30.00
- Total: $2.99 + $30.00 = $32.99 a year
Source: activecred.it/#pricing. ActiveCred’s own prices on November 14, 2026.
Recurring Transaction
- $1.49 a month per card
- 5 cards × 12 charges a year = 60 charges at $1.49
- Total: $89.40 a year
Source: recurringtransaction.com. Read from the company’s site on November 14, 2026.
Prices and features read from each company's public website on November 14, 2026. Each may have changed since; follow the links to check.
Where they differ
Price
Schedule
Several cards
Card details
Managing it
Also offers
Where Recurring Transaction fits
- A charge every month, and only that. Its one schedule is monthly, at $1.49 a month per card.
- Reading. Its site has security and editorial-policy pages, and a library of articles.
- Not on price. At one charge a month it costs $17.88 a year for one card, against $6.99 for ActiveCred, and $357.60 for 20 cards, against $124.99.
Which to choose
Recurring Transaction suits someone who specifically wants a charge on the card every month.
ActiveCred suits someone with several cards from several banks. It gives you one plan, a schedule matched to each bank, and a dashboard that shows every card and its next charge. It is also the cheapest of the five at a quarterly or monthly charge for any number of cards, and at a yearly charge from 9 cards up.
How often a card needs a charge
No US bank publishes how long a card may sit unused. The shortest closure cardholders report is about 10 months, at Wells Fargo; Citi and Bank of America are reported at two years or more.
A charge every quarter stays inside every reported window. ActiveCred's own default follows the bank: each card is charged at no more than half its bank's shortest reported window, every 3 to 12 months. A yearly charge is enough for some banks and too thin for others. The inactivity checker shows the reported window for each bank, and the sources are in how long each issuer waits.
Questions
What is the difference between ActiveCred and Recurring Transaction?
Both run small charges on unused credit cards to stop banks closing them for inactivity. Recurring Transaction: $1.49 a month per card; schedule: monthly. ActiveCred: $0.99 to $4.99 a year for 1 to 20 cards, plus a $0.50 activity charge on a card each time it is charged; schedule: by default as often as the card's bank requires, every 3 to 12 months; any schedule from weekly to once a year, set per card.
Is ActiveCred cheaper than Recurring Transaction?
Recurring Transaction does not offer a quarterly charge. ActiveCred costs $2.99 a year for one card charged every quarter, and $44.99 for 20 cards.
Other services
See ActiveCred with sample cards before deciding
Plans cost $0.99 to $4.99 a year for 1 to 20 cards, plus a $0.50 activity charge on a card each time it is charged. By default each card is charged as often as its bank requires, every 3 to 12 months. Cancel in Settings at any time; a cancellation in the first hour is refunded in full.
- No SSN and no credit check
- No bank login or access to your accounts
- Card held by Stripe; ActiveCred keeps a token
- Cancel online in Settings, at any time