How we check

Every answer on Bill Router comes from the biller’s own payment page, quoted and dated. The calculator shows its math, says “don’t” when a card loses money, and ranks nothing by what we are paid.

Where the facts come from

For each of the 150 billers we list, we open the company’s own payment, billing or FAQ page and record every way to pay it: a card on its own site, a card through its payment processor, a debit card, or a bank account. Each of those records carries three things you can see on the biller’s page:

• the page it came from, linked;
• the exact words on that page that support it, quoted;
• the date we checked it.

Search-result summaries, forum posts and other sites’ guides are never used as the source of a fee. If a fee is not published, we say “no fee published” rather than “free”.

How sure we are

• High (77 billers): the company states it plainly, for example “we do not accept credit cards.”
• Medium (65): the company lists its payment methods and credit cards are not among them, or a fee comes from an official document rather than the payment page itself.
• Low (8): the public pages say little; the page says so and asks you to confirm before paying.

When a company keeps its payment rules behind a login, we leave it out rather than guess.

How long an answer lasts

Payment rules change. A biller’s answer counts as current for 180 days, card details for 30 days and sign-up bonuses for 14 days. A biller page past its date is taken out of search results until it is checked again. No fee change is published without a person confirming it.

How the calculator decides

For each bill it compares what a card earns with what paying by card costs, per payment:

• Put it on a card: the biller takes cards and the reward is bigger than any fee.
• Card, for a bonus: the fee beats the reward, but a few payments are the cheapest way to reach a sign-up bonus. Pay those by card, then switch back.
• Housing program: a mortgage or rent that takes no cards, where Bilt pays it from your bank with no fee and your other card spending unlocks points.
• Keep on bank account: a card would cost more in fees than it earns.
• Stop: you carry a card balance. Interest at 20% to 30% a year outweighs every reward, so the calculator offers no card suggestions.

Yearly value = 12 × (payment × reward rate − fee per payment). Fees use the cheapest card route the biller offers, including any minimum fee. If you choose no cards, we assume a common 2% cash-back card.

For a sign-up bonus, the calculator first counts spending that already goes on a card for free, then fills any gap with the bills that have the cheapest fees, one whole payment at a time. Net = bonus value − fees − annual fee. It offers only one bonus at a time, skips cards you hold, skips Chase cards after five new cards in 24 months, skips annual fees above $95 for good credit, and offers no bonus while credit is still being built.

What points are worth

By default we value points at what they are worth as cash or a statement credit, the most conservative number. Where an issuer publishes no cash value, we assume half a cent a point. Airline and hotel points count as zero in cash mode. The travel setting uses published travel valuations, which are optimistic and depend on how you redeem.

Taxes

Rewards earned by spending, including most sign-up bonuses that need spending, are generally treated by the IRS as a rebate, not income. Referral bonuses and bonuses that need no spending can be taxable. This is general information, not tax advice.

Independence and privacy

Bill Router is independent and not affiliated with any bank, card issuer or biller. Results are sorted by your net dollars, never by a payment to us. If we add affiliate links, every page that carries one will say so above the fold, and they will not change any ranking.

The calculators run in your browser. Without an account, what you enter stays on your device; with one, only the numbers you choose to save are stored, to show you your plan. We never ask for card numbers or bank logins. See privacy.

Not advice

Bill Router is education and math for the numbers you enter, not financial, tax or credit advice. Confirm fees on the biller’s page before you pay. Try the calculator.