Amex Cobalt Review (2026): What the Fee Increase Did to the Math
The Cobalt now costs $191.88 a year and Amex no longer lists groceries in its 5x tier. We ran the break-even: you need about $533 a month on restaurants and delivery before it beats a free 2% cash back card.
Nicole Reynolds
Senior Rewards Analyst · August 28, 2026 · 7 min read
The Amex Cobalt now costs $15.99 a month — $191.88 a year — and you need to spend about $533 a month on restaurants and food delivery before it beats a plain 2% cash back card. Below that, the fee eats the rewards. Full card details are on our Amex Cobalt product page. That is the whole review, and the rest of this page shows the arithmetic.
Two things changed, and the second one matters more than the first.
The fee went up 23%
Amex Canada's product page lists the Cobalt at $15.99 per month, which it states as $191.88 annually. Quebec residents are billed $191.88 once a year rather than monthly.
| Monthly | Annual | |
|---|---|---|
| Previously | $12.99 | $155.88 |
| Now | $15.99 | $191.88 |
| Difference | +$3.00 | +$36.00 (23%) |
The monthly billing is a framing device. $15.99 sounds like a streaming subscription; $191.88 sounds like what it is — one of the more expensive non-premium cards in Canada. Judge it on the annual number.
Groceries are no longer listed in the 5x category
Amex's current product page describes the 5x tier as "eligible restaurants or food delivery in Canada." Groceries are not mentioned. The word "groceries" appears twice on that page — once for the Instacart statement credit, once as an example of what you can redeem points against. Neither is an earn category.
This matters because 5x on groceries was the reason most people carried this card. If you are holding a Cobalt for supermarket spending, check your own statement before assuming that multiplier is still firing.
Here is the earn structure exactly as Amex lists it today:
| Rate | Category, in Amex's words |
|---|---|
| 5x | Eats & drinks — "eligible restaurants or food delivery in Canada" |
| 3x | Eligible streaming subscriptions in Canada |
| 2x | Gas, transit & ride share in Canada |
| 1x | Everything else |
| +1 | Additional point on eligible hotel and car rental bookings through Amex Travel Online |
The category definitions sit behind a footnote in the cardmember agreement. Read it before you rely on any of these — "eligible" is doing real work in every line above.
What a point is actually worth
Amex states it plainly: 1,000 Membership Rewards points redeem for $10 against eligible card purchases. That is one cent per point, and it is the floor — the number you can count on without optimising anything.
Transferring to airline partners can beat a cent — see our best rewards cards for how the programmes compare. It can also do worse, and it requires availability, planning and a tolerance for award charts. Every review that quotes a higher valuation is quoting the best case. This one uses the number Amex guarantees.
The break-even
At one cent per point, 5x is a 5% return. A flat 2% cash back card gets you 2% with no fee. So the Cobalt's advantage is 3% — and $191.88 divided by 3% is $6,396 a year, or about $533 a month.
You can run your own numbers in our rewards calculator. That is the number: $533 a month on restaurants and food delivery, every month, before this card puts you ahead of a free 2% card.
| Monthly eats spend | Cobalt, after the fee | Flat 2% card | You are |
|---|---|---|---|
| $200 | −$72 | $48 | $120 worse off |
| $300 | −$12 | $72 | $84 worse off |
| $400 | $48 | $96 | $48 worse off |
| $533 | $128 | $128 | break-even |
| $700 | $228 | $168 | $60 ahead |
| $1,000 | $408 | $240 | $168 ahead |
Two things this table deliberately does not do. It does not count spending in the 3x, 2x and 1x tiers, because those rates are at or below what a 2% card pays — the 1x tier actively loses to it. And it does not count the welcome bonus, because that is a first-year number and this is a card people keep for years.
Add the other tiers back in and the picture improves slightly, but not much: 2x at one cent is 2%, exactly matching the flat card, and 1x is 1%, which is half of it.
The acceptance discount nobody applies
Amex is not accepted everywhere in Canada — a limitation shared across the American Express lineup. A 5x category is worth 5x only where the card works, and the places it does not work tend to be exactly the independent restaurants where people spend on food.
There is no clean number for this, and any review giving you one is guessing. But the direction is one-way: your real return is below the headline, never above it. If a meaningful share of your dining goes on a different card because the Amex was declined, move your break-even up accordingly.
The first year is a different question
The current offer is up to 15,000 Membership Rewards points — 1,250 points for each monthly billing period in which you spend $750, in your first year. Amex values that at up to $150. Current and former cardholders are excluded.
At $750 a month for twelve months, that bonus is worth roughly $150 against a $191.88 fee. It softens year one. It does nothing for year two, which is when the break-even above starts applying without help.
Fees and rates, from the application
- Card fee: $15.99/month, $191.88 annually. Quebec residents billed annually.
- Additional cards: no annual fee
- Purchases: 21.99%
- Funds advances: 21.99%
- After 2 missed payments: rates rise to 25.99%
- After 3 or more: 29.99%
- Eligibility: Canadian resident with a Canadian credit file, at the age of majority in your province
That missed-payment escalator is worth reading twice. Two missed payments move you to 25.99% and three take you to 29.99% — and at those rates no reward structure on any card is worth discussing.
Who this card is for
A household that spends more than about $550 a month on restaurants and food delivery, and eats at places that take Amex. That is a real group. It is not most people, and it is a smaller group than it was when groceries counted.
Who should skip it: anyone spending under roughly $500 a month on eats, anyone whose food budget is mostly supermarkets, and anyone who wants rewards without doing arithmetic every month. A flat 2% cash back card with no fee beats the Cobalt for all three, and requires no thought at all.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Amex Cobalt still worth it?
Only above about $533 a month on restaurants and food delivery. That is where the 3% advantage over a free 2% card covers the $191.88 annual fee. Below it you are paying for the privilege of earning slightly more slowly than a card that costs nothing.
How much did the Amex Cobalt fee go up?
From $12.99 to $15.99 a month — $155.88 to $191.88 a year, an increase of $36 or 23%. Amex bills it monthly, which makes the change look like three dollars rather than thirty-six.
What is the Amex Cobalt annual fee?
$15.99 per month, which Amex states as $191.88 annually. Quebec residents are billed $191.88 once a year instead. Additional cards carry no annual fee.
Does the Amex Cobalt still earn 5x on groceries?
Amex's current product page does not list groceries in the 5x tier — it describes that category as eligible restaurants and food delivery. Check your cardmember agreement and your own statement before relying on a grocery multiplier.
What are Amex Cobalt points worth?
One cent each as a floor. Amex states that 1,000 Membership Rewards points redeem for $10 against eligible purchases. Airline transfers can beat that, but only with planning and availability, so the floor is the honest number for a break-even calculation.
How much do you need to spend for the Cobalt to be worth the fee?
About $6,400 a year in the 5x category — roughly $533 a month on restaurants and food delivery. Spending in the 2x and 1x tiers does not help, because those rates only match or lose to a flat 2% cash back card.
What is the Amex Cobalt welcome bonus?
Up to 15,000 Membership Rewards points: 1,250 points for each monthly billing period in which you spend $750, during your first year. Amex values it at up to $150. Current and former Cobalt cardholders are not eligible.
Should you cancel the Cobalt after the fee increase?
Work out your average monthly restaurant and delivery spend. Above $550 the card still earns its fee. Below $500, cancelling and moving to a no-fee 2% card puts you ahead immediately, and you keep any points already earned only if you redeem before closing.
What credit score do you need for the Amex Cobalt?
Amex does not publish a minimum. Its stated requirements are a Canadian credit file, Canadian residency and being at the age of majority. In practice this is a card for people with established credit rather than a first card.
Is the Amex Cobalt better than the Amex Gold?
They serve different spending. The Cobalt concentrates its value in one category at a mid-range fee; the Gold is a travel-oriented card with a higher fee and broader perks. If your case for a card rests on restaurant spending, the Cobalt is the one to run the numbers on.