Costs & Pricing

Metric	American Express® Business Gold Card	The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Annual fee	$375	$895 (new accounts since 09/18/2025; existing accounts moved to $895 on first renewal on or after 12/02/2025). Refundable if closed within 30 days of the Closing Date the fee posted.
Employee card fee	Employee Business Gold $95 (first 5 then $95 each); Employee Business Expense Cards $0; max 99 additional cards	$400 each Additional Business Platinum Card; $0 each Additional Business Expense Card; max 99 additional cards. Legacy accounts opened before 09/18/2025 and not notified of the change may still be billed $350.
Purchase APR	17.74%–28.49% variable on Pay Over Time only (Prime + 10.99% to +21.74%)	Pay Over Time only: Prime + 10.99% to Prime + 21.74% (marketed 17.74%–28.49% variable); cap 29.99%. Does not apply to Pay In Full charges paid by the due date.
Intro APR (purchases)	Not a standard public offer (some targeted pages have shown 0% for 6 months on POT-eligible purchases)	Not offered
Foreign transaction fee	$0	$0
Late payment fee	$39 or 2.99% of any past-due Pay In Full amount, whichever is greater	$39 or 2.99% of any past-due Pay In Full amount, whichever is greater

Rewards & Value

Metric	American Express® Business Gold Card	The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Base earn rate	1X Membership Rewards point per $1 on other eligible purchases	1X Membership Rewards point per $1 on other eligible purchases
Welcome bonus	Personalized — marketed as high as 200,000 Membership Rewards points after $15,000 eligible purchases in first 3 months (offer varies; you may not be eligible)	Personalized — marketed as high as 300,000 Membership Rewards points after $20,000 eligible spend in the first 3 months. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible. Do not treat 300k as a guaranteed public offer.
Redemption value	Varies by redemption; Amex does not publish a single cpp. Treat Pay With Points / statement credit at ~1¢; transfers can be higher or lower — do not assume 2¢.	Issuer does not publish a single cpp. Do not invent one. Pay-with-Points airfare is often treated near 1¢; hotel portal is frequently lower. Transfers can be higher or lower.
Transfer partners	Membership Rewards partners (most airlines 1:1; hotel ratios vary). U.S. airline transfers: excise tax offset $0.0006/point, max $99. Confirm live at membershiprewards.com/pointsinfo.	Membership Rewards program (not card-unique; ratios change). Most airlines 1:1; commonly cited exceptions include Aeromexico 1:1.6, JetBlue 250:200, Hilton 1:2, Marriott 1:1, Choice 1:1, LHW 4:1. Re-check membershiprewards.com. Typical minimum 1,000 points. One-way. No expiration while the account remains open / program rules are met.

Credit & Eligibility

Metric	American Express® Business Gold Card	The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Personal guarantee	Required (standard small-business Amex model; no published no-PG path)	Required in substance. CMA: “The Basic Card Member and the Company remain jointly and severally liable for all Charges.” Not a no-PG product.
Credit check	Apply with Confidence — no personal-score impact to learn approval; accepting the card may impact personal credit. Submitting may affect business credit.	Marketed “Know if you're approved with no personal credit score impact.” Secondary: decision often before a hard pull; hard personal inquiry commonly reported if the card is accepted. Business bureau review may occur when an EIN is used.
Employee cards	Up to 99 total; Gold employee cards $95 structure; Expense Cards $0; spend limits and alerts	Up to 99 additional. Platinum AU $400 with fuller travel benefits (lounge, hotel status, GE/PreCheck commonly reported as individual). Many statement credits remain account-pooled. Expense cards $0 without the full perk stack. Spend limits, alerts, freeze.
Product type	Hybrid small-business charge card with revolving Pay Over Time (NPSL on purchases)	Charge card with No Preset Spending Limit plus optional Pay Over Time (hybrid charge / limited-revolve)

Pros & Cons

American Express® Business Gold Card

Pros

• Auto-4X on whichever two of six categories lead each month, up to $150k combined — no annual category lock-in
• Transferable Membership Rewards (same partner list as other MR cards)
• Statement-credit stack can exceed the $375 fee if credits are enrolled and used
• $0 foreign transaction fee; NPSL plus optional Pay Over Time
• Personalized welcome marketed as high as 200k / $15k / 3 months

Cons

• $375 annual fee plus $95 Employee Business Gold cards
• 4X dies after $150k combined and is only two categories per cycle; 1X residual is weak
• Shipping dropped from 4X (2026 refresh); credits need enrollment and specific vendors
• No lounge, Global Entry/TSA, or airline incidental credit
• Hybrid pay-in-full + high POT APR; late fee can be 2.99% of past-due Pay In Full

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

Pros

• 5X on Amex Travel flights / prepaid hotels / prepaid STRs, transferable MR, and 35% Pay-with-Points airline rebate
• 2X on defined U.S. construction, electronics/software/cloud, shipping, and $5k+ tickets up to $2M
• Global Lounge Collection plus $600 hotel credit and FHR/Hotel Collection access; $0 FTF; NPSL
• Business credit stack (Dell up to $1,150, Indeed $360, Adobe $250, wireless $120, ChatGPT Business $300) if those vendors are already in use
• CLEAR+, Global Entry/PreCheck, hotel elite status, and cell-phone protection on a charge card

Cons

• $895 primary fee and $400 perk-bearing employee cards
• 1X on most everyday spend; 5X does not apply to flights booked direct with airlines
• Credits are fragmented, enrollment-gated, and easy to miss; marketing “$4,000+ value” assumes utilization the business may not have
• Pay-in-full late fee can be 2.99% of past-due PIF; POT APR is high if used as working capital
• Personal / joint-and-several liability; welcome bonus is personalized (“as high as”) and generally once per this product

Verdict

American Express® Business Gold Card

Business Gold is a specialist, not a simple daily driver. Auto-4X that follows whichever two categories win each month is powerful for ads, software, restaurants, gas, transit, or wireless — and the credit stack can more than offset $375 if you already buy those products. After the $150k cap, or if you will not enroll in credits, a no-fee 2% card or Ink Preferred is usually cleaner. Poor substitute for 0% capital, no-PG fintech cards, or Business Platinum travel perks.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

Business Platinum is the lounge-and-credits SKU — not consumer Platinum (different credits, broader direct-airline 5X) and not Business Gold (lower fee, auto-4X ads/restaurants/gas). It pays when portal travel, 2X categories, and enrollment credits are real spend you already have. Unused credits make $895 a net loss versus Ink Preferred or a 2% cash card. Poor daily driver for flat cash back, 0% capital, no-PG underwriting, or flights ticketed direct with airlines.