the difference between chase sapphire and freedom is the rewards yield. chase sapphire is more for people who travel a lot because you get 2 points per dollar and 1 point for everything else and freedom has a strong cashback yield when its used for its rotating 5% categories every quarter otherwise its only 1% for everything else. the difference between the annual fee version for the sapphire and the free one is that there is no foreign transaction fee in the annual fee version and your points are worth 25% more when redeeming them for travel. also i heard you can transfer your points to frequent flyer programs and hotel programs at a 1:1 ratio and that you earn a 7% point dividend on your earnings annually. chase freedom is an excellent rewards card for its 5% categories plus no annual fee for freedom.
