Charge card: you pay an annual membership fee and then if you pay off the balance in full each month then there is nothing more to pay.

Credit card: you pay at least the minimum amount when the statement comes and you get charged interest on the balance. There may also be transaction fees for cash advances, etc.

Both the annual fee and the interest rates are highly variable so it pays to shop around. Personally, I think charge cards cost less in the long run.

Another option is a Debit Card, which uses funds in an account. There are some account charges. From a fraud resistance point of view, as long as you don't have much money in the linked account, the debit card poses the lowest financial risk, but can be a hassle to keep transferring money between accounts.

A credit card allows you to float debt, and therefore can improve cash flow at the expense of interest.