TL;DR. Two Chase business cards in the same family. Ink Business Cash ($0) earns 5% on office supplies, internet, cable, phone (combined $25k/yr cap) and 2% on gas and dining. Ink Preferred ($95) earns 3x on travel, shipping, internet/phone, advertising (combined $150k cap). Cash wins on no-fee earning. Preferred wins on category breadth, cap, and welcome bonus. They are designed to be held together.
The three dimensions that actually decide it. First, cap. Cash caps at $25k/yr on bonus categories. Preferred caps at $150k/yr (6x higher). Second, welcome bonus. Preferred's 100k points on $8k spend in three months is one of the strongest bonuses in business cards. Cash's $750 cash back is good but lower in absolute transferable value. Third, category overlap. Both earn on internet and phone. Cash at 5x on the first $25k; Preferred at 3x on the next $125k.
Real customer scenario for each. If your business spends under $25k a year on internet, phone, office supplies combined, Cash at 5% is unbeatable for those categories. If instead you spend $50k+ on travel and ads, Preferred's 3x at the $150k cap massively outearns Cash on that spend.
The trap to avoid. Holding only one. The standard Chase business stack is Cash + Unlimited + Preferred, total fee $95 a year, with each card maximizing a different earning bucket. Holding only Cash leaves the welcome bonus and travel earn on the table.