ETF Versus

SPY vs VTI

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust vs Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares

Last updated: 2026-04-10

SPY SPDR

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is an exchange-traded fund issued by SPDR that provides exposure to large-cap U.S. equities across growth and value styles. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.09%. The fund offers a moderate dividend yield of 1.09%. Launched in 1993, the fund has a 33-year track record.

AUM: $678.3B ER: 0.09% Yield: 1.09% Since: Jan 22, 1993
VTI Vanguard

Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares (VTI) is an exchange-traded fund issued by Vanguard that provides exposure to the total U.S. stock market across all capitalizations. It charges a very low expense ratio of 0.03%. The fund offers a moderate dividend yield of 1.13%. Launched in 2001, the fund has a 25-year track record.

AUM: $584.2B ER: 0.03% Yield: 1.13% Since: May 24, 2001

Quick Verdict

VTI has a slightly lower expense ratio (0.03% vs 0.09%), saving about $119 per $10,000 over 10 years. Both funds have delivered similar 1-year returns (29.6% vs 30.2%), tracking closely.

Key Metrics

Metric SPY VTI
Expense Ratio 0.09% 0.03%
Dividend Yield 1.1% 1.1%
Fund Family SPDR Vanguard
Category US Large Cap Blend US Total Market

Performance Chart

Indexed to 100 at start (5-year comparison)

80 98 116 134 152 170 2021-04 2022-07 2023-10 2025-01 2026-04
SPY +65.2%
VTI +56.5%

Performance Comparison

Period SPY VTI Difference
1 Month +0.54% +0.60% -0.06%
3 Months -2.19% -2.27% +0.08%
6 Months +2.55% +2.54% +0.01%
YTD -0.47% -0.32% -0.15%
1 Year +29.62% +30.23% -0.61%
3 Years +65.95% +64.44% +1.51%
5 Years +65.18% +56.51% +8.67%

Fee Impact Over Time

Estimated fee cost difference assuming 8% annual returns

Investment Period SPY Fees VTI Fees You Save
$10,000 10 years $179 $60 $119
$10,000 20 years $771 $258 $512
$10,000 30 years $2,486 $835 $1,650
$50,000 10 years $896 $299 $597
$50,000 30 years $12,428 $4,176 $8,252
$100,000 30 years $24,855 $8,352 $16,503

Risk Metrics

Based on 5 years of daily returns

Metric SPY VTI
Annualized Volatility 17.1% 17.5%
Max Drawdown -25.4% -26.2%
Sharpe Ratio 0.41 0.34

Dividend Comparison

Metric SPY VTI
Annual Dividend (per share) $7.38 $3.77
Dividend Yield 1.09% 1.12%
Distribution Frequency Quarterly Quarterly

Top Holdings

9 of top 9 holdings overlap (100% overlap in top holdings)

SPY Top Holdings

NameWeight
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA7.61%
Apple Inc.AAPL6.54%
Microsoft CorporationMSFT4.78%
Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN3.72%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO2.86%
Alphabet Inc.GOOG2.53%
Meta Platforms, Inc.META2.31%
Tesla, Inc.TSLA1.66%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.BRK.B1.51%

VTI Top Holdings

NameWeight
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA6.17%
Apple Inc.AAPL5.89%
Microsoft CorporationMSFT4.40%
Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN3.05%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO2.28%
Alphabet Inc.GOOG2.16%
Meta Platforms, Inc.META2.13%
Tesla, Inc.TSLA1.72%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.BRK.B1.37%

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose VTI if...

you want the lowest fees and plan to buy and hold long-term. Over decades, the expense ratio difference compounds significantly.

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