ETF Versus

SPY vs VTI

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

Last updated: 2026-04-02

SPY State Street

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is an exchange-traded fund issued by State Street 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 1.13%. Launched in 1993, the fund has a 33-year track record.

AUM: $636.7B ER: 0.09% Yield: 1.13% 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 1.17%. Launched in 2001, the fund has a 25-year track record.

AUM: $546.0B ER: 0.03% Yield: 1.17% 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 (16.8% vs 17.2%), tracking closely.

Key Metrics

Metric SPY VTI
Expense Ratio 0.09% 0.03%
Dividend Yield 1.1% 1.2%
Fund Family State Street Vanguard
Category US Large Cap Blend US Total Market

Performance Chart

Indexed to 100 at start (5-year comparison)

80 99 118 137 156 175 2021-04 2022-06 2023-09 2024-12 2026-04
SPY +61.2%
VTI +52.7%

Performance Comparison

Period SPY VTI Difference
1 Month -4.54% -4.68% +0.14%
3 Months -4.09% -3.89% -0.20%
6 Months -2.09% -2.04% -0.05%
YTD -4.09% -3.89% -0.20%
1 Year +16.80% +17.21% -0.41%
3 Years +59.45% +57.96% +1.49%
5 Years +61.25% +52.67% +8.58%

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% 17.4%
Max Drawdown -25.4% -26.2%
Sharpe Ratio 0.38 0.32

Dividend Comparison

Metric SPY VTI
Annual Dividend (per share) $7.38 $3.77
Dividend Yield 1.13% 1.17%
Distribution Frequency Quarterly Quarterly

Top Holdings

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

SPY Top Holdings

NameWeight
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA7.58%
Apple Inc.AAPL6.66%
Microsoft CorporationMSFT4.91%
Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN3.64%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO2.62%
Alphabet Inc.GOOG2.40%
Meta Platforms, Inc.META2.24%
Tesla, Inc.TSLA1.87%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.BRK.B1.57%

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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