SPY vs VTI Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
SPY and VTI are both excellent US equity index ETFs but serve different investor types. SPY is the institutional benchmark with unmatched liquidity but a much higher expense ratio; VTI is the cost-efficient total market fund for long-term investors. Returns are nearly identical (the S&P 500 and total market move in tandem), but VTI's lower cost is a clear advantage for buy-and-hold investors.
For long-term passive investors, VTI is the clearly superior choice due to lower costs; SPY is necessary for institutional traders who need maximum liquidity and options market depth — these are non-overlapping use cases.
VTI holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. VTI has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+27.29% vs +26.75% for SPY).
- →need the world's most liquid ETF for institutional intraday trading or block execution
- →actively use S&P 500 options for hedging, income, or tactical exposure management
- →benchmark against the S&P 500 and need the most precise replication vehicle
- →are indifferent to the 0.0645% expense ratio premium over VTI for their use case
- →want complete US equity market exposure at 0.03% — the lowest cost available
- →are buy-and-hold investors building long-term wealth in retirement accounts
- →want the full US market rather than just the 500 largest companies
- →prefer Vanguard's investor-aligned ownership structure for a core portfolio holding
| Metric | SPY | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| ETF score | 87.0 | 90.0 |
| Latest close | $746.74 | $369.99 |
| 1M return | +2.04% | +2.76% |
| 6M return | +12.14% | +12.55% |
| 1Y return | +26.75% | +27.29% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | SPY | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $12.85K (+28.5%) started 2025-06-18 | $12.88K (+28.8%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $20.73K (+107.3%) started 2021-06-18 | $19.7K (+97.0%) started 2021-06-18 |
| 10Y ago | $50.21K (+402.1%) started 2016-06-20 | $48.32K (+383.2%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | SPY | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.03% |
| Total assets (AUM) | $783.8B | $2.31T |
| Dividend yield | 0.98% | 1.01% |
| Trailing P/E | 26.74 | 26.35 |
| Beta | 1.02 | 1.03 |
| 52-week change | 26.75% | 27.29% |
| Metric | SPY | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y return | +26.75% | +27.29% |
| 6M return | +12.14% | +12.55% |
| 1M return | +2.04% | +2.76% |
| 1Y Sharpe ratio | 1.62 | 1.61 |
| Beta | 1.02 | 1.03 |
| Dividend yield | 0.98% | 1.01% |
| 5Y CAGR | +14.00% | +12.87% |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | SPY | VTI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | +26.75% | +27.29% |
| CAGR | +26.77% | +27.31% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.62 | 1.61 | |
| Max drawdown | 8.88% | 8.92% | |
| Max daily drop | 2.70% | 2.68% | |
| Max wkly drop | 3.82% | 3.66% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +92.56% | +83.13% |
| CAGR | +14.00% | +12.87% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.59 | 0.52 | |
| Max drawdown | 24.50% | 25.36% | |
| Max daily drop | 5.85% | 5.87% | |
| Max wkly drop | 11.50% | 11.61% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +321.77% | +307.06% |
| CAGR | +15.49% | +15.08% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.64 | 0.61 | |
| Max drawdown | 33.72% | 35.00% | |
| Max daily drop | 10.94% | 11.38% | |
| Max wkly drop | 17.97% | 18.80% |
| Category | SPY | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| Fund name | State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares |
| Type | ETF | ETF |
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.03% |
| Total assets (AUM) | $783.8B | $2.31T |
| Dividend yield | 0.98% | 1.01% |
- →World's most liquid ETF — unmatched for institutional trading and options strategies
- →S&P 500 is the primary US equity benchmark for performance reporting and comparison
- →Deep options market for income, hedging, and tactical portfolio management
- →0.03% expense ratio — 3x cheaper than SPY for long-term buy-and-hold investors
- →Complete US market coverage including 4,000+ companies from large to micro-cap
- →Open-end fund structure allows immediate dividend reinvestment vs SPY's trust structure
- →0.0945% expense ratio — much more expensive than VTI (0.03%) for buy-and-hold investors
- →Excludes small and mid-cap companies that VTI includes (though these are a small market cap share)
- →Unit investment trust structure creates slight cash drag from uninvested dividends vs VTI
- →Lower daily volume than SPY — not suitable for large institutional intraday block trades
- →Small and mid-cap additions have historically made minimal difference in returns versus S&P 500 only
- →No meaningful options market relative to SPY for income and hedging strategies
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