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 5 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. VTI has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+11.57% vs +11.46% 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 scorei | 27.3 | 27.2 |
| Latest closei | $752.10 | $370.00 |
| 1M returni | -2.28% | -2.11% |
| 3M returni | -0.49% | -0.78% |
| 6M returni | +5.28% | +5.09% |
| 1Y returni | +11.46% | +11.57% |
The ETF score weights long-term returns and risk-adjusted performance most heavily, but still rewards low expense ratios, larger fund size, and broader diversification — so it can favor low-cost, broad, mega-cap funds over smaller thematic or actively-managed funds even when the latter have delivered stronger returns.
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 | $11.25K (+12.5%) started 2025-11-03 | $11.27K (+12.7%) started 2025-11-03 |
| 5Y ago | $18.54K (+85.4%) started 2021-11-03 | $17.72K (+77.2%) started 2021-11-03 |
| 10Y ago | $50.06K (+400.6%) started 2016-11-03 | $48.22K (+382.2%) started 2016-11-03 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | SPY | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratioi | 0.09% | 0.03% |
| Total assets (AUM)i | $809.22B | $2.32T |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.99% | 1.06% |
| Trailing P/Ei | 23.88 | 23.38 |
| Betai | 1.02 | 1.03 |
| 52-week change | 11.46% | 11.57% |
| Metric | SPY | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y returni | +11.46% | +11.57% |
| 6M returni | +5.28% | +5.09% |
| 3M returni | -0.49% | -0.78% |
| 1M returni | -2.28% | -2.11% |
| 1Y Sharpe ratio | 0.55 | 0.56 |
| Betai | 1.02 | 1.03 |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.99% | 1.06% |
| 5Y CAGR | +11.60% | +10.53% |
Over the past year, SPY and VTI have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 1.00), based on daily returns.
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 | Growthi | +11.25% | +11.44% |
| CAGRi | +11.29% | +11.48% | |
| Volatilityi | 12.80% | 12.99% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.55 | 0.56 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.79 | 0.80 | |
| Max drawdowni | 8.88% | 8.92% | |
| Current drawdowni | 3.46% | 3.48% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 1.46% | 1.50% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 2.14% | 2.17% | |
| Max daily dropi | 2.58% | 2.68% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 3.82% | 3.66% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +73.03% | +64.90% |
| CAGRi | +11.60% | +10.53% | |
| Volatilityi | 17.17% | 17.50% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.47 | 0.41 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.67 | 0.58 | |
| Max drawdowni | 24.50% | 25.36% | |
| Current drawdowni | 3.46% | 3.48% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 5.59% | 6.24% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 8.45% | 9.23% | |
| Max daily dropi | 5.85% | 5.87% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.50% | 11.61% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +321.82% | +305.99% |
| CAGRi | +15.49% | +15.05% | |
| Volatilityi | 17.97% | 18.32% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.64 | 0.61 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.90 | 0.86 | |
| Max drawdowni | 33.72% | 35.00% | |
| Current drawdowni | 3.46% | 3.48% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 4.31% | 4.68% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.16% | 7.72% | |
| Max daily dropi | 10.94% | 11.38% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 17.97% | 18.80% |
| Category | SPY | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| Fund name | State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF |
| Type | ETF | ETF |
| Expense ratioi | 0.09% | 0.03% |
| Total assets (AUM)i | $809.22B | $2.32T |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.99% | 1.06% |
- 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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Volatility, Sharpe and Sortino ratios, maximum, current, and average drawdown, Ulcer Index, and worst single-day and single-week drops across every timeframe.
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