ETF comparison · US core
QQQ vs SPY: overlap by weight, TER & holdings
Invesco QQQ Trust vs SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
The Nasdaq-100 against the S&P 500 in their most-traded wrappers. Overlap is high by weight because the same mega caps top both; the difference is everything SPY holds that QQQ cannot.
QQQ vs SPY at a glance
| QQQ | SPY | |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | Invesco QQQ Trust | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust |
| ISIN | US46090E1038 | US78462F1030 |
| Index | Nasdaq-100 | S&P 500 |
| Market exposure | US tech-heavy | US large cap |
| TER | 0.18% | 0.09% |
| Holdings in fund | 103 | 504 |
| Fund size | ≈ 453 bn USD | ≈ 795 bn USD |
| Domicile | the United States | the United States |
| Replication | Physical (full, unit trust) | Physical (full, unit trust) |
| Use of income | Distributing | Distributing |
| Launched | Mar 10, 1999 | Jan 22, 1993 |
Top shared holdings
| QQQ | SPY | |
|---|---|---|
| NVDANVIDIA Corp | 8.52% | 8.07% |
| AAPLApple Inc | 7.81% | 7.52% |
| MSFTMicrosoft Corp | 5.81% | 5.62% |
| AMZNAmazon.com Inc | 4.32% | 3.74% |
| GOOGLAlphabet Inc | 3.22% | 3.09% |
| AVGOBroadcom Inc | 2.68% | 2.5% |
| GOOGAlphabet Inc | 2.97% | 2.47% |
| METAMeta Platforms Inc | 3.12% | 2.28% |
| MUMicron Technology Inc | 5.01% | 1.67% |
| TSLATesla Inc | 2.88% | 1.57% |
| AMDAdvanced Micro Devices Inc | 3.99% | 1.35% |
| INTCIntel Corp | 2.38% | 0.82% |
| WMTWalmart Inc | 2.27% | 0.71% |
| CSCOCisco Systems Inc | 1.89% | 0.66% |
| PLTRPalantir Technologies Inc | 1.78% | 0.61% |
Weights per fund, normalized. 86 companies appear in both funds.
What the fee gap costs
Growth of 10,000 invested at 7% annual return, after each fund’s TER: 0.18% for QQQ, 0.09% for SPY.
| QQQ | SPY | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| After 10 years | 19,343 | 19,498 | 155 |
| After 20 years | 37,415 | 38,019 | 604 |
| After 30 years | 72,373 | 74,131 | 1,758 |
SPY comes out ahead by about 1,758 per 10,000 invested over 30 years. TER only. Trading spreads, taxes and broker fees are not included.
Domicile and withholding tax
Both funds are domiciled in the United States, so fund-level dividend withholding works the same way for both. Domicile does not separate this pair.
Frequently asked questions
Do QQQ and SPY overlap?+
Yes: 54.61% by weight, with 86 holdings appearing in both funds. 94.29% of QQQ’s weight is also inside SPY.
Do QQQ and SPY track the same index?+
No. QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100 while SPY tracks the S&P 500. The 54.61% overlap comes from companies that both indices include.
Which is cheaper, QQQ or SPY?+
SPY: 0.09% per year against 0.18% for QQQ. At 7% growth that gap is worth about 1,758 per 10,000 invested over 30 years.
Is it worth holding both QQQ and SPY?+
They overlap less than similar-looking funds (54.61% by weight), so holding both can make sense when you want each fund’s distinct exposure. Check the shared-holdings table for what you would be doubling up on.
Why does QQQ hold the same companies at higher weights?+
Same companies, smaller universe: QQQ spreads its weight across 103 holdings while SPY holds 504, so each shared position takes a larger slice of QQQ.
More comparisons
Methodology
Overlap is the sum of min(weight A, weight B) across holdings that appear in both funds, with each fund’s stored weights normalized to 100%. Holdings come from issuer feeds and regulatory filings in our ETF holdings database; TER and fund size come from fund profile data and are refreshed regularly. Figures update when the underlying holdings data updates.
Holdings data as of Sep 21, 2026, from our ETF holdings database.