ETF comparison · US core
VOO vs SPY: overlap by weight, TER & holdings
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF vs SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
The same 500 companies at different prices and structures: SPY is the liquid trading vehicle with a unit-trust structure and a higher fee; VOO is the cheaper buy-and-hold share class. Traders pick SPY, long-term holders pick VOO.
VOO vs SPY at a glance
| VOO | SPY | |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust |
| ISIN | US9229083632 | US78462F1030 |
| Index | S&P 500 | S&P 500 |
| Market exposure | US large cap | US large cap |
| TER | 0.03% | 0.09% |
| Holdings in fund | 503 | 504 |
| Fund size | ≈ 1.7 tn USD | ≈ 795 bn USD |
| Domicile | the United States | the United States |
| Replication | Physical (full) | Physical (full, unit trust) |
| Use of income | Distributing | Distributing |
| Launched | Sep 7, 2010 | Jan 22, 1993 |
Top shared holdings
| VOO | SPY | |
|---|---|---|
| NVDANVDA | 8.09% | 8.07% |
| AAPLAAPL | 7.04% | 7.52% |
| MSFTMSFT | 5.69% | 5.62% |
| AMZNAMZN | 3.84% | 3.74% |
| GOOGLGOOGL | 3.01% | 3.09% |
| AVGOAVGO | 2.65% | 2.5% |
| GOOGGOOG | 2.39% | 2.47% |
| METAMETA | 1.9% | 2.28% |
| MUMU | 1.63% | 1.67% |
| TSLATSLA | 1.56% | 1.57% |
| JPMJPM | 1.44% | 1.42% |
| BRK/BBRK/B | 1.4% | 1.42% |
| LLYLLY | 1.38% | 1.38% |
| AMDAMD | 1.16% | 1.35% |
| XOMXOM | 1.01% | 1.03% |
Weights per fund, normalized. 503 companies appear in both funds.
What the fee gap costs
Growth of 10,000 invested at 7% annual return, after each fund’s TER: 0.03% for VOO, 0.09% for SPY.
| VOO | SPY | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| After 10 years | 19,616 | 19,498 | 118 |
| After 20 years | 38,480 | 38,019 | 461 |
| After 30 years | 75,485 | 74,131 | 1,354 |
VOO comes out ahead by about 1,354 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 VOO and SPY overlap?+
Yes: 97.56% by weight, with 503 holdings appearing in both funds. 100% of VOO’s weight is also inside SPY.
Do VOO and SPY track the same index?+
Yes. Both funds track the same index: S&P 500. Return differences come from fees, replication and trading costs, not from index choice.
Which is cheaper, VOO or SPY?+
VOO: 0.03% per year against 0.09% for SPY. At 7% growth that gap is worth about 1,354 per 10,000 invested over 30 years.
Is it worth holding both VOO and SPY?+
Holding both mostly duplicates exposure: 97.56% of the pair overlaps by weight. Most investors pick one, or combine one of them with a fund covering different markets.
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.