VOO vs. VOOG: the S&P 500 fund is the better default

Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF, VOO, is the better choice of the two as a main stock holding. Vanguard's S&P 500 Growth ETF, VOOG, holds 152 of those 505 stocks, the ones its index classes as growth, most of them at heavier weights. It has earned more since both launched, and it lost much more in 2022.

Through Sept. 30, 2026, VOO had compounded at 14.94% a year since both funds launched on Sept. 7, 2010, and VOOG had compounded at 16.93%. That lead belongs to the S&P 500 Growth Index, not to Vanguard's managers.

In 2022, VOOG lost **29.47%**. VOO lost **18.15%**.

Fewer stocks, heavier weights

As of Sept. 30, 2026, Vanguard reported 505 stocks in VOO and 152 in VOOG. The S&P 500 is 500 companies, and the stock count runs above 500 because some companies have more than one class of shares.

Every stock in the growth fund is already in the broad fund. S&P fills the growth index with S&P 500 companies scored on three-year earnings growth, three-year sales growth and 12-month price momentum, and Vanguard holds that list.

The 10 largest holdings were 40.6% of VOO and 62.7% of VOOG. Nvidia was 8.4% of the broad fund and 15.0% of the growth fund.

Information technology was 39.7% of VOO and 54.1% of VOOG. Energy was 3.4% of the S&P 500 fund. The growth fund held none.

Vanguard's median company size, the size at the midpoint of the fund's dollars, was $1.68 trillion for VOOG and $462 billion for VOO.

The price-to-earnings ratio, share price divided by the past year's earnings, was 27.2 for the growth fund and 24.7 for the S&P 500 fund.

The extra return, and the 2022 loss, belong to the indexes

Fees, assets, holdings and trailing returns are from Vanguard's Sept. 30, 2026 fact sheets, and the 2022 row is that calendar year from Vanguard's annual tables. Returns are the change in what each fund owns, with dividends reinvested and fees taken out, rather than the change in the share price. Trailing figures beyond one year are annualized.

Over the three years through Sept. 30, VOOG compounded at 28.37% a year, compared with 22.85% for VOO.

In the year to Sept. 30, VOOG returned 18.34%, compared with 18.42% for the growth index. VOO returned 15.70%, compared with 15.74% for the S&P 500.

The funds tracked their indexes, so the gap between the funds is the gap between the indexes.

In 2022 the gap belonged to the indexes as well. The S&P 500 Growth Index lost 29.41%, and VOOG lost 29.47%. The S&P 500 lost 18.11%, and VOO lost 18.15%.

VOO charges 0.03% a year, and VOOG charges 0.07%. On a $10,000 stake, the difference is $4 a year.

On Sept. 30, 2026, VOO held $1.03 trillion and VOOG held $27.8 billion.

The share prices are not a reason to prefer one fund. VOOG closed at $82.47 on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, and VOO closed at $702.30, because Vanguard split the growth fund's shares 6-for-1 in April 2026.

A split changes the price of each share. It does not change the value of what you own.

When the growth fund is the right one

Choose VOOG if you want a heavier weight in the S&P 500's growth stocks than VOO already gives you, and you are willing to lose more in a year like 2022.

Do not choose it to diversify a position in VOO. It adds no company the broad fund does not already own.