VTI or VOO is a choice of market, not a choice of fee
Shared stocks, counted at the smaller of the two weights, are 88.9% of the portfolio. You are choosing the S&P 500 or that index plus the rest of the U.S. market.
Key takeaways
Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF, VTI, formerly Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, VOO, charge the same fee and put most of their money in the same stocks.
Vanguard's July 29, 2026 supplement renamed the total-market fund and said the investment objective, strategies and policies remain unchanged.
VOO tracks the S&P 500. VTI tracks that index plus the companies outside it.
The fee matches. The indexes do not.
Vanguard lists an expense ratio of 0.03% for each fund, as of April 28, 2026. On $10,000, that is $3 a year either way.
VTI seeks to track the Morningstar US Total Market Index. On July 28, 2026, Morningstar said that index had been the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) US Total Market Index, and that the rebrand changed the name only.
Vanguard samples that index, so VTI does not hold every stock in it. VOO replicates the S&P 500, holding its stocks at about the index weights.
Most of the money is in the same stocks
As of Oct. 14, 2026, VTI held 3,598 stocks and VOO held 505.
Count each shared stock at the smaller of the two funds' weights, and those positions add up to 88.9% of the portfolio. The companies only in VTI make up the rest.
The same giants still sit at the top of both funds. The top 10 stocks were 33.5% of VTI and 37.8% of VOO. Nvidia was 6.9% of VTI and 8.1% of VOO.
The same giants, a smaller piece in VTI
Buying the broader fund does not step you away from Nvidia. You own a smaller piece of the same stock.
The lead belongs to the index
The figures below are cumulative price returns, without distributions, from each starting close to the Oct. 14, 2026 close. The three-year row starts at the Oct. 13, 2023 close, the last session before Oct. 14, 2023.
The last four quarterly payments, divided by the Oct. 14 close, came to a trailing distribution yield of 1.05% for each fund.
VOO led in every window. The five-year cumulative price gap was 9.6 percentage points. The three-year gap was 2.0 percentage points.
Over those five years, VOO's price return matched the S&P 500, at 73.9%. The lead over VTI was not VOO beating its benchmark.
Vanguard's April 28, 2026 summary prospectuses report a different window, the five years ended Dec. 31, 2025, with dividends reinvested.
VTI's average annual return before taxes was 13.08%, matching the CRSP US Total Market Index, the name in the April prospectus. VOO returned 14.38%, against 14.42% for the S&P 500.
The gap between the funds was 1.30 percentage points a year. The gap between the indexes was 1.34 percentage points a year.
Vanguard's summary prospectus says past performance does not indicate how either fund will perform in the future.
Which fund to own
In U.S. News & World Report on July 16, 2026, Christopher Cardinal, president and investment advisor at Cardinal Wealth Management in McKinney, Texas, called VTI a bet on the whole U.S. market, whatever leads next, and VOO a slightly more concentrated bet on the established giants.
If this is your only U.S. stock fund, own VTI. You get the stocks in the S&P 500 and the companies outside it, at the same 0.03%.
In the five years ended Dec. 31, 2025, the gap between the funds lined up with the gap between the indexes. That history is not a price you pay for the companies outside the S&P 500.
If you want the S&P 500 on its own, or you will add smaller companies in a fund you choose, own VOO. You get the fund that tracks it, and a larger stake in the same giants.
If you already hold either fund, keep it unless you want the other market. Where a sale would be taxed, that bill is a separate cost, and it is yours to weigh. Where a sale is not taxed, as in many retirement accounts, the only question is which market you want.
Either way, a switch changes the slice outside the S&P 500. The shared weight is still 88.9%.
ETFs in this story
Frequently asked questions
Do the two funds charge the same fee?
Vanguard lists an expense ratio of 0.03% for each fund, as of April 28, 2026, which is $3 a year on $10,000.
How much of the portfolios is the same stocks?
Shared stocks, counted at the smaller of the two weights, are 88.9% of the portfolio as of Oct. 14, 2026.
Which fund has returned more?
On cumulative price returns, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF led in every window, and its five-year result matched the S&P 500 rather than beating it.
What does each fund track?
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF tracks the S&P 500, while Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF tracks that index plus the companies outside it.
