QLDY vs QYLD

QLDYDDefiance Nasdaq 100 LightningSpread Income ETF

QYLDAGlobal X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF

In short

QLDY Defiance's spin on Nasdaq-100 exposure: options for the ride, daily put-spread sales for the income, and a paycheck that lands twice a week instead of once a month.

QYLD Running since 2013, QYLD is the no-frills version of the Nasdaq-100 income trade: own the index, sell calls against it, pay out monthly. No stock picking, no manager discretion, just a rules-based buy-write index followed closely.

Stated mandate

QLDY The fund seeks frequent income while preserving an opportunity for indirect participation in Nasdaq-100 performance, subject to a limit on potential gains.

QYLD QYLD seeks, before fees and expenses, to generally match the price and yield performance of the Cboe NASDAQ-100® BuyWrite V2 Index. It uses a buy-write strategy that holds NASDAQ-100 stocks and sells corresponding call options.

Why people hold it

• QLDY Pays twice a week. Defiance launched the fund billing that cadence as an industry first, and the twice-weekly schedule is baked into its stated income policy.globenewswire.com
• The engine is legible: options for long exposure to the Nasdaq-100's price return, plus put spreads sold daily to generate the cash it distributes.defianceetfs.comsec.gov
• At 1.04% a year it lands right at the median for its leveraged-bull peer group, and it stands in the upper half of that cohort on our review.

• QYLD Simple machine: holds Nasdaq-100 stocks, sells the matching calls, and tracks the Cboe NASDAQ-100 BuyWrite V2 Index closely. Nothing to second-guess.
• Income arrives monthly, and the 0.60% fee sits under the median for Nasdaq-100 options-income funds.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades very actively, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.

Worth knowing

• QLDY The income has a price tag. The fund's own objective says participation in Nasdaq-100 performance is subject to a limit on potential gains.
• It launched in September 2025, so the track record is short, and the same-day put spreads at its core carry exposure to sharp single-day drops.sec.gov
• Small fund, light trading. That can mean wider bid-ask spreads and more price-to-NAV wobble than in the category's household names like QLD and TQQQ.

• QYLD Writing calls sells the upside. When the Nasdaq-100 runs past the strike, that gain goes to the option buyer, not the fund.
• Leaner options on the same index: QQA at 0.33%, GPIQ and JEPQ at 0.35%.
• Payouts are funded by option premium and no target rate is declared, so the monthly check varies with volatility.

Full QLDY profile⁠

Full QYLD profile⁠