US ETF Explorer — Compare SPY, QQQ, VTI & More

VOO is Vanguard's S&P 500 tracker and, as of 2026, the single largest ETF in the world after crossing $1 trillion in assets -- it recently overtook both IVV and the older SPY. It holds the same 500 large US companies as SPY at a fraction of the cost (0.03% vs 0.0945%). For Indian investors building long-term US equity exposure via LRS, VOO/IVV are generally preferred over SPY on cost grounds alone.

IVV tracks the same S&P 500 index as SPY and VOO but is structured as a mutual-fund-style ETF rather than SPY's older unit-investment-trust structure, which lets it reinvest dividends more efficiently. At 0.03%, it costs a third of what SPY charges for identical index exposure -- for most long-term holders, IVV or VOO beats SPY on pure cost.

SPY is the original, most-traded ETF in the world -- it holds the 500 largest US companies and is often used as shorthand for "the US stock market." Its high trading volume makes it attractive for active traders, but its 0.0945% fee is meaningfully higher than IVV or VOO's 0.03% for the exact same underlying index, so long-term holders usually prefer the cheaper twins.

VTI covers essentially the entire US stock market -- over 3,500 companies across large, mid, and small caps -- broader than SPY's 500 names, at Vanguard's rock-bottom 0.03% fee. A good single-fund choice for investors who want total US market exposure rather than just the large-cap slice.

QQQ tracks the top 100 non-financial companies on the Nasdaq exchange -- heavily tilted toward technology. It mirrors what Indian funds like the Motilal Oswal Nasdaq 100 FOF invest in, but QQQ is the direct US-listed version, with higher volatility than SPY/VOO but historically stronger returns in bull markets. QQQM (also in this list) tracks the identical index at a lower fee.

VEA provides exposure to developed markets outside the US -- primarily Europe, Japan, Canada, and Australia. Useful for Indian investors who want geography-diversified developed-market exposure beyond the US. Note: India itself is NOT in this fund -- it's classified as an emerging market, so VEA and VWO are complementary rather than overlapping.

VUG holds the faster-growing half of the US large-cap market -- tech- and consumer-discretionary-heavy, similar in spirit to a growth-oriented Nifty strategy but for US equities. Typically more volatile than a broad market fund like VTI, with higher long-run return potential in strong markets.

IEFA is BlackRock's core developed-international fund -- UK, Japan, Germany, France, Australia and more, excluding the US and Canada. A common building block alongside a US equity fund and an emerging-markets fund for investors assembling a global three-fund portfolio.

VTV holds the cheaper-valuation half of US large caps -- financials, healthcare, and industrials tend to dominate. Historically lower volatility and higher dividend yield than a growth-tilted fund like VUG, appealing to income-conscious investors.

SPYM (previously trading as SPLG before a 2026 ticker rename) is State Street's budget S&P 500 tracker at just 0.02% -- cheaper even than IVV or VOO, though with lower trading volume and a shorter track record than its larger siblings.

VXUS rolls every non-US stock market -- both developed and emerging -- into a single fund. Combined with a US-only fund like VTI, it forms a simple two-fund global equity portfolio, without needing to hold VEA and VWO separately.

IEMG is BlackRock's core emerging-markets fund, with China, India, Taiwan, and Brazil among its largest country weights. For Indian investors, IEMG actually holds a meaningful slice of Indian stocks (Reliance, HDFC Bank, Infosys and others) alongside other emerging economies -- useful for seeing how global capital allocates across EM versus investing directly in India alone.

BND holds a broad mix of US Treasuries and investment-grade corporate bonds -- the standard "total bond market" building block in a US portfolio. Bond ETF prices move inversely to interest rates; useful as a lower-volatility counterweight to an all-equity portfolio, though currency risk applies for INR-based investors.

VGT concentrates entirely in US technology-sector stocks -- Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and the rest of Big Tech dominate it. More concentrated and typically more volatile than QQQ (which also includes non-tech Nasdaq names), so it's a higher-conviction technology bet rather than a diversified core holding.

GLD is the oldest and largest gold ETF, backed by physical gold stored in HSBC vaults in London. Each share represents roughly 1/10th of a troy ounce. For Indian investors, GLD offers USD-denominated gold exposure -- note that gold ETFs listed on NSE/BSE are simpler for tax purposes and don't require routing money through LRS.

AGG is iShares' version of the same broad US bond-market exposure BND provides -- Treasuries, agency debt, and investment-grade corporates. The two funds are close substitutes; pick whichever brokerage makes cheaper to trade.

IWF tracks the Russell 1000 Growth index -- large-cap US growth companies, a close cousin to Vanguard's VUG with a slightly different index methodology and a higher expense ratio (0.18% vs VUG's 0.04%).

VWO invests across emerging-market economies: China (~30%), India (~17%), Brazil, Taiwan, South Africa, and others. For Indian investors, this fund actually holds Indian stocks (Reliance, HDFC Bank, Infosys) as a meaningful slice -- useful for comparing how global investors weight India relative to other emerging markets, rather than a way to add new India exposure.

XLK holds only the technology-sector companies within the S&P 500 -- essentially a subset of what VGT tracks under a different index methodology. A concentrated sector bet rather than a diversified core holding.

IJH tracks the S&P MidCap 400 -- US companies too big to be small-cap but not yet S&P 500 large-caps. Bridges the gap between a large-cap fund like IVV and a small-cap fund like IJR, similar in role to the Nifty Midcap 100 in India.

SGOV holds only US Treasury bills maturing within 0-3 months -- about as close to cash as a tradeable fund gets, with minimal price volatility. Its yield tracks short-term US interest rates closely; popular as a place to park USD cash rather than as a growth holding.

VIG screens for US companies with an unbroken streak of raising their dividend every year -- a quality/stability filter that has historically meant lower volatility than the broad market, appealing to income-focused, risk-averse investors.

SCHD focuses on US companies with strong, consistent dividend-payment histories -- think Coca-Cola, Verizon, and similar names. It screens for financial quality (return on equity, cash flow) before selecting dividend payers, making it less volatile than pure high-yield dividend funds. Popular among Indian investors already familiar with dividend investing in domestic markets.

QQQM tracks the identical Nasdaq-100 index as QQQ but charges 0.15% instead of QQQ's 0.20% -- Invesco's answer to investors who want the same exposure at a lower ongoing cost, at the expense of QQQ's much deeper trading liquidity.

VO holds US mid-capitalization companies -- a single-fund way to get exposure to the middle of the US market-cap spectrum, between VUG/VTV's large caps and VB's small caps.

IJR tracks the S&P SmallCap 600 -- US small-cap stocks with a profitability screen the more commonly cited Russell 2000 doesn't apply, historically giving it a quality tilt within the small-cap space.

ITOT is iShares' answer to VTI -- broad exposure across the entire US stock market, all cap sizes, at the same rock-bottom 0.03% fee. Functionally near-identical; the choice mostly comes down to which brokerage trades it more cheaply.

RSP holds the same 500 companies as the S&P 500, but weights each one equally instead of by market capitalization -- so a smaller S&P 500 company gets the same weight as Apple or NVIDIA. This reduces concentration in mega-cap tech relative to a market-cap-weighted fund like SPY or VOO, at a meaningfully higher 0.20% fee.

BNDX holds investment-grade bonds issued outside the US, with the currency risk hedged back to USD -- a way to diversify bond exposure geographically without taking on extra foreign-currency volatility on top of bond price risk.

VT is the closest thing to a single "whole world stock market" fund -- it holds US and non-US equities, developed and emerging, in one ticker, weighted by market capitalization (so the US still dominates the fund given its market size). A genuine one-fund global equity solution for investors who don't want to manage separate US and international allocations.

IWD tracks the Russell 1000 Value index -- large-cap US value stocks, a close cousin to Vanguard's VTV with a slightly different methodology and a higher expense ratio (0.19% vs VTV's 0.04%).

VYM screens US companies for above-average dividend yield -- a broader, higher-yield-focused cousin of VIG (which screens for consistent dividend growth rather than yield level itself).

IWM is the standard benchmark for US small-cap performance, tracking the Russell 2000 -- roughly 2,000 smaller US companies. Similar in role to the Nifty Smallcap 100 in India, and typically more volatile than large-cap US funds.

VB spans the full US small-cap range under Vanguard's own index methodology -- a lower-cost alternative to IWM for investors wanting small-cap exposure (0.05% vs IWM's 0.19%).

IVW holds the growth-oriented half of the S&P 500 -- BlackRock's answer to Vanguard's VUG, tracking a different growth index methodology within the same underlying 500 companies.

EFA is one of the older, more established developed-international funds -- Europe, Australasia, and the Far East -- though its 0.32% fee is notably higher than the newer, cheaper alternatives like IEFA (0.07%) that track very similar exposure.

SCHX is Schwab's low-cost large-cap US core holding, functionally similar to IVV/VOO but tracking a broader large-cap index (roughly the largest 750 US companies rather than exactly 500) at the same rock-bottom 0.03% fee.

SMH concentrates in global semiconductor companies -- NVIDIA, TSMC, Broadcom, and the rest of the chip supply chain. A high-conviction, high-volatility sector bet that has been one of the strongest-performing (and most closely watched) sector funds through the AI investment cycle, with a correspondingly high 0.35% fee.

VEU holds developed and emerging market stocks outside the US in one fund -- close in spirit to VXUS, though VXUS additionally includes small-cap international names that VEU generally excludes.

SCHF is Schwab's low-cost developed-international fund, covering large- and mid-cap stocks outside the US -- a direct, cheaper-fee competitor to iShares' IEFA and Vanguard's VEA.

IBIT holds bitcoin directly in custody and tracks its spot price -- a regulated, exchange-listed way to gain bitcoin exposure without managing a crypto wallet or exchange account directly. Extremely high volatility compared to every other fund in this list; Indian investors should note this sits outside SEBI's regulatory framework for crypto and carries the same LRS/TCS/PFIC considerations as any other US-listed fund, on top of crypto's own price risk.

VCIT holds US corporate bonds (not government debt) with 5-10 year maturities -- more interest-rate-sensitive and higher-yielding than a short-term fund like SGOV, but with meaningfully more credit and duration risk than a Treasury-only holding.

IAU tracks the same physical gold price as GLD but at a lower 0.25% fee versus GLD's 0.40% -- a cheaper alternative for investors who don't need GLD's deeper trading liquidity.

SCHG is Schwab's low-cost large-cap growth fund -- a cheaper alternative to VUG or IWF for investors specifically wanting a growth tilt within US large caps.

IXUS is BlackRock's broadest international fund, combining developed and emerging markets outside the US in one ticker -- a close competitor to Vanguard's VXUS.

IWR tracks the Russell Midcap Index -- a slightly different mid-cap methodology than IJH's S&P MidCap 400, covering a somewhat broader set of US mid-sized companies.

VV holds US large-cap stocks via Vanguard's own CRSP-based index -- functionally similar to IVV/VOO's S&P 500 exposure but tracking a different (Vanguard-defined) definition of "large-cap."

SPYG tracks the growth segment of the S&P 500 at State Street's low 0.04% fee -- a cheaper alternative to IVW or VUG for a similar growth-tilted large-cap exposure.

XLF holds only S&P 500 financial-sector companies -- major banks, insurers, and payment processors. A concentrated sector bet whose performance is closely tied to US interest-rate policy and credit conditions.

SOXX is a close competitor to SMH, both concentrated in US-listed semiconductor companies -- chip designers, foundries, and equipment makers. The two funds hold overlapping but not identical company sets and weightings; both carry high sector-concentration risk.