- Invested
- —
- Growth
- —
- Total return
- —
- Per year
- —
VOO vs SPLG: Which S&P 500 ETF Wins on Fee in 2026?
Same index, same holdings. SPLG is 0.01% cheaper and has a low share price. VOO is 27x larger with tighter spreads.
Investing $10,000 from Sep 2010 How this is calculated Dividends reinvested every month. Monthly adjusted-close prices from Yahoo Finance. Past performance doesn't predict future returns.
- Invested
- —
- Growth
- —
- Total return
- —
- Per year
- —
SPLG at 0.02% is the cheapest S&P 500 ETF on the market, narrowly below VOO's 0.03%. Over 30 years on $100k at 8%, the extra fee on VOO adds up to about $700.
SPLG is priced at ~1/8 of VOO per share. Same exposure, different unit of account. With fractional shares it stops mattering; without them, SPLG means less leftover cash on small buys.
VOO holds $1.51T in assets vs SPLG's ~$55B. VOO is one of the most-traded ETFs in the world with tighter bid-ask spreads. For retail buy-and-hold this is invisible; at scale it matters.
Is SPLG really cheaper than VOO?
Yes. SPLG charges 0.02%; VOO charges 0.03%. On a $10,000 position that's $2.00 vs $3.00 per year. Over 30 years on $100k at 8%, the gap compounds to about $700 - real but small next to a six-figure balance. SPLG is currently the cheapest S&P 500 ETF on the market.
Why is SPLG's share price so much lower than VOO's?
It's just a different unit of account. SPLG trades near $83, VOO near $653 — about 1/8 the price per share, same exposure per dollar invested. Share price has no bearing on performance, fees, or holdings. With fractional shares this difference stops mattering.
Is VOO safer than SPLG because it's bigger?
Not meaningfully. VOO holds $1.51T; SPLG holds about $55B. Both are large, established, healthy funds. At very large trade sizes VOO's tighter spread is a small real advantage, but for retail buy-and-hold investors it is invisible.
What are the main differences between VOO and SPLG?
Both are ETFs tracking the same S&P 500 index. The differences are at the margins: fee (0.03% vs 0.02%), issuer (Vanguard vs State Street), share price (~$653 vs ~$83), AUM ($1.51T vs $55B), and daily volume (VOO far higher). Holdings are essentially identical.
Does SPLG pay dividends?
Yes, quarterly, just like VOO. Both distribute the dividends paid by the underlying 500 companies after fund expenses. SPLG's slightly lower fee means a very slightly higher yield, but the gap is smaller than normal quarter-to-quarter variation.