ETF comparison
EFA vs VXUS
International Developed vs International Total.
iShares MSCI EAFE ETF · Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares
Holdings overlap
659 positions appear in both funds. Buying equal dollars of EFA and VXUS would leave roughly 48.6% of each dollar exposed to the same underlying securities.
Unmatched is the part of a fund's weight the other fund doesn't match: names only it holds, plus any extra weight it puts in names both funds hold.
Side by side
Sub-score comparison
Tracking quality isn't part of the composite — see what we don't score for why.
Cost difference
VXUS is 27 bps cheaper than EFA. On a $100,000 position that's about $270/yr more in fees for EFA.
Fee figure is the annual expense charged on $100,000. To see how the gap compounds over a multi-decade holding period, open the cost calculator pre-filled with EFA vs VXUS.
Top shared holdings
659 shared in total| # | Holding | In EFA | In VXUS | Overlap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ASML Holding N.V. | 2.90% | 1.45% | 1.45% |
| 2 | HSBC HOLDINGS PLC | 1.66% | 0.83% | 0.83% |
| 3 | Roche Holding AG | 1.39% | 0.70% | 0.70% |
| 4 | Novartis AG | 1.30% | 0.66% | 0.66% |
| 5 | Nestle S.A. | 1.17% | 0.59% | 0.59% |
| 6 | SHELL PLC | 1.17% | 0.58% | 0.58% |
| 7 | ASTRAZENECA PLC | 1.17% | 0.58% | 0.58% |
| 8 | Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. | 1.08% | 0.55% | 0.55% |
| 9 | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | 1.10% | 0.55% | 0.55% |
| 10 | COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA | 0.95% | 0.48% | 0.48% |
| 11 | TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION | 0.81% | 0.46% | 0.46% |
| 12 | Allianz SE | 0.86% | 0.43% | 0.43% |
Only in EFA
15 total- SPOTIFY TECHNOLOGY S.A. 0.33%
- TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED 0.18%
- SEA LIMITED 0.18%
- Nebius Group N.V. 0.17%
- AerCap Holdings N.V. 0.11%
- CHECK POINT SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES LTD. 0.05%
- MILLICOM INTERNATIONAL CELLULAR S.A. 0.04%
- GRAB HOLDINGS LIMITED 0.04%
- Sartorius Aktiengesellschaft 0.03%
- HKT Trust and HKT Limited 0.03%
Only in VXUS
8,077 total- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd 4.10%
- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 1.83%
- SK hynix Inc 1.43%
- Tencent Holdings Ltd 0.87%
- Royal Bank of Canada 0.67%
- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd 0.63%
- Toronto-Dominion Bank/The 0.46%
- MediaTek Inc 0.36%
- Bank of Montreal 0.29%
- Enbridge Inc 0.27%
Related comparisons
More comparisons with EFA
- EFA vs DFIC · Dimensional International Core Equity 2 ETF 46.5%
- EFA vs AVDE · Avantis International Equity ETF 42.8%
- EFA vs EZU · iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF 35.0%
- EFA vs IPAC · iShares Core MSCI Pacific ETF 33.5%
- EFA vs VPL · Vanguard FTSE Pacific Index Fund ETF Shares 33.2%
- EFA vs AVIV · Avantis International Large Cap Value ETF 29.0%
More comparisons with VXUS
- VXUS vs DBEF · Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF 48.5%
- VXUS vs BBIN · JPMorgan BetaBuilders International Equity ETF 47.4%
- VXUS vs DFIC · Dimensional International Core Equity 2 ETF 44.1%
- VXUS vs AVDE · Avantis International Equity ETF 41.2%
- VXUS vs ESGD · iShares ESG Aware MSCI EAFE ETF 37.8%
- VXUS vs VT · Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund ETF Shares 37.0%
Percentages are holdings overlap with the named fund.
Open EFA or VXUS at a brokerage
Both funds trade commission-free at major US brokerages.
Affiliate links — opening an account through these earns PlainIndex a one-time referral. Scoring is computed before any affiliate consideration; see our methodology and funding disclosure.
Holdings overlap is the sum of min(weight_a, weight_b) over positions
matched on ISIN (CUSIP fallback). Methodology: see
/methodology/.
Comparing two funds doesn't endorse swapping one for the other. Tax-lot history, account type, and personal goals matter — PlainIndex publishes data and methodology, not investment advice.