Guide · US Large Cap
Best S&P 500 ETFs
An S&P 500 ETF owns the 500 largest US companies by market cap, weighted by market cap, with no factor adjustment. The S&P committee's selection rules add a small amount of qualitative judgment compared to a pure-rules total-market index, but in practice the differences are not large enough for a buy-and-hold investor to notice.
How the scoring ranks these funds
All three funds track the same index and hold the same 500 names at the same weights — score differences come from fee (a few basis points) and liquidity. SPY is the original 1993 listing but is structured as a unit investment trust, which is mildly less tax-efficient than the open-end ETF structure used by VOO and IVV.
See the methodology for the full formula behind each sub-score.
Top picks
-
95
composite / 100
Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF. 3 basis points and the second-largest of the three by AUM. The default choice for Vanguard-account holders and the most-recommended on the Bogleheads forum.
- Expense
- 0.030%
- AUM
- $1.60T
- Issuer
- Vanguard
- Detail
- VOO page →
-
95
composite / 100
iShares' S&P 500 ETF. Same 3 basis points as VOO; effectively the same fund with a different ticker. Worth choosing over VOO at brokerages where IVV is a commission-free trade and VOO is not (increasingly rare).
- Expense
- 0.030%
- AUM
- $797.47B
- Issuer
- iShares
- Detail
- IVV page →
-
96
composite / 100
SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF. 2 basis points — the lowest-fee S&P 500 ETF on the market. Smaller AUM than VOO / IVV but functionally identical exposure. State Street's "portfolio" line of low-cost funds.
- Expense
- 0.020%
- AUM
- $97.33B
- Issuer
- State Street
- Detail
- SPLG page →
Also in the category
Other funds scoring in this category. Same data, no editorial commentary yet.
S&P 500 vs total market
The S&P 500 covers the 500 largest US names — roughly 80% of investable US market cap. A total-market fund (VTI / ITOT / SCHB) extends that down through mid- and small-caps, adding ~3,000 more names that together make up the remaining 20%. Over long periods the return difference has been small; the total-market fund is mildly more diversified across the size factor at no extra cost.
TLH partners
VOO, IVV, and SPLG all track the same S&P 500 index, which makes them substantially identical for wash-sale purposes — they are not TLH partners for each other. A common TLH partner pair is VOO ↔ VTI (different index family, similar exposure) or VOO ↔ ITOT.
Guide. Picks come from the live PlainIndex composite for this category; editorial commentary on each pick is hand-written. Re-pulled with every catalog refresh.
PlainIndex publishes data and editorial commentary — nothing here is personalized investment advice. Read the methodology for how the scores referenced here are computed.