Which is cheaper, VOO or ZSEP?

VOO charges 0.03% a year and ZSEP charges 0.79%, so VOO is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are VOO and ZSEP the same kind of fund?

No. VOO is an index ETF and ZSEP is a buffer ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

VOO vs ZSEP: how they differ

VOO and ZSEP are measured over different days, and VOO charges 0.03% against 0.79%.

Vanguard 500 Index Fund and Innovator Equity Defined Protection ETF - 1 Yr September.

VOO and ZSEP on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	VOO Vanguard 500 Index Fund	ZSEP Innovator Equity Defined Protection ETF - 1 Yr September
Where it sits	Core index fund	Buffer ETF
Issuer	Vanguard	Innovator
What it is	S&P 500	Defined outcome, 100% on SPY
Total return, 1 year	+17.6%	not published
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	not published
Gap to the S&P 500	+0.1 pts	not available
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.79%
Holdings	506	not filed

VOO in plain words

VOO is an index equity fund tracking the S&P 500. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +17.6% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 506 positions, with the top ten at 36.5%.

ZSEP in plain words

From its price on Sep 12, 2026, the fund can gain about 8.9% more before it reaches its cap. Protection left, in index points: 99.6% of the 100.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 354 days remained on Sep 12, 2026. On Aug 31, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, VOO or ZSEP?: VOO charges 0.03% a year and ZSEP charges 0.79%, so VOO is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are VOO and ZSEP the same kind of fund?: No. VOO is an index ETF and ZSEP is a buffer ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

VOO against ZSEP, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 12, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, VOO against ZSEP, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/VOO-ZSEP Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources