Are APLY and DGRO in the same category?

APLY is an option-income ETF and DGRO is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.

Which returned more over the last year, APLY or DGRO?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, APLY returned +18.2% and DGRO +18.8%.

Which is cheaper, APLY or DGRO?

DGRO is cheaper, by 0.96 percentage points a year. That is about $96 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

APLY vs DGRO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, APLY returned +18.2% to DGRO's +18.8%, and DGRO charges 0.08% to APLY's 1.04%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $112m for YieldMax AAPL Option Income Strategy ETF and $44.6bn for iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF.

APLY on its own →DGRO on its own →

At a glance

+18.2%

APLY total return, 1 year

+18.8%

DGRO total return, 1 year

1.04%

APLY expense ratio

0.08%

DGRO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

DGRO costs 0.96 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.6 points; DGRO is far larger, $44.6bn against $112m.

APLY vs DGRO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	APLY	DGRO
Return
Measure	APLY	DGRO
Total return, 1 year	+18.2%	+18.8%
Price change, 1 year	fell 14.2%	rose 16.4%
Latest payout, annualized	20.9%
Against its benchmark
Measure	APLY	DGRO
What it tracks	Benchmark: Apple (AAPL)	Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index
Against its benchmark, same days	behind by 10.1 pts
Cost and size
Measure	APLY	DGRO
Expense ratio	1.04%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$112m	$44.6bn
Holdings
Measure	APLY	DGRO
Holdings in common	0%
In the S&P 500, by weight		92%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		27.2%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, APLY and DGRO hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first APLY DGRO

Only in one fund ↓

Only in APLY

United States Treasury Note/Bond 3.375% 09/15/2027 26.10%

United States Treasury Note/Bond 2.375% 05/15/2027 13.93%

AAPL 12/18/2026 310.01 C 11.68%

AAPL US 10/30/26 C352.5 0.03%

AAPL US 10/30/26 C355 0.02%

AAPL US 10/30/26 C350 -0.12%

AAPL US 10/30/26 C347.5 -0.13%

AAPL 12/18/2026 310.01 P -0.86%

Only in DGRO

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 3.24%

MICROSOFT 3.14%

APPLE 3.11%

ABBVIE 3.00%

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 2.77%

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 2.68%

BROADCOM INC 2.55%

PROCTER & GAMBLE 2.42%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

APLY YieldMax AAPL Option Income Strategy ETF DGRO iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

Where it sits Income ETF Stock ETF

Issuer YieldMax iShares

What it is synthetic covered call, vs AAPL Tracks an index of Dividend Growth

Total return, 1 year +18.2% +18.8%

Its benchmark over the same days +28.3% (AAPL) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −10.1 pts vs AAPL not measured

Cash paid, 1 year 28.6% not an income fund

Expense ratio 1.04% 0.08%

Holdings not read by ETFIQ 393

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $112m $44.6bn

APLY and DGRO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.

Alert

About each fund

APLY

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, APLY paid 28.6% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 14.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +18.2%. Apple (AAPL) returned +28.3% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 10.1 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 20.9%, paid weekly.

DGRO

DGRO tracks an index of Dividend Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 393 positions, with the top ten at 27.2%.

Questions people ask

Are APLY and DGRO in the same category?: APLY is an option-income ETF and DGRO is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
Which returned more over the last year, APLY or DGRO?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, APLY returned +18.2% and DGRO +18.8%.
Which is cheaper, APLY or DGRO?: DGRO is cheaper, by 0.96 percentage points a year. That is about $96 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

APLY vs VYM APLY vs SCHD APLY vs HDV APLY vs QQQ DGRO vs MSFO DGRO vs SDTY DGRO vs OARK DGRO vs ULTY

Where to next

APLY on its own →DGRO on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →APLY dividend history →APLY holdings →DGRO dividend history →DGRO holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

APLY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

APLY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

APLY 19a-1 distribution notice ↗

YieldMax page for APLY ↗

DGRO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

DGRO prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for DGRO ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, APLY against DGRO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/aply-vs-dgro

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.