Which returned more over the last year, BILS or VGUS?

In the year to Oct 20, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BILS returned +3.6% and VGUS +3.6%.

Which is cheaper, BILS or VGUS?

VGUS is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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BILS vs VGUS: Differences, Returns & Fees

On Jun 30, 2026 BILS's duration was 0.4 years and VGUS's 0.3; VGUS charges 0.07% to BILS's 0.14%. Net assets: $3.9bn on Oct 20, 2026 for State Street SPDR Bloomberg 3-12 Month T-Bill ETF, and $1.2bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Ultra-Short Treasury ETF.

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Answers cite the figures on this page.

VGUS costs 0.07 points a year less; both returned +3.6% over a year; BILS is 3.3 times larger.

BILS vs VGUS: Differences, Returns & Fees
	BILS	VGUS
Expense ratio	0.14%	0.07%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$3.9bn	$1.2bn
Total return, 1 year	+3.6%	+3.6%
What it tracks	not read by ETFIQ	Bloomberg Short Treasury Index
Holdings in common	22%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026.

+3.6%

BILS total return, 1 year

+3.6%

VGUS total return, 1 year

0.14%

BILS expense ratio

0.07%

VGUS expense ratio

Client brief · page 1 of 2Report BR-71D5AC79F8

BILS and VGUS are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

What each follows. BILS follows not read by ETFIQ and VGUS follows Bloomberg Short Treasury Index.
Holdings in common. 22% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026).
Number of holdings. BILS holds 23 positions and VGUS holds 90.

Data as of Oct 20, 2026. The differences are picked by a fixed rule, in a fixed order; the PDF prints it. Page 2 has the returns, overlap, risks and sources.

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What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, BILS and VGUS hold 22% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026.

50%

half

22% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding BILS VGUS

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Oct 1, 2026 6.87% 1.94%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Oct 29, 2026 6.70% 1.89%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Nov 27, 2026 6.44% 1.77%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Oct 8, 2026 4.47% 1.24%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Oct 22, 2026 4.21% 1.24%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Oct 15, 2026 4.47% 1.24%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Sep 24, 2026 4.40% 1.18%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Sep 10, 2026 4.29% 1.16%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Nov 5, 2026 4.17% 1.16%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Nov 12, 2026 4.16% 1.16%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Nov 19, 2026 4.16% 1.15%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Sep 22, 2026 3.80% 1.04%

Only in BILS

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Oct 6, 2026 2.57%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Oct 13, 2026 2.56%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Oct 20, 2026 2.56%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Oct 27, 2026 2.56%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Dec 3, 2026 2.55%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Dec 10, 2026 2.55%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Dec 17, 2026 2.55%

U.S. Treasury Bills, due Jun 10, 2027 1.25%

Only in VGUS

TREASURY BILL, due Jul 9, 2026 4.53%

TREASURY BILL, due Jul 2, 2026 3.76%

TREASURY BILL, due Aug 6, 2026 2.88%

TREASURY BILL, due Jul 16, 2026 2.47%

TREASURY BILL, due Jul 23, 2026 2.44%

TREASURY BILL, due Jul 30, 2026 2.42%

TREASURY BILL, due Jul 14, 2026 2.38%

TREASURY BILL, due Aug 27, 2026 2.29%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

BILS

State Street SPDR Bloomberg 3-12 Month T-Bill ETF

VGUS

Vanguard Ultra-Short Treasury ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Bond ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

What it is Tracks an index Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +3.6% +3.6%

Expense ratio 0.14% 0.07%

Holdings 23 90

Net assets, BILS as of Oct 20, 2026 and VGUS as of Sep 30, 2026 $3.9bn $1.2bn

BILS and VGUS on the fields both publish, as of Oct 20, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

About BILS

BILS tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +3.6% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.14% a year.

About VGUS

VGUS tracks an index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, BILS or VGUS?: In the year to Oct 20, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BILS returned +3.6% and VGUS +3.6%.
Which is cheaper, BILS or VGUS?: VGUS is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

BILS vs BILZ BILS vs RAVI BILS vs YEAR BILS vs TBUX GSY vs VGUS IBDS vs VGUS FLTR vs VGUS BSCR vs VGUS

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

Where these figures came from

BILS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗BILS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗State Street website ↗VGUS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗VGUS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Vanguard page for VGUS ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. 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, BILS against VGUS, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bils-vs-vgus

Open data

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