DFAU vs VTI: Differences, Returns & Fees
DFAU and VTI hold 89% of their weight in the same names. Net assets: $12.4bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional US Core Equity Market ETF, and $689.2bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF.
VTI costs 0.09 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.4 points.
| DFAU | VTI | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.12% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, DFAU as of Jul 31, 2026 and VTI as of Sep 30, 2026 | $12.4bn | $689.2bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +17.2% | +16.8% |
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | CRSP US Total Market Index |
| Holdings in common | 89% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 33.7% | 33.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, DFAU and VTI hold 89% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
89% in common
On the same fields
DFAU and VTI on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About DFAU
DFAU is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.12% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 87% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,192 positions, with the top ten at 33.7%.
Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +17.2% with distributions reinvested, against +16.7% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.
About VTI
VTI tracks an index of US total market. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +16.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Aug 31, 2026, 88% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 3,509 positions, with the top ten at 33.5%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, DFAU or VTI?
- In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFAU returned +17.2% and VTI +16.8%.
- Which is cheaper, DFAU or VTI?
- VTI is cheaper, by 0.09 percentage points a year. That is about $9 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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, DFAU against VTI, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfau-vs-vti
ETFIQ. (Oct 9, 2026). DFAU against VTI. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfau-vs-vti
[DFAU against VTI (ETFIQ, Oct 9, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfau-vs-vti)
Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.