{"url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-iau","section":"compare","title":"GLD vs IAU: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees | ETFIQ","description":"GLD vs IAU to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +2.5% against +2.7%, expense ratio 0.40% against 0.25%. SPDR Gold Shares against iShares Gold Trust.","as_of":"Oct 28, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Which returned more over the last year, GLD or IAU?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and IAU +2.7%."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which is cheaper, GLD or IAU?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"IAU is cheaper, by 0.15 percentage points a year. That is about $15 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Compare ETFs","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"GLD vs IAU","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-iau"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"GLD vs IAU: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees","description":"GLD vs IAU to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +2.5% against +2.7%, expense ratio 0.40% against 0.25%. SPDR Gold Shares against iShares Gold Trust.","url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-iau","dateModified":"2026-10-28","speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".verdict",".lede",".faq"]},"isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"}},{"@type":"Dataset","name":"ETFIQ comparison of GLD and IAU","description":"GLD vs IAU to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +2.5% against +2.7%, expense ratio 0.40% against 0.25%. SPDR Gold Shares against iShares Gold Trust.","dateModified":"2026-10-28","creator":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","isAccessibleForFree":true,"url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-iau","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"inLanguage":"en","creativeWorkStatus":"Published","distribution":[{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/alternatives.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/core.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/crypto.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/funds.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/income.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/leverage.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/thematic.json"}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Compare ETFs","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"GLD vs IAU","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-iau"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"GLD vs IAU: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees","description":"GLD vs IAU to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +2.5% against +2.7%, expense ratio 0.40% against 0.25%. SPDR Gold Shares against iShares Gold Trust.","url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-iau","dateModified":"2026-10-28","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".verdict",".lede",".faq"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":3368,"truncated":true,"content":"ETFIQ / Compare ETFs / GLD vs IAU \n \n Data as of Oct 28, 2026.\n ETFIQ etfiq.com \u00b7 independent ETF data \n GLD vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees\n GLD and IAU are both commodity funds, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IAU returned +2.7% against +2.5%.\n Copy this for sharing \n IAU costs 0.15 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.2 points; GLD is 2.3 times larger.\n GLD and IAU at a glance. As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. GLD IAU \n Expense ratio 0.40% 0.25% \n Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $135.8bn $60.3bn \n Total return, 1 year +2.5% +2.7% \n What it tracks Gold Gold \n Holdin","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, GLD against IAU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-iau","a":{"ticker":"GLD","name":"SPDR Gold Shares","issuer":"State Street","desk":"core","as_of":"2026-10-28","verdict":"GLD holds gold and returned +2.5% over the past year.","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/gld","key_facts":[{"label":"Total return, 1 year","value":"+2.5%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"Expense ratio","value":"0.40%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":null},{"label":"Below its high","value":"\u221224.7%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"ETFIQ"},{"label":"Net assets","value":"$135.8bn","as_of":"2026-10-27","source":"the issuer\u2019s own daily fund list, as of Oct 27, 2026"},{"label":"Benchmark","value":"The price of gold, measured by IAU, which also holds gold","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"ETFIQ, from its filings"}]},"b":{"ticker":"IAU","name":"iShares Gold Trust","issuer":"iShares","desk":"core","as_of":"2026-10-28","verdict":"IAU holds gold and returned +2.7% over the past year.","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/iau","key_facts":[{"label":"Total return, 1 year","value":"+2.7%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"Expense ratio","value":"0.25%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":null},{"label":"Troy ounces of gold (10-Q, Jun 30, 2026)","value":"14.9m","as_of":"2026-06-30","source":"10-Q, Jun 30, 2026"},{"label":"Below its high","value":"\u221224.6%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"ETFIQ"},{"label":"Net assets","value":"$60.1bn","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"the issuer\u2019s own daily fund list, as of Oct 28, 2026"},{"label":"Benchmark","value":"The price of gold, measured by GLD, which also holds gold","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"ETFIQ, from its filings"}]},"overlap_pct":null,"overlap_note":"ETFIQ does not publish a holdings overlap for this pair. Either the funds are not compared on holdings, or one book is incomplete.","full_text_at":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-iau"}