Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VTI?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VTI +13.5%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or VTI?

VTI is cheaper, by 0.37 percentage points a year. That is about $37 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

GLD vs VTI: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and VTI an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VTI returned +13.5% against +2.5%.

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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $689.2bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF.

GLD on its own →VTI on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+13.5%

VTI total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.03%

VTI expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VTI costs 0.37 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.0 points; VTI is 4.9 times larger.

GLD vs VTI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VTI
Return
Measure	GLD	VTI
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+13.5%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	VTI
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	VTI
What it tracks	Gold	Morningstar US Total Market Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	VTI
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$141.7bn	$689.2bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	VTI
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		88%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		34.7%

Method

Risk and return

Nov 26, 2004 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,143 weekly returns

GLD VTI

Return

Total return edge VTI +709.5% +859.4%

Annualized edge VTI (slight) +10.0% +10.8%

Price return edge GLD +709.5% +546.5%

Risk

Volatility edge GLD (slight) 17.3% 17.8%

Max drawdown edge GLD −44.7% −54.8%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge VTI (slight) 0.53 0.57

Sortino edge VTI (slight) 0.77 0.80

Calmar edge GLD 0.22 0.20

Reading

VTI returned more: +859.4% to +709.5%. GLD swung slightly less: 17.3% to 17.8%. GLD fell less at its worst: −44.7% to −54.8%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: GLD vs VTI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VTI	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+709.5%	+859.4%	VTI	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+10.0%	+10.8%	VTI (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+709.5%	+546.5%	GLD	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.3%	17.8%	GLD (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	11.9%	12.6%	GLD (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−44.7%	−54.8%	GLD	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.53	0.57	VTI (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.77	0.80	VTI (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.22	0.20	GLD	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,143 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares VTI Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of US total market

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +13.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.7% (IAU) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs IAU not measured

Expense ratio 0.40% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 3521

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and VTI as of Sep 30, 2026 $135.8bn $689.2bn

GLD and VTI on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-65E7D8D483

GLD and VTI do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. GLD follows Gold and VTI follows Morningstar US Total Market Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GLD returned +2.5% and VTI +13.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.0 points.
Cost. GLD charges 0.40% of assets a year and VTI 0.03%, a gap of 0.37 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

GLD

Its expense ratio is 0.40% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

GLD holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.5% with distributions reinvested, against +2.7% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.7% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

VTI

VTI tracks an index of US total market. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 88% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 3,521 positions, with the top ten at 34.7%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VTI?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VTI +13.5%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or VTI?: VTI is cheaper, by 0.37 percentage points a year. That is about $37 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs VOO GLD vs SCHB GLD vs USMV GLD vs XLG IAU vs VTI GLDM vs VTI SLV vs VTI SIVR vs VTI

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

VTI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VTI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VTI ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, GLD against VTI, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-vti

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