{"url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-zdek","section":"compare","title":"SPY vs ZDEK: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees | ETFIQ","description":"SPY vs ZDEK to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +13.6% against +6.1%, expense ratio 0.09% against 0.79%. One stock ETF and one buffer ETF.","as_of":"Oct 28, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Are SPY and ZDEK in the same category?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"SPY is a stock ETF and ZDEK is a buffer ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which returned more over the last year, SPY or ZDEK?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and ZDEK +6.1%."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which is cheaper, SPY or ZDEK?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"SPY is cheaper, by 0.70 percentage points a year. That is about $70 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus."}}]},{"@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":"SPY vs ZDEK","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-zdek"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"SPY vs ZDEK: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees","description":"SPY vs ZDEK to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +13.6% against +6.1%, expense ratio 0.09% against 0.79%. One stock ETF and one buffer ETF.","url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-zdek","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 SPY and ZDEK","description":"SPY vs ZDEK to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +13.6% against +6.1%, expense ratio 0.09% against 0.79%. One stock ETF and one buffer ETF.","dateModified":"2026-10-28","creator":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","isAccessibleForFree":true,"url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-zdek","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":"SPY vs ZDEK","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-zdek"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"SPY vs ZDEK: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees","description":"SPY vs ZDEK to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +13.6% against +6.1%, expense ratio 0.09% against 0.79%. One stock ETF and one buffer ETF.","url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-zdek","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":4158,"truncated":true,"content":"ETFIQ / Compare ETFs / SPY vs ZDEK \n \n Data as of Oct 28, 2026.\n ETFIQ etfiq.com \u00b7 independent ETF data \n SPY vs ZDEK: Differences, Returns & Fees\n Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPY returned +13.6% to ZDEK's +6.1%, and SPY charges 0.09% to ZDEK's 0.79%.\n Copy this for sharing \n SPY costs 0.70 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.5 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $108m.\n SPY and ZDEK at a glance. As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. SPY ZDEK \n Expense ratio 0.09% 0.79% \n Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $814.8bn $108m \n Total return, 1 year +13.6% +6.1% \n What it trac","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, SPY against ZDEK, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-zdek","a":{"ticker":"SPY","name":"SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust","issuer":"State Street","desk":"core","as_of":"2026-10-28","verdict":"SPY tracks the S&P 500 and returned +13.6% over the past year.","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/spy","key_facts":[{"label":"Total return, 1 year","value":"+13.6%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"Expense ratio","value":"0.09%","as_of":"2026-01-26","source":"485BPOS, Jan 26, 2026"},{"label":"Holdings","value":"504","as_of":"2026-10-27","source":"the issuer\u2019s daily holdings file"},{"label":"Below its high","value":"\u22120.9%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"ETFIQ"},{"label":"12-month yield, capital gains included, on its starting price","value":"1.1%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and distributions"},{"label":"Last payment (paid quarterly), ex-date Sep 18, 2026","value":"$1.8888","as_of":"2026-09-18","source":"Tiingo end-of-day distributions"},{"label":"Net assets","value":"$814.8bn","as_of":"2026-10-27","source":"the issuer\u2019s own daily fund list, as of Oct 27, 2026"}]},"b":{"ticker":"ZDEK","name":"Innovator Equity Defined Protection ETF - 1 Yr December","issuer":"Innovator","desk":"buffer","as_of":"2026-10-28","verdict":"Since Nov 30, 2025, ZDEK returned 5.4%, against SPY's 12.9% price return. It can gain 0.6% more before its cap.","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/zdek","key_facts":[{"label":"Can still gain from today\u2019s fund price","value":"0.6%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":null},{"label":"Fall before the buffer from today\u2019s fund price","value":"5.9%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":null},{"label":"Protection left, index points","value":"100.0%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":null},{"label":"Days to reset","value":"33","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":null},{"label":"Net assets","value":"$108m","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"issuer page, as of Oct 28, 2026"},{"label":"Expense ratio","value":"0.79%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"issuer page, Oct 28, 2026"}]},"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/spy-vs-zdek"}