Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
ULTY vs VTI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ULTY returned −11.2% to VTI's +13.5%, and VTI charges 0.03% to ULTY's 1.30%.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about ULTY and VTI
Net assets: $627m on Oct 27, 2026 for YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF, and $689.2bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF.
Pair scorecard
VTI costs 1.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 24.7 points.
| Measure | ULTY | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −11.2% | +13.5% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 55.2% | rose 12.2% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 60.7% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 100% of the Oct 29, 2026 payment | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Benchmark: its own holdings | Morningstar US Total Market Index |
| Against its benchmark, same days | ahead by 4.1 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 1.30% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, ULTY as of Oct 27, 2026 and VTI as of Sep 30, 2026 | $627m | $689.2bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 13% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 88% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 34.7% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026. Method
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, ULTY and VTI hold 13% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026.
half
13% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
ULTY and VTI on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
ULTY's own holdings, without the options (from its filed holdings, rebalanced at each filing; latest Oct 26, 2026) returned −15.3% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 4.1 pts.
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ULTY paid 44.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 55.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned −11.2%. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 60.7%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Oct 29, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
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
- Are ULTY and VTI in the same category?
- ULTY is an option-income ETF and VTI is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, ULTY or VTI?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ULTY returned −11.2% and VTI +13.5%.
- Which is cheaper, ULTY or VTI?
- VTI is cheaper, by 1.27 percentage points a year. That is about $127 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. 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, ULTY against VTI, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ulty-vs-vti
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). ULTY against VTI. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ulty-vs-vti
[ULTY against VTI (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ulty-vs-vti)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.