Which has more room to gain, BOCT or DOCT?

From their prices on Oct 2, 2026, BOCT can gain about 19.4% before its cap and DOCT about 0.2%, so BOCT has more room left this period.

Which resets first, BOCT or DOCT?

BOCT ends its outcome period on Sep 30, 2027 and DOCT on Oct 16, 2026. A new cap is set the day after each.

Which is cheaper, BOCT or DOCT?

BOCT charges 0.79% a year and DOCT charges 0.85%, so BOCT is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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BOCT vs DOCT: which one stands where?

As of Oct 2, 2026 DOCT can fall 14.9% before its buffer engages and BOCT 0.7%, and DOCT resets 349 days sooner. Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - Oct and FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - October.

BOCT costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.1 points; DOCT is 1.4 times larger.

	BOCT	DOCT
Expense ratio	0.79%	0.85%
Net assets	$292m	$400m
Total return, 1 year	+14.3%	+11.2%
What it tracks	SPY	SPY
Holdings in common	not published

0.7%

BOCT can fall this far before its buffer

14.9%

DOCT can fall this far before its buffer

19.4%

BOCT can still gain

0.2%

DOCT can still gain

BOCTBetween buffer and cap

BOCT: reference +0.9% since period start, fund +0.7%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +20.2%; Between buffer and cap.

DOCTAt its cap

DOCT: reference +15.8% since period start, fund +10.7%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +11.7%; At its cap.

ETFIQ Downside Cover Score · BOCT scores higherIf the market falls into a bear market from here, how much does the buffer absorb?

BOCT 16.5

DOCT 2.6

0.2, the lowest in this set99.8, the highest

A percentile among the 294 buffer ETFs with a live outcome period. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All buffer ETFs ranked by it → How it is computed →

DOCT is already at its cap, so more rise in the index adds nothing to it before the period ends.

They do not reset together. DOCT has 14 days of its period left and BOCT has 363, so the two are not the same bet on the same months.

Where each one stands today

DOCT resets first, on Oct 16, 2026, 14 days from now; BOCT runs to Sep 30, 2027, 363 days. BOCT can still gain 19.4% before its cap, DOCT 0.2%. A fall from here reaches BOCT’s buffer after 0.7% and DOCT’s after 14.9%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.

Every figure is ETFIQ’s own, from the issuer’s published outcome-period terms. A buffer ETF holds FLEX options on its reference index rather than shares, so there is no holdings overlap between two of them to report.

Performance, window by window

	Total return		Gap to the reference
Window	BOCT	DOCT	BOCT	DOCT
3 months	+4.6%	+3.2%	+1.0 pts	−0.4 pts
6 months	+14.8%	+10.3%	−3.2 pts	−7.7 pts
1 year	+14.3%	+11.2%	−1.9 pts	−5.1 pts
3 years	+58.1%	+41.0%	−31.2 pts	−48.3 pts

BOCT and DOCT over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →

On the same fields

BOCT

Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - Oct · Absorbs the first 9% of loss on SPY and caps the gain at 20.2%, over a period ending Sep 30, 2027

DOCT

FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - October · Absorbs losses from 5.0% to 30.0% on SPY and caps the gain at 11.7%, over a period ending Oct 16, 2026

Issuer Innovator First Trust

Reference index SPY SPY

Buffer 9% 5% to 30%

Outcome period Sep 30, 2026 to Sep 30, 2027 Oct 20, 2025 to Oct 16, 2026

Days left 363 14

Starting cap +20.2% +11.7%

Can still gain 19.4% 0.2%

Fall before buffer 0.7% 14.9%

Protection left, index points 9.0% of 9.0% 25.0% of 25.0%

Index return this period +0.9% +15.8%

Fund return this period +0.7% +10.7%

State today Open At cap

Expense ratio 0.79% 0.85%

Net assets $292m $400m

BOCT and DOCT on the same fields, as of Oct 2, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

BOCT in plain words

From its price on Oct 2, 2026, the fund can gain about 19.4% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 0.7% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.9% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 9.0% of the 9.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 363 days remained on Oct 2, 2026. On Sep 30, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.

DOCT in plain words

SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +11.7% for the period on Oct 2, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 0.2% as the period runs out. The fund's price can fall 14.9% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 18.0% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 25.0% of the 25.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 14 days remained on Oct 2, 2026. On Oct 16, 2026 the period ends and a new cap is set.

Questions people ask

Which has more room to gain, BOCT or DOCT?: From their prices on Oct 2, 2026, BOCT can gain about 19.4% before its cap and DOCT about 0.2%, so BOCT has more room left this period.
Which resets first, BOCT or DOCT?: BOCT ends its outcome period on Sep 30, 2027 and DOCT on Oct 16, 2026. A new cap is set the day after each.
Which is cheaper, BOCT or DOCT?: BOCT charges 0.79% a year and DOCT charges 0.85%, so BOCT is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

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SPY →BOCT on its own →DOCT on its own →How every figure is computed →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

BOCT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗Innovator page for BOCT ↗DOCT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗First Trust page for DOCT ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page

ETFIQ, BOCT against DOCT, data as of Oct 2, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/boct-vs-doct

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology.