Which paid more, QQQI or SPYI?

Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, QQQI paid 14.4% of its starting price in cash and SPYI paid 12.2%, so QQQI paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.

Which returned more once distributions are counted, QQQI or SPYI?

With every distribution reinvested, QQQI returned +18.7% and SPYI returned +17.5% over the year to Sep 4, 2026, so QQQI returned more.

Which is cheaper, QQQI or SPYI?

QQQI charges 0.68% a year and SPYI charges 0.68%, so QQQI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Sep 4, 2026. Every figure is the income desk's own, on published data.

QQQI vs SPYI

Name: ETFIQ comparison of QQQI and SPYI
Creator: ETFIQ

NEOS Nasdaq-100(R) High Income ETF and NEOS S&P 500(R) High Income ETF, side by side on the income desk.

Open the live comparison on ETFIQ

QQQI and SPYI on the income desk fields, as of Sep 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	QQQI NEOS Nasdaq-100(R) High Income ETF	SPYI NEOS S&P 500(R) High Income ETF
Issuer	NEOS	NEOS
Strategy	covered call	covered call
Benchmark	Nasdaq-100 (QQQ)	S&P 500 (SPY)
Pays	monthly	monthly
Payout rate, annualised	14.3%	12.1%
Expense ratio	0.68%	0.68%
Cash paid, 1 year	14.4%	12.2%
Price change, 1 year	+3.1%	+4.2%
Total return, 1 year	+18.7%	+17.5%
Benchmark return, 1 year	+25.6%	+20.0%
Ahead or behind	−6.9 pts	−2.5 pts
Return of capital, latest estimate	98%	93%
Age	948 days	1466 days

QQQI in plain words

Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, QQQI paid 14.4% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 3.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +18.7%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +25.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 6.9 pts. At its price on Sep 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualises to 14.3%, paid monthly. NEOS estimates that 98% of the distribution paid Jun 18, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterisation rather than a measure of erosion).

SPYI in plain words

Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, SPYI paid 12.2% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 4.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +17.5%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +20.0% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 2.5 pts. At its price on Sep 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualises to 12.1%, paid monthly. NEOS estimates that 93% of the distribution paid Jun 18, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterisation rather than a measure of erosion).

Questions people ask

Which paid more, QQQI or SPYI?: Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, QQQI paid 14.4% of its starting price in cash and SPYI paid 12.2%, so QQQI paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
Which returned more once distributions are counted, QQQI or SPYI?: With every distribution reinvested, QQQI returned +18.7% and SPYI returned +17.5% over the year to Sep 4, 2026, so QQQI returned more.
Which is cheaper, QQQI or SPYI?: QQQI charges 0.68% a year and SPYI charges 0.68%, so QQQI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

Cite this page. ETFIQ, QQQI against SPYI, data as of Sep 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/QQQI-SPYI.html Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

ETFIQ is an independent publisher of exchange-traded fund data. It is not a fund issuer, broker-dealer or investment adviser, and it makes no recommendations; every figure here is stated arithmetic on published data. Standards and sources