Which paid more, SPYI or TSLY?

Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, SPYI paid 12.2% of its starting price in cash and TSLY paid 55.9%, so TSLY paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.

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

With every distribution reinvested, SPYI returned +17.5% and TSLY returned +7.7% over the year to Sep 4, 2026, so SPYI returned more.

Which is cheaper, SPYI or TSLY?

SPYI charges 0.68% a year and TSLY charges 1.07%, so SPYI 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.

SPYI vs TSLY

Name: ETFIQ comparison of SPYI and TSLY
Creator: ETFIQ

NEOS S&P 500(R) High Income ETF and YieldMax(R) TSLA Option Income Strategy ETF, side by side on the income desk.

Open the live comparison on ETFIQ

SPYI and TSLY on the income desk fields, as of Sep 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	SPYI NEOS S&P 500(R) High Income ETF	TSLY YieldMax(R) TSLA Option Income Strategy ETF
Issuer	NEOS	YieldMax
Strategy	covered call	synthetic covered call
Benchmark	S&P 500 (SPY)	Tesla (TSLA)
Pays	monthly	weekly
Payout rate, annualised	12.1%	48.5%
Expense ratio	0.68%	1.07%
Cash paid, 1 year	12.2%	55.9%
Price change, 1 year	+4.2%	−41.6%
Total return, 1 year	+17.5%	+7.7%
Benchmark return, 1 year	+20.0%	+4.6%
Ahead or behind	−2.5 pts	+3.1 pts
Return of capital, latest estimate	93%	36%
Age	1466 days	1381 days

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).

TSLY in plain words

Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, TSLY paid 55.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 41.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +7.7%. Tesla (TSLA) returned +4.6% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 3.1 pts. At its price on Sep 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualises to 48.5%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 36% of the distribution paid Sep 4, 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, SPYI or TSLY?: Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, SPYI paid 12.2% of its starting price in cash and TSLY paid 55.9%, so TSLY paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
Which returned more once distributions are counted, SPYI or TSLY?: With every distribution reinvested, SPYI returned +17.5% and TSLY returned +7.7% over the year to Sep 4, 2026, so SPYI returned more.
Which is cheaper, SPYI or TSLY?: SPYI charges 0.68% a year and TSLY charges 1.07%, so SPYI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

Cite this page. ETFIQ, SPYI against TSLY, data as of Sep 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/SPYI-TSLY.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