VOO vs VTI

What each fund tracks

VOO tracks the S&P 500, an index of roughly 500 large U.S. companies. VTI tracks the CRSP US Total Market Index, a much broader benchmark spanning large-, mid-, small-, and micro-cap U.S. companies — thousands of holdings in total, rather than a few hundred. Both are managed by Vanguard and follow the same low-cost, index-tracking philosophy; the difference is entirely in how wide a slice of the market each one covers.

What's actually different

Because VTI includes smaller companies that VOO leaves out, VTI can behave slightly differently from VOO in periods where small- and mid-cap stocks move differently from large-cap stocks — sometimes better, sometimes worse, since neither pattern holds consistently over time. Large-cap companies still make up the majority of VTI's value, since both funds weight holdings by market capitalization, so the two funds tend to move in the same general direction even when they don't move identically.

As of September 28, 2026, both funds charge the same 0.03% expense ratio — no cost gap here, so the entire difference is in breadth. VTI holds about 3,500 companies against VOO's roughly 516, close to 7x as many — that additional exposure is almost entirely small- and mid-cap companies VOO doesn't hold at all, not a change in how the large-cap portion behaves. Expense ratios can change over time; check current figures directly on Vanguard's site.

Which one fits your plan

Some investors prefer VOO's simplicity and focus on large, established companies. Others prefer VTI's broader coverage of the entire U.S. market in one fund, including smaller companies with room to grow. Some hold neither alone and combine a U.S. fund with international or bond exposure. There's no universally correct choice — this page is educational, not a recommendation.