SPY vs VGT: which ETF won each year?

Yearly returns side by side, one winner per year — dividends included, priced as you'd actually buy them.

SPY tracks the S&P 500 IndexVGT tracks the MSCI US IMI Information Technology 25/50 Index

What did the last 10 years do to $10,000?

You invest $10,000 at the start of the window and touch nothing — dividends reinvested, the running year not counted.

SPY turned it into
$39,466
+14.72% per year on average · 20162025
VGT turned it into
$76,464
+22.56% per year on average · 20162025
Difference
−$36,999
VGT made more of the same money

SPY vs VGT, year by year

Calendar-year total returns (dividends included) side by side, and who took the crown each year. A dash means the fund did not exist yet.

Years compared
23
where both funds were trading
SPY won
9
years
VGT won
14
years
YearSPYVGTWinner
2026 (so far)+10.09%+27.13%VGT
2025+17.72%+21.77%VGT
2024+24.89%+29.30%VGT
2023+26.18%+52.66%VGT
2022-18.18%-29.70%SPY
2021+28.73%+30.45%VGT
2020+18.33%+46.04%VGT
2019+31.22%+48.62%VGT
2018-4.57%+2.46%VGT
2017+21.71%+37.08%VGT
2016+12.00%+13.77%VGT
2015+1.23%+5.05%VGT
2014+13.46%+16.69%VGT
2013+32.31%+30.97%SPY
2012+15.99%+13.96%SPY
2011+1.89%+0.54%SPY
2010+15.06%+12.78%SPY
2009+26.35%+61.89%VGT
2008-36.80%-42.82%SPY
2007+5.15%+14.78%VGT
2006+15.85%+8.85%SPY
2005+4.83%+3.00%SPY
2004+10.70%-2.86%SPY
2003+28.18%
2002-21.58%
2001-11.76%
2000-9.74%
1999+20.39%
1998+28.69%
1997+33.47%
1996+22.50%
1995+38.05%
1994+0.40%
1993+8.71%

SPY vs VGT in plain words

SPY tracks the S&P 500 Index while VGT follows the MSCI US IMI Information Technology 25/50 Index, so they own different slices of the market and their years can look very different. SPY charges 0.0945% a year in running costs and VGT charges 0.09% — VGT is the cheaper fund to hold.

Both funds distribute: dividends land in your account as cash instead of being reinvested automatically. Across the 23 calendar years both funds were trading, SPY finished the year ahead 9 times and VGT 14 times. $10,000 invested at the start of 2016 was worth $39,466 in SPY versus $76,464 in VGT by the end of 2025, dividends reinvested.

Fund facts: SPY vs VGT

FactSPYVGT
FundSPDR S&P 500 ETF TrustVanguard Information Technology ETF
TracksS&P 500 IndexMSCI US IMI Information Technology 25/50 Index
Yearly cost (TER)0.0945%0.09%
DividendsDistributing — dividends paid outDistributing — dividends paid out
Launched22 Jan 199326 Jan 2004

Frequently asked

Is SPY or VGT better?

Across the 23 calendar years both funds were trading, SPY finished the year ahead 9 times and VGT 14 times. $10,000 invested at the start of 2016 was worth $39,466 in SPY versus $76,464 in VGT by the end of 2025, dividends reinvested. Past returns don't promise future ones — but this is what actually happened.

What is the difference between SPY and VGT?

SPY tracks the S&P 500 Index while VGT follows the MSCI US IMI Information Technology 25/50 Index, so they own different slices of the market and their years can look very different. SPY charges 0.0945% a year in running costs and VGT charges 0.09% — VGT is the cheaper fund to hold. Both funds distribute: dividends land in your account as cash instead of being reinvested automatically.

What would $10,000 in SPY have become?

$10,000 invested in SPY at the start of 2016 grew to $39,466 by the end of 2025, with dividends reinvested — an average of 14.7% per year.

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