GLD vs VUG: Which ETF Is Better in 2026?
A metric-by-metric comparison of SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF Shares (VUG) — both Commodities / US Large Cap Growth funds — using ETFValuer's daily-updated rankings.
Educational content — not financial advice. Data as of July 25, 2026. ~5 minute read.
The Verdict
GLD is a commodity fund, which behaves differently from almost everything else in a portfolio: it produces no earnings, pays no yield from operations, and its price is driven by supply, demand and currency rather than corporate profits. Comparing it to VUG is really a question about whether you want that non-correlated exposure at all.
ETFValuer's model scores VUG at 62.5 (Grade C) and GLD at 60.7 (Grade C), but read that gap carefully: the score blends return, risk-adjusted performance, cost and drawdown across a single ranking of all funds, so an asset class with structurally lower expected returns will always score below one with higher returns and higher risk. It is a useful comparison between US Large Cap Growth funds and between Commodities funds — not a verdict that one of these two belongs in your portfolio and the other doesn't. Most investors hold both, in a ratio set by how long they have to recover from a bad year.
Head-to-Head: Every Metric
| GLD | VUG | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Commodities | US Large Cap Growth |
| Expense ratio | 0.40% | 0.03% |
| Fund size (AUM) | $130.1B | $379.2B |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | 1.84% |
| 1-year return | +19.13% | +11.69% |
| 3-year return | +103.95% | +73.86% |
| Volatility | 28.09% | 17.46% |
| Max drawdown | -26.40% | -22.85% |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.50 | 0.38 |
| ETFValuer score | 60.7 | 62.5 |
| Grade | C | C |
| Overall rank | #233 | #201 |
Bold marks the better value in each row. "Better" is directional only (e.g. lower cost, higher return) — it isn't a recommendation by itself. See the full methodology.
Cost
VUG is the cheaper fund, charging 0.03% a year versus 0.40% for GLD — a gap of 0.37 percentage points (about $37.00/year on a $10,000 position) that compounds meaningfully over a multi-decade holding period. Because these funds do different jobs, though, cost alone shouldn't decide it — a cheaper fund that gives you the wrong exposure is a false economy. See the ETF Fee Calculator for the exact dollar impact at your investment size and horizon.
What GLD's Fees Cost You
GLD charges an expense ratio of 0.40% a year, deducted automatically from the fund's value. Small percentages compound into real money — adjust the figures below to see the impact on your own numbers.
Assumes a constant gross return and no additional contributions — a simplification, but it isolates exactly what the expense ratio costs. Try the full fee calculator to model contributions and compare any two funds.
Performance & Risk
Over the trailing 3 years, GLD returned +103.95% versus +73.86% for VUG — a gap of about 30.1 percentage points. On risk, VUG has held up better historically, with a shallower max drawdown (-22.85% vs. -26.40%). GLD currently has the better risk-adjusted return (Sharpe ratio of 0.50 vs. 0.38), meaning it delivered more return per unit of volatility taken on. Commodity returns arrive in bursts rather than compounding steadily, so a three-year window can flatter or bury them depending entirely on where the cycle started.
How Closely Do They Track Each Other?
Over the last 3.0 years of daily returns (752 shared trading days), GLD and VUG show a very low correlation of 0.157 — essentially unrelated. These funds move largely on their own schedules. Combining them is a real diversification decision rather than a redundant one, which is the case where owning both can genuinely reduce portfolio volatility.
| Measure | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Daily return correlation | 0.157 | Very low — essentially unrelated |
| R-squared | 2.5% | 2.5% of GLD's daily moves are explained by VUG's |
| Tracking error (annualised) | 26.28% | Typical yearly spread between the two funds' returns |
| Annualised return over 3.0y | GLD +26.92% · VUG +20.75% | GLD ahead by 6.16 points a year |
Correlation alone understates how far these can drift. Across every rolling 12-month window in the period, GLD finished as much as +78.6 points ahead of VUG at the best extreme and -14.1 points at the worst — a 92.7-point spread between the best and worst year of relative performance. Two funds can correlate tightly day to day and still deliver very different outcomes over any single year you happen to hold them.
Calculated from daily total returns over the trailing 3-year window, recomputed every day this site refreshes. Correlation of 1.00 means the two funds moved in lockstep; 0.00 means their daily moves were unrelated.
Which One Should You Pick?
Lean GLD if…
- You care about return per unit of risk — its Sharpe ratio of 0.50 beats 0.38
- You weight recent results heavily — it returned 104.0% over 3 years against 73.9%
Lean VUG if…
- You want the lower running cost — 0.03% vs 0.40%, about $37 a year less on a $10,000 position
- Current income matters to you — it yields 1.84% against 0.00%
- It has been the calmer ride (17.5% volatility vs 28.1%) with a shallower worst-case fall (-22.9% vs -26.4%)
These two are not really substitutes, so "both, in some proportion" is often the right answer rather than picking one. Model the blend with the Portfolio Blender.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GLD or VUG better?
ETFValuer's model scores VUG at 62.5 (Grade C) and GLD at 60.7 (Grade C), but read that gap carefully: the score blends return, risk-adjusted performance, cost and drawdown across a single ranking of all funds, so an asset class with structurally lower expected returns will always score below one with higher returns and higher risk. It is a useful comparison between US Large Cap Growth funds and between Commodities funds — not a verdict that one of these two belongs in your portfolio and the other doesn't. Most investors hold both, in a ratio set by how long they have to recover from a bad year.
Which has the lower expense ratio, GLD or VUG?
VUG currently has the lower expense ratio (0.03% vs. 0.40%).
Can I hold both GLD and VUG?
Yes, and it may be worth doing. GLD and VUG correlate at only 0.16 over the past 3.0 years, so they behave differently enough that holding both is a genuine diversification decision rather than a redundant one. Size each to the role you want it to play.
Go deeper on either fund
Full daily-updated metrics, holdings context, and category peers.