GLD vs SLV: Which ETF Is Better in 2026?

What each is for. GLD tracks LBMA Gold Price (physical gold) and SLV tracks LBMA Silver Price (physical silver). These play different roles in a portfolio, so the useful question is what job you are hiring each for, not which has the better recent chart.

Income. GLD yields about 0% (no dividend) and SLV about 0% (no dividend) (mid-2026). The yields are close.

Cost. 0.40% vs 0.50% ($40 vs $50 on $10,000 a year).

GLD tracks LBMA Gold Price (physical gold), and SLV tracks LBMA Silver Price (physical silver). Because they follow different benchmarks, the two funds screen and weight their holdings differently, and that is what produces any gap in exposure, concentration, and return between them.

On construction, GLD is market-cap-weighted and SLV is market-cap-weighted. They share a weighting approach, so any difference comes from the underlying index rather than the method.

So these two are answering different questions about your portfolio, which is why the choice is usually how much of each to hold rather than one instead of the other.

GLD is the cheaper fund at 0.40% versus 0.50%, a gap of about $10 a year on a $10,000 holding. Because these funds hold different things, the cheaper fee is only one input; the exposure difference usually matters more than the cost gap.

On scale, GLD holds about ~$150.4 billion and SLV about ~$36.8 billion. Larger funds generally trade at tighter bid-ask spreads and carry deeper options markets, which matters if you trade actively or in size; for buy-and-hold investors it rarely changes the outcome. Both funds yield about the same (0% (no dividend) versus 0% (no dividend)).

These are complements, not rivals, so most investors hold both in different roles rather than choosing one. The broader or steadier fund typically works as a larger core position, while the narrower or higher-income fund suits a smaller satellite role for investors who specifically want that income or exposure. An income-focused or drawdown-sensitive investor weights toward the higher-yield side; a growth-focused, long-horizon investor weights toward the broader one.

These are descriptive profiles, not recommendations. What fits you depends on your goals, horizon, and what you already own. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

The overlap that decides most ETF purchases is not between GLD and SLV, it is with what you already hold. ETF redundancy is invisible without looking through to the underlying holdings: you can already own most of GLD inside a broad fund like an S&P 500 or total-market ETF and not realize it.

This is the part a generic comparison cannot answer, because it depends on your account. Connect your brokerage and Walnut looks through your funds to show your real, combined exposure, flags how much of GLD or SLV you already own elsewhere, and tells you whether adding either just buys the same companies twice, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Each share represents a claim on physical gold held in vaults, so the price tracks spot gold rather than any company or dividend. It is used as an inflation and crisis hedge and a diversifier against stocks. It pays no income and charges a 0.40% fee.

Full GLD guide

Holds physical silver bullion, so shares track the spot silver price. Silver is both a precious metal and an industrial input (solar, electronics), which makes it more volatile than gold and more tied to the economic cycle. It pays no income and charges a 0.50% fee.

Full SLV guide

These are complements, not rivals. Most investors hold the broader or lower-risk fund as a larger core and use the narrower or higher-yield one as a smaller satellite sized to the role they want it to play, rather than picking one and dropping the other. Decide the split deliberately.

For the full detail, see the GLD and SLV guides.

Approximate as of mid-2026; verify with each issuer.

State Street SPDR launched the first US ETF and runs many sector funds. iShares (BlackRock) is the largest ETF issuer, with deep liquidity across its range.

GLD and SLV are different exposures, so the question is how much of each, not which is better. Either way, the decisive check is overlap with your real portfolio. Walnut can show that before you buy. It is not an investment adviser.