VXUS vs VIGI: Which ETF Is Better in 2026?

What each is for. VXUS tracks FTSE Global All Cap ex US and VIGI tracks an index of non-US companies with a record of raising their dividends. 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. VXUS yields about ~2.3% and VIGI about 2.21% (October 2026). VXUS pays more income, which matters if you are drawing from the portfolio; the other leans toward price growth.

Cost. 0.05% vs 0.07% ($5 vs $7 on $10,000 a year).

The label is the same; the portfolio is not. Their top holdings overlap about 3% by weight (1 shared names: RY). They share a theme but hold largely different names, so they are more complementary than interchangeable.

Overlap reflects top holdings by weight (an approximation of full-fund overlap), as of October 2026. Verify full holdings with each issuer.

VXUS tracks FTSE Global All Cap ex US, and VIGI tracks an index of non-US companies with a record of raising their dividends. 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, VXUS is market-cap-weighted and VIGI is growth-screened (a factor tilt). That difference in method changes which companies get the most weight, even where the two funds hold many of the same names.

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.

VXUS is the cheaper fund at 0.05% versus 0.07%, a gap of about $2 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, VXUS holds about ~$649 billion (all share classes) and VIGI about $9.2B. 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. VXUS currently pays the higher dividend yield (~2.3% versus 2.21%), which shifts more of its return into cash today.

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 VXUS, with its higher ~2.3% yield, 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 VXUS and VIGI, it is with what you already hold. ETF redundancy is invisible without looking through to the underlying holdings: you can already own most of VXUS 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 VXUS or VIGI 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.

Tracks the FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index, which covers roughly 8,500 stocks across developed and emerging markets outside the US. It is the mirror image of VTI (total US market): together VTI plus VXUS equals VT, the whole world. The standard single-ticker way to add international exposure to a US core.

Full VXUS guide

VIGI selects non-US companies with a history of increasing their dividends, which is a very different screen from selecting companies that pay the most. The result is a fund labelled for dividends that yields 2.21%, below what plenty of unscreened international funds pay, and one Morningstar classifies as foreign large growth rather than value. Financials dominate at 30%, with Mitsubishi UFJ at 4.7%, Royal Bank of Canada at 4.6% and Toronto-Dominion at 3.5% among the largest positions. Industrials are 17%, healthcare 14% and technology 14%. The fee is 0.07% and assets are $9.2B. As of the 2026-10-16 close at $97.23, the price was up 5.9% for the year to date and 7.6% over twelve months.

Full VIGI 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 VXUS and VIGI guides.

Approximate as of October 2026; verify with each issuer.

VXUS and VIGI 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.

Both funds lean on TSM, so understanding that one company explains a lot of what drives either ETF.