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Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab: the lowest-fee S&P 500 funds in 2026

A side-by-side comparison of the lowest-expense-ratio S&P 500 funds and ETFs available in 2026, ranked by cost

Index investing rests on a single claim: beating the market consistently is hard, so the surest edge an ordinary investor has is paying as little as possible to own it. That claim has never been cheaper to act on. The cheapest S&P 500 index funds now charge so little that the distance between the priciest and the least expensive option reads as a rounding error on a small balance and as real money on a large one. A fund charging 0.03% costs $3 a year on a $10,000 position. A fund charging 0.20% costs $20. Multiply that spread across a growing balance and a few decades of compounding, and cost becomes the most closely examined line on any fund fact sheet.

Investors have so many near-identical choices in 2026 because of a fee war that escalated when Fidelity launched its first zero-expense-ratio index funds in 2018. Vanguard, Schwab, BlackRock $BLK's iShares, and State Street $STT have all driven costs down on their flagship index products in the years since. What each of them sells is the same basic instrument: a portfolio holding the 500 companies in the S&P 500, weighted by market value, with little trading and little discretion involved. Because the underlying holdings barely differ from one provider to the next, the expense ratio does most of the work separating these funds over a long holding period.

Cost is not the only variable. Some of these products are mutual funds that price once a day at net asset value, which suits automatic payroll contributions and workplace retirement plans. Others are exchange-traded funds that trade continuously, can be moved between brokerages without being sold, and tend to pass along fewer taxable capital gains. A few funds marketed as fee-free do not track the S&P 500 at all, but a custom benchmark that resembles it.

The list that follows ranks the lowest-cost S&P 500 trackers available this year by what they charge, with mutual funds and ETFs side by side. It also lays out the structural details that decide which one fits a given account.

Fidelity 500 Index Fund (FXAIX)

Fidelity 500 Index Fund, ticker FXAIX, charges an expense ratio of 0.015%, which works out to $1.50 a year on a $10,000 position and makes it the least expensive true S&P 500 tracker in mutual fund form. Fidelity has held that price for years, pricing its index lineup to compete head-on with Vanguard and Schwab for retirement money.

The fund carries no minimum investment in standard Fidelity brokerage and retirement accounts, so it is as open to someone making a first paycheck contribution as to someone rolling in a six-figure balance. Index mutual funds once required entry amounts in the thousands of dollars, and dropping that floor was a pricing decision aimed at new savers.

FXAIX tracks the S&P 500 itself. Holdings and sector weights follow the index closely, and what little variance exists comes from cash balances and the cost of running the fund rather than from a manager picking which companies look attractive.

As a mutual fund rather than an exchange-traded fund, FXAIX prices once daily at net asset value after the market closes. An order entered at 11 a.m. and one entered at 3 p.m. receive the identical price. That distinction rarely matters to an investor contributing every two weeks and holding for 30 years. It matters to anyone who wants limit orders, intraday execution, or the ability to transfer the position to another brokerage without selling, since mutual funds do not move cleanly between fund families.

Workplace plans explain much of the fund's size. Fidelity is one of the largest 401(k) recordkeepers in the U.S., and FXAIX sits on a large share of those plan menus as the default large-cap index choice, which has made it a common core holding for American retirement savers who never chose it from a shelf of competitors.

For an investor already holding a Fidelity account who wants the index itself rather than a similar-looking benchmark, there is no cheaper way to own the 500.

Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund (SWPPX)

Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund, ticker SWPPX, charges an expense ratio of 0.02% — $2 annually on a $10,000 balance. That sits half a basis point above the cheapest S&P 500 mutual fund available and well under what actively managed large-cap funds charge for exposure to the same set of companies.

The fund has no minimum initial investment. Schwab removed minimums across its index mutual fund lineup, lowering an entry barrier that once kept these products out of reach for someone opening an account with a few hundred dollars. A position can start at any amount and grow through small, repeated contributions.

SWPPX tracks the S&P 500 directly. Its holdings shift when S&P Dow Jones Indices adds or removes a company or adjusts for spin-offs and other corporate actions, not when a manager forms a view on a stock. Turnover stays low as a result. For an investor holding the fund in a taxable brokerage account, that matters: index mutual funds with little trading activity generally pass through smaller capital gains distributions than funds whose managers reshuffle positions throughout the year.

Pricing follows mutual fund mechanics. The fund strikes one net asset value after U.S. markets close, and every order placed during the session fills at that evening's figure rather than at a live quote. There is no limit order, no intraday exit and no bid-ask spread to account for. The format fits an investor contributing on a........

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