QQQ vs QQQM: Which Should You Pick?
Same index, same holdings. QQQM charges 0.15% to QQQ's 0.18%; QQQ has 12x the volume. Why you should not switch an appreciated taxable position for 3bp.
Same issuer, same index, same holdings in the same weights. QQQM charges 0.15% and QQQ 0.18%, a gap that narrowed in December 2025 when QQQ converted from a 1999-era unit investment trust into an open-end fund and cut its fee from 0.20%. What is left is three basis points and a trading ecosystem.
Quick answer
QQQM if you are buying and holding. It costs three basis points less and tracked the Nasdaq-100 slightly more closely over every period Invesco publishes as of August 31, 2026. QQQ if you trade it or use its options, where twelve times the daily volume is worth something. Two cautions. Do not sell an appreciated QQQ position in a taxable account to save 0.03%: on a modeled $250,000 holding with a 60% gain, the tax runs to roughly $35,700 against $75 a year of saving. And do not use one to harvest a loss in the other, since one index and one issuer is the least defensible wash-sale pair there is.
| QQQ | QQQM | |
|---|---|---|
| Index | Nasdaq-100 | Nasdaq-100 |
| Expense ratio | 0.18% | 0.15% |
| Structure | Open-end since Dec 2025 | Open-end since launch |
| Inception | March 1999 | October 2020 |
| Net assets | $485.91b | $105.08b |
| NAV per share | $719.18 | $296.12 |
| 1-year NAV return | 26.31% | 26.39% |
| 5-year NAV return | 14.21% | 14.30% |
| 30-day avg volume | 30.7m shares/day | 2.6m shares/day |
| Median bid-ask | 0.00% | 0.01% |
Invesco fund pages read September 8, 2026. Net assets, NAV, volume and spread as of September 4, 2026; top-ten QQQ September 6, QQQM September 4; standardized returns as of August 31, 2026.
The one real difference
Over the periods Invesco publishes, the index returned 26.61% on one year and 14.46% annualized over five. QQQ landed at 26.31% and 14.21%, QQQM at 26.39% and 14.30%. The cheaper fund tracked closer at every period, which is the direction you would expect. Be careful with the size of it: the gap between the two funds runs wider than the three basis points of fee, and a standardized return table is not a clean tracking measurement.
QQQM’s lower share price is not a reason to prefer it. Share price is assets divided by shares issued; $10,000 buys the same slice of the same portfolio either way.
Who should pick which
Lean QQQM if you
- Are contributing monthly and holding for years
- Are starting fresh, or buying inside an IRA
- Want the lower fee and the tighter tracking
Lean QQQ if you
- Trade it, or use its options market
- Move institutional size and care about depth
- Already hold it in taxable with a large gain
Does this decision matter?
For new money, barely: three basis points is $3 a year per $10,000. For an existing taxable position it matters a great deal, in the other direction. Enter your numbers and see how long the fee saving takes to repay the tax.
The full reasoning
The complete comparison, including what changed in December 2025, why these two are the worst possible tax-loss harvesting pair, and whether the Nasdaq-100 belongs in a portfolio at all, is in QQQ vs. QQQM. The argument about the index itself is Why I Avoid QQQ, and the leveraged version of the same index is TQQQ vs. QQQ.
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