ETF cost of ownership calculator
Compare two funds on what they cost to own. Add each fund's yearly fee, tracking difference, trading spread and dealing fee, plus an optional regular top-up, and see which is cheaper over the years you plan to hold.
ETF cost of ownership calculator
An illustrative long-run return, the same for both funds. It is a number you pick, not a forecast.
Fund A
How far the fund drifts from its index after costs. Positive means it lagged the index, an extra cost on top of the fee. Negative means it beat the index, a bonus that offsets the fee. You will find it on a fund factsheet or a screener like justETF, or leave it at 0 if you do not know.
Fund B
How far the fund drifts from its index after costs. Positive means it lagged the index, an extra cost on top of the fee. Negative means it beat the index, a bonus that offsets the fee. You will find it on a fund factsheet or a screener like justETF, or leave it at 0 if you do not know.
Advanced: top-ups, spread and dealing fees
An amount you add every period, invested at the start of each period. Set how often below. Leave at 0 for a one-off lump sum.
Fund A
Fund B
The bid-ask spread, the gap between a fund's buy and sell price. You cross half of it each time you buy and half again when you sell. Tiny on big, liquid funds, wider on niche ones. Leave at 0 to ignore it.
A flat fee your broker charges on each buy and on the final sale. Some funds trade free on a savings plan; others cost a few euros a go. On small, frequent top-ups this adds up fast. Leave at 0 if your trades are free.
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Fund A
Modelled yearly cost
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Value at the end
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Given up to costs
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Fund B
Modelled yearly cost
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Value at the end
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Given up to costs
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This is an illustration using the return you entered, not a forecast or a promise of any return.
Investment values can fall as well as rise, and you could get back less than you put in.
What you actually keep depends on each fund's real performance and charges.
What this tool does
It compares what two funds cost you to own, not just their advertised fees. The cheapest sticker is not always the cheapest fund, because a small yearly cost compounds over the years you hold. Enter each fund's fee, tracking difference, trading spread and dealing fee, set your amount, any regular top-up and how often you invest, and see the gap in euros at the end.
How it works
Each fund's total yearly cost is its TER plus its tracking difference. The flat figure (amount times cost) is the year-one cash cost on a stake that never grows, a deliberate lower bound. The headline gap grows your stake, plus any regular top-up, at the return you set, once before costs and once after each fund's cost, spread and dealing fee, then compares the two end values. It compounds at the cadence you pick (monthly, quarterly or yearly), so a top-up bought more often is charged its dealing fee more often. It is not a pot forecast; it is a cost comparison.
Tracking difference is signed: a positive value is an extra cost on top of the fee, a negative value is a bonus that can more than cover the fee, which is why a fund with a higher fee can still be the cheaper fund to own. The trading spread, the small gap between a fund's buy and sell price, is charged as roughly half the spread each time you buy in and half again when you finally sell; it stays tiny on big, liquid funds. The dealing fee is a flat cash charge on each purchase and once on the final sale, so a top-up no bigger than the fee buys nothing at all, and a small one is mostly swallowed by it, which is why small, frequent top-ups on a fund that charges per trade hurt the most. The typical-active and typical-index preset figures are EU-wide averages from ESMA's 2025 costs report, editable and not tied to any product. Currency conversion is not modelled.
When to use it
Reach for it when you are torn between two funds tracking the same index and tempted by the lower headline fee, or when you want to see what a typical active fund costs against a typical index fund over a real holding period. It is a comparison of two funds you describe, not a recommendation of either.
This calculator gives educational guidance, not financial advice. It compares two illustrative funds you describe and names no product, provider, or index. It covers the yearly fee, the tracking difference, an optional trading spread, an optional regular top-up and a per-fund dealing fee charged on each buy and the final sale; it does not model currency conversion. For decisions about your own money, talk to a regulated adviser in your market.