VTIAX vs. FTIHX: Vanguard Total International or Fidelity Total International?
Figures last verified October 31, 2026
The two heavyweight total-international index funds. Both span developed and emerging markets including small caps; remarkably, Fidelity's is the cheaper one.
| VTIAX | FTIHX | |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares | Fidelity Total International Index Fund |
| Family | Vanguard | Fidelity |
| Category | International | International |
| Type | Index | Index |
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.06% |
| Cost per $10k/yr | $9 | $6 |
| Minimum | $3,000 | $0 |
| Strategy | Tracks the FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index — about 8,500 stocks across developed and emerging markets outside the United States. | Tracks the MSCI ACWI ex USA Investable Market Index — about 5,000 developed and emerging market stocks including small caps. |
FTIHX (0.06%, no minimum) narrowly beats VTIAX (0.09%, $3,000) on cost and coverage is equivalent. A genuine near-tie — let your brokerage break it. Either gives you the whole world outside the US in one line.
About VTIAX
Whether to own international stocks at all is one of the few arguments that still divides otherwise-agreeing index investors. Bogle himself was famously lukewarm on the idea; Vanguard's own target-date funds put roughly 40% of equities abroad. If you land on the 'yes' side, VTIAX is the cleanest single answer: every developed and emerging market outside the US, large caps through small, in one fund at 0.09%.
About FTIHX
FTIHX is the full international meal: developed markets, emerging markets, and — unlike the free FZILX — international small caps, roughly 5,000 stocks in all, for 0.06% with no minimum. It's Fidelity's true equivalent of VTIAX, and it's actually cheaper than Vanguard's fund, a sentence that still feels strange to type.
Whichever you pick, the principle is the same one that runs through this whole site: minimize cost, hold for decades, ignore the noise. See how both stack up against the field in our best index funds by category, or run the numbers yourself with the expense ratio calculator.
Expense ratios and minimums drawn from fund provider documentation; last verified October 31, 2026. Editorial opinion, not investment advice. Confirm figures against the official prospectus before investing.