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Yields are each fund's last 12 months of real payments divided by today's price — computed live, not quoted from a fact sheet.
Both funds bought with $50 every month over the identical period (starting when the younger fund, QQQI, launched in early 2024), every payout reinvested, before taxes. Past performance doesn't predict the future — but this is the honest, like-for-like comparison.
| Year | QYLD / share | QQQI / share |
|---|
Per-share dollars aren't directly comparable between two different funds — what matters is each fund's own trend line. Full payment-by-payment charts: QYLD history · QQQI history.
| QYLD | QQQI | |
|---|---|---|
| Built on | Nasdaq-100 | Nasdaq-100 |
| Run by | Global X | NEOS |
| Typical yield | ~11–12% | ~14% |
| How the income is made | At-the-money index calls on essentially the whole portfolio | Slightly out-of-the-money index calls, actively managed and tax-optimized |
| Payout behavior | Capped at 1% of NAV per month — steady, zero growth by design | Steady band, slightly rising |
| Tax character | Often substantial return of capital | Largely return of capital by design — tax deferred in taxable accounts |
| Expense ratio | ~0.60% | ~0.68% |
| Paying since | 2014 | 2024 |
The Short Answer
This is a generational matchup. QYLD practically invented the covered-call income ETF: a decade-plus of monthly checks, produced by the bluntest possible method — sell all the upside, every month, no exceptions. QQQI is what the category learned in the ten years since: leave a little upside on the table, manage the options actively, and engineer the taxes. The result is a higher stated rate and more growth participation from the newcomer — with the important caveat that QYLD's record includes a real bear market and QQQI's does not yet.
Total Coverage vs. Breathing Room
The design gap is one sentence wide: QYLD writes its calls at the money on essentially the whole portfolio, while QQQI writes slightly out of the money. At-the-money calls collect the fattest premiums but surrender every dollar of a rally — which is why QYLD's share price has drifted downward across a decade in which the Nasdaq multiplied. Out-of-the-money calls collect a bit less premium and keep the first few percent of each rally — a small difference monthly that compounds into a large one over years. The $50-a-month race above plays both strategies over their shared window with real prices and reinvested payouts.
The Payout Cap Nobody Reads About
QYLD's distributions follow a written policy: each month it pays the lower of half the premium collected or 1% of the fund's net asset value. That cap makes the checks admirably predictable — and quietly ties them to the share price, so as NAV grinds down, the dollar payouts drift with it. QQQI targets a high steady rate without that explicit ceiling. Neither approach makes income "safe": both funds own the Nasdaq's downside in full. The year-by-year table above shows each fund's own trend honestly.
Which One Fits You?
Choose QYLD if you value the longest track record in the category and a payout policy with no surprises, and you genuinely do not care about growth. Choose QQQI if you want a higher rate, some rally participation, and the tax engineering — priced with a slightly higher fee and a shorter history. See each fund's complete record on its history page (QYLD · QQQI), the covered-call mechanics in our plain-English guide, and the JPMorgan alternative in QQQI vs. JEPQ.
Model Either Fund With Your Numbers
Take the live yields above into the full calculator — taxes, reinvestment toggles, and the year-by-year snowball chart.
Use the Free Dividend CalculatorMore head-to-heads: JEPI vs JEPQ · QQQI vs JEPQ · SPYI vs JEPI · SCHD vs JEPI — or see every fund on the dividend history hub.