Cloud computing ETF alternative to build your own cloud computing stocks index and backtest it against SKYY and WCLD
The biggest cloud fund keeps a fifth of its money in storage, networking and server makers, and Fidelity's held disk drive makers as its three largest positions. Pick the data, application, security and developer platforms you actually want, set the weights, and see how the basket would have done next to the funds and the S&P 500. Then buy it at your own broker.
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In short
A cloud computing ETF alternative is a basket of cloud stocks you weight yourself instead of taking a fund's rule. It matters because cloud funds own very different things. WisdomTree's WCLD held 96.8% in cloud software and platform companies in its June 30, 2026 filing, and Global X's CLOU held 90.8% on October 13. First Trust's SKYY, the largest fund at $3.6 billion, held 60.6%, with 20.0% in Pure Storage (now Everpure), Arista, Cisco, NetApp and Dell. Fidelity's FCLD held 29.8% in hardware and data centers. Building your own cloud computing stocks index means choosing that mix, backtesting it, and buying the stocks at a broker with no expense ratio.
Summed from each fund's published holdings and SEC filings
How much of each cloud computing ETF is actually cloud software?
Every holding sorted by what the company mainly sells. Black is cloud software and platforms: data, applications, security sold as a service, communications, commerce and developer clouds. Grey is the hyperscalers and diversified giants with a cloud arm, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Oracle and IBM. Green is hardware and data centers: storage, networking, servers, data center owners and telecom. Amber is everything else.
WisdomTree WCLD
96.8% cloud
Equal weight across 64 growth names, and no Microsoft, Amazon or Alphabet at all (June 30)
Global X CLOU
90.8% cloud
Snowflake 7.3% and Datadog 5.9%, both drifted above the 4% cap
First Trust SKYY
60.6% cloud
The biggest fund. Its largest holding is Everpure, the renamed Pure Storage
iShares IGV
55.9% cloud
A software fund, not a cloud fund: chip design tools, game makers and bitcoin miners fill 26% (June 30)
Fidelity FCLD
55.7% cloud
SanDisk, Western Digital and Seagate were its three largest holdings (June 30)
Start with SKYY, because it is where most of the money is. Its index scores each company by the kind of cloud business it runs, three points for infrastructure, two for platforms and one for software, and weights by that score. Infrastructure scores highest, so hardware and the hyperscalers rise to the top. On October 12 its largest holding was Everpure at 5.5%, which is Pure Storage under the name it took in January 2026, followed by DigitalOcean, Nutanix, Arista and Microsoft. Add it up and 16.5% of SKYY sat in Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, IBM and Oracle, and another 20.0% in Everpure, Arista, Cisco, HPE, Lumen, NetApp and Dell. That is a defensible reading of who builds the cloud. It is not the software fund most people picture.
Fidelity's FCLD goes further in the same direction. In its June 30 filing its three largest holdings were SanDisk at 6.2%, Western Digital at 5.3% and Seagate at 5.0%. Storage hardware as a whole was 21.0% of the fund, and with Equinix, Digital Realty and Hon Hai, hardware and data centers came to 29.8%. FCLD resets every quarter, so the mix may have moved since, but a cheap fee on a fund that is a third hardware buys a different thing from a cheap fee on a software fund.
WCLD and CLOU sit at the other end. WCLD's index takes only business cloud software companies growing revenue at least 15% a year when they join, then gives each an equal share, so 64 names sat between 1% and 3.3% each and no hyperscaler appeared at all. CLOU weights by market value with a 4% cap, which lets the leaders drift: Snowflake was 7.3% and Datadog 5.9% on October 13. IGV, the big iShares software fund many people use for cloud, held 26.0% in businesses that are neither cloud software nor cloud hardware, from Cadence and Synopsys to Electronic Arts, Take-Two and 3.5% in bitcoin miners and Strategy.
From each issuer's fund page, holdings file, prospectus and SEC filings
Which cloud computing ETF holds what, and how does each one pick its stocks?
| Fund | Expense ratio | Holdings | Assets | Rule | Largest positions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Trust Cloud Computing (SKYY) | 0.60% | 65 | $3.6 billion | ISE CTA Cloud Computing Index, weighted by a cloud score (infrastructure 3, platform 2, software 1 point), 4.5% cap, reset every quarter | Everpure (formerly Pure Storage) 5.5%, DigitalOcean 3.9%, Nutanix 3.6%, Arista 3.6%, Microsoft 3.5% |
| WisdomTree Cloud Computing (WCLD) | 0.45% | 64 | $245 million (June 30) | BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index, equal weight, business cloud software companies growing revenue at least 15% a year to enter, reset twice a year | DigitalOcean 3.3%, JFrog 3.2%, Palo Alto 3.0%, Datadog 3.0%, CrowdStrike 2.6% (June 30 filing) |
| Global X Cloud Computing (CLOU) | 0.68% | 38 | $417 million | Indxx Global Cloud Computing Index, market cap with a 4% cap on cloud companies and 2% on the big public clouds, reset twice a year | Snowflake 7.3%, Datadog 5.9%, Twilio 5.3%, Paycom 5.2%, Zscaler 4.9% |
| Fidelity Cloud Computing (FCLD) | 0.39% | 50 | $110 million (June 30) | Fidelity Cloud Computing Index, adjusted market cap, companies picked by revenue and a text score, reset every quarter | SanDisk 6.2%, Western Digital 5.3%, Seagate 5.0%, AppLovin 4.3%, Microsoft 4.2% (June 30 filing) |
| iShares Expanded Tech-Software (IGV) | 0.38% | 107 | $13.5 billion (June 30) | S&P North American Expanded Technology Software Index, market cap with an 8.5% single-stock cap | Palo Alto 10.4%, Microsoft 8.1%, Palantir 7.7%, CrowdStrike 7.3%, Oracle 6.3% (June 30 filing) |
The funds overlap less than their labels suggest. SKYY and WCLD shared 39 companies, but only about 40% of their weight once you take the smaller of each pair of weights. SKYY and CLOU shared 26 companies and about 33%, and CLOU and IGV just 17%. Those comparisons mix October holdings for SKYY and CLOU with June 30 filings for the other three, so read them as approximate. SKYY published a 0.07% median bid and ask spread and CLOU 0.14%; the WisdomTree, Fidelity and iShares pages could not be read for this comparison, so their spreads are not shown here.
Two funds are left out on purpose. The Themes Cloud Computing ETF (CLOD) exists but held about $2.5 million at the end of June, too small to trade without paying through the spread. SKYU and CLDL are leveraged funds that reset daily, which makes them trading tools rather than something to hold. Security companies sold as a service, such as Zscaler, CrowdStrike and Okta, sit in both the cloud funds and the security funds; our cybersecurity stocks index builder shows how the cyber funds treat the same names.
// The universe, six groups
Which stocks belong in a cloud computing stocks index?
Cloud companies earn from different budgets. Data and observability platforms are paid by usage, so they rise and fall with how much their customers compute. Business applications are sold per seat and follow headcount. Security sold as a service follows the number of users and devices. The share you give each group decides what your index actually rides on, and whether you add the hyperscalers at all is the biggest single choice.
1
Data and observability platforms
2
Business applications
3
Security sold as a service
4
Communications and commerce
5
Developer and infrastructure clouds
6
The big public clouds (optional sleeve)
Here is the part that matters if you already own an S&P 500 fund. The companies SKYY holds were 19.6% of SPY on October 12, and CLOU's were 16.9%, almost all of it Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, which SPY already gives you at 15.3% combined. Cloud software companies themselves were only 2.9% of SPY. Snowflake, Shopify, Zscaler, Cloudflare, MongoDB, HubSpot, Atlassian and Okta are not in the S&P 500 at all. So the software names are the part of a cloud fund that actually adds something to an index holding, and the hyperscaler slice mostly doubles what you own.
Cloud is easy to build from US listings. Apart from Sinch in Stockholm, Hon Hai in Taipei and a handful of small Chinese, Israeli and European listings, the funds' names trade in New York, and FCLD, with 5.7% outside the US, was the most global of the five. A US-listed cloud computing index of 15 to 25 names covers most of what WCLD and CLOU hold, and every name gets its own tax lot. Weighting is the next decision: by size, Salesforce and ServiceNow would dominate a software basket, so many people cap them or use an equal weight index, which is exactly what WCLD does. If the GPU clouds and the power behind them are the bet you want, the AI infrastructure stocks index builder covers CoreWeave, the data center owners and their suppliers directly.
From a view on cloud spending to a basket you can buy
How to build your own cloud computing stocks index in four steps
1
Decide what counts
Software only, or the hyperscalers and the storage and networking makers too? That one choice is most of the gap between WCLD and SKYY.
2
Fill the groups
Search the catalog of US-listed stocks, add 15 to 25 names across data, applications, security and developer platforms, and set equal, size or your own weights.
3
Backtest against the funds
Run it against the S&P 500, and build a one-line index of SKYY or WCLD to put a fund with years of history on the same chart.
4
Track it, then buy it
Follow the index daily against its benchmark, export the weights, and place the basket at your own broker when you are ready.
Cloud software has one of the most instructive histories to test against. SKYY dates from 2011 and WCLD and CLOU from 2019, so a basket can be run through the 2020 work-from-home rally, the 2021 peak and the 2022 bear market, when many high-growth software stocks fell 60% or more while the S&P 500 lost about a fifth. Then came the 2023 cost-cutting year, when customers trimmed cloud bills and usage-priced companies grew more slowly than seat-priced ones. Several names in today's funds are too young for the long window, so test the established companies over the full period and the newer ones over the short one, and look at the maximum drawdown before the return. Backtests are hypothetical and past returns do not predict future ones. If you cap the leaders, test a quarterly reset with the custom index rebalancing tool.
Three ways to own cloud stocks, compared honestly
Build your own cloud computing index vs a cloud computing ETF vs a basket broker
| Cloud computing ETF | Fidelity Basket Portfolios | Indexes, then your broker | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who decides what counts as cloud | The fund's index | You | You, and you can test it first |
| Yearly cost | 0.38% to 0.68% of the balance | $4.99 a month flat | From $24 a month for the software, billed yearly, plus your broker's cost |
| History you can test | Since 2011 for SKYY and 2019 for WCLD and CLOU | None | As far back as your youngest stock goes |
| Overlap with an S&P 500 fund | Up to 19.6% of SPY for SKYY's companies | Whatever you pick | Whatever you pick, and you can see it |
| Per-stock tax losses | No | Yes, done by you | Yes, at your broker |
| Where it falls short | You take the fund's answer on hardware and the hyperscalers | No way to test a design before buying | You place and rebalance the trades yourself |
The ETF wins when you want one ticker and no upkeep. If that is the choice, measure the fee against what you are buying, not against the label. Per $100 of cloud software exposure, WCLD cost $0.47 a year, IGV $0.68, FCLD $0.70 and CLOU $0.75, against $0.99 for SKYY, because two fifths of SKYY is companies you can buy through a 0.03% index fund or that are not cloud software at all. CLOU has the highest headline fee and still beats SKYY on that measure. We rank every fund that way in cheapest cloud computing ETF by expense ratio.
Building your own pays off on cost once the balance is large enough that a flat $288 a year for the software beats the fund fee, about $48,000 against SKYY and $64,000 against WCLD, and whenever the mix you want is one no fund offers, such as data platforms and security with no hardware and no Microsoft. Owning the shares has a tax side too. Cloud software stocks can fall 20% or more on a single earnings report when growth slows, while the rest of the group holds. That name can be sold for a tax loss while the rest of the basket stays in place, which a fund does not allow. Check the dates with the wash sale calculator before you buy the same stock back.
What Indexes does and does not do: it is index construction, backtesting and tracking software. It does not hold money, place trades or give investment advice. You design and test the cloud computing stocks index here and hold it wherever you already invest.
Cloud computing ETF questions
What people ask before they buy cloud computing stocks
What is the best cloud computing ETF?
If you want cloud software rather than hardware, WisdomTree's WCLD (0.45%) held the most: 96.8% of the fund in cloud software and platform companies in its June 30, 2026 filing, equally weighted, with no Microsoft, Amazon or Alphabet. Global X's CLOU held 90.8% on October 13. The largest fund, First Trust's SKYY, held 60.6%, with 20.0% in storage, networking and server makers.
Does Vanguard have a cloud computing ETF?
No. Vanguard sells no cloud computing ETF. The closest Vanguard fund is the Information Technology ETF (VGT) at 0.09%, but cloud software companies were only 11.8% of it in Vanguard's August 31, 2026 holdings, while Microsoft alone was 11.5%. A Vanguard customer can buy WCLD, SKYY, CLOU or FCLD, or buy the cloud stocks directly.
Does Fidelity have a cloud computing ETF?
Yes. The Fidelity Cloud Computing ETF (FCLD) charges 0.39% and held 50 stocks and about $110 million in its June 30, 2026 SEC filing. It is broader than the name suggests: its three largest holdings were SanDisk, Western Digital and Seagate, and storage hardware made up 21.0% of the fund. Cloud software companies were 55.7%.
Which cloud computing ETF has the lowest expense ratio?
Among funds with cloud computing in the name, Fidelity's FCLD at 0.39% is the cheapest, then WisdomTree's WCLD at 0.45%, First Trust's SKYY at 0.60% and Global X's CLOU at 0.68%. iShares' IGV charges 0.38%, but it is a broad software fund that also holds chip design, video game and bitcoin mining companies.
What is the difference between SKYY and WCLD?
SKYY scores companies by how much cloud infrastructure they run, so it holds Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Oracle and IBM plus storage and networking makers; cloud software was 60.6% of it. WCLD equal weights fast-growing business software companies only: 96.8% cloud software, no hyperscalers. WCLD costs 0.45% against 0.60%. The two shared 39 companies and about 40% of their weight.
What is the difference between WCLD and CLOU?
Both are mostly cloud software, 96.8% for WCLD and 90.8% for CLOU. WCLD spreads money equally over 64 names, so each is 1% to 3%. CLOU weights 38 names by market value with a 4% cap, so Snowflake (7.3%) and Datadog (5.9%) dominate after drifting past the cap. CLOU costs 0.68% against 0.45% for WCLD and adds small slices of Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet.
Can I build my own cloud computing ETF?
You can build the same exposure without a fund. Pick the cloud software companies you want, set the weights, backtest the basket against SKYY, WCLD and the S&P 500, then buy the shares at your broker, where there is no expense ratio and each stock carries its own tax lot. Nearly every large cloud software company trades in the US, so the basket is easy to hold.
Sources
Holdings, fees and assets from each issuer's fund page and daily holdings file: ftportfolios.com (SKYY) and ssga.com (SPY) for October 12, 2026, and globalxetfs.com (CLOU) for October 13, 2026. The WisdomTree, Fidelity and iShares websites could not be read, so WCLD, FCLD and IGV holdings are from each fund's SEC Form N-PORT for June 30, 2026; their current assets and spreads are not shown and FCLD and IGV have rebalanced since. Expense ratios from each fund's summary prospectus. VGT holdings from Vanguard's published list for August 31, 2026. Pure Storage's renaming to Everpure from its SEC filing history. The groups are our own classification of each holding by its main business; some companies could reasonably sit in another group, most of all DigitalOcean, CoreWeave and the European hosting companies (counted as cloud platforms though they run data centers), Nutanix (counted as cloud software though it is often installed on premises), Palo Alto Networks, Akamai and Fastly (counted as cloud), Fortinet (counted as hardware) and Adobe, Intuit, Autodesk, SAP and Palantir (counted as cloud software). Holdings and fees change, so confirm them on the fund page before you buy. Indexes is not affiliated with any fund issuer or broker named here. We make index construction and backtesting software: we do not manage money, place trades or give investment advice, and backtested results are hypothetical.
Build the cloud computing index you actually meant to buy
Choose the cloud software companies and the weights, backtest the basket against SKYY, WCLD and the S&P 500, and track it every day. Then buy it wherever you invest.
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