Fear and Greed Index vs the VIX
The VIX measures expected stock volatility; the Fear and Greed Index measures crowd sentiment from 0
to 100. They are related but not the same.
VIX
S&P 500 · expected volatility
calm
fear
Only measures fear, only for stocks.
Fear and Greed Index
Whole market · sentiment
Fear
Greed
Reads the crowd’s mood across a whole
market.
The key difference: the VIX has no greed side and covers US stocks only; the index spans fear to greed.
Source: CFGI
Markets