This study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) versus retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) for the treatment for renal calculi 1-2 cm. PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database were researched and hand-searched for relevant congress abstracts and journals about RIRS and ESWL for the treatment for 1- to 2-cm renal stones. The retrieval time ended in September 2014. The related trials met the inclusion criteria were included in the meta-analysis. Two reviewers independently assessed the quality of all included studies, and meta-analysis was performed with RevMan 5.2. Seven literatures were retrieved, including 983 patients. The meta-analysis results showed that, compared to RIRS group, the patients in ESWL group had the following features:(1) the stone-free rate [relative risk (RR) 0.86; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.77-0.95, P = 0.005] was significantly different between two groups; (2) The retreatment rate of RIRS group was lower (RR 8.12; 95 % CI 4.77-13.83, P < 0.00); (3) The complications were not significantly different between two groups (Grade I RR 1.06; 95 % CI 0.67-1.69, P = 0.80; Grade II RR 0.75; 95 % CI 0.29-1.91, P = 0.54; Grade III RR 0.86; 95 % CI 0.26-2.86, P = 0.80). Compared to ESWL, our results showed that RIRS provided significantly higher stone-free rate and lower retreatment rate and without increase in the incidence of complications. However, further randomized trials are needed to confirm these findings