Objective To compare the efficacy of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and surgery for circumferential superficial esophageal squamous cell neoplasm. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 153 patients with superficial esophageal squamous cell neoplasm who underwent ESD or surgery at Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from November 2013 to October 2021. There were 116 cases in ESD group and 37 cases in the surgical group. The en block resection rate, complete resection rate, operation time, perioperative complication incidence, postoperative quality of life, postoperative disease-free survival and overall survival were compared. Results In the ESD group, the en block resection rate was 100.0% (116/116) and the complete resection rate was 96.6% (112/116). The longitudinal diameter of lesion had no significant correlation with complications or complete resection rate (P>0.05). The operation time of the ESD group was significantly shorter than that of the surgical group (175.1±52.2 min VS 266.7±88.2 min, t=-5.991, P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the incidence of perioperative complications between the ESD group and surgical group [5.2% (6/116) VS 8.1% (3/37), P=0.452]. According to EORTC-QLQ-C30 and EORTC-QLQ-OES18, emotional function (P=0.008),cognitive function (P=0.013) and the total health level (P<0.001) of the ESD group were significantly higher than those in the surgical group. Fatigue (P=0.002), pain (P<0.001), dyspnea (P<0.001), insomnia (P<0.001), anorexia (P<0.001), diarrhea (P<0.001) and reflux (P<0.001) in the surgical group were significantly higher than those in ESD group. There was no significant difference in disease-free survival or overall survival between the two groups (P>0.05). Polyglycolic acid combined with autologous esophageal mucosal transplantation combined with temporary esophageal stent implantation could reduce the rate of esophageal scar stenosis after ESD [53.3% (24/45) VS 100.0% (55/55), P<0.001] and significantly reduce the number of postoperative dilation [1.00 (0.00, 5.00) VS 9.00 (5.00, 14.00), P<0.001] compared with balloon dilation alone. Conclusion ESD is superior to traditional surgery for the treatment of circumferential superficial esophageal squamous cell neoplasm because of high operational safety, shorter operation time, less trauma, better postoperative life quality. Postoperative esophageal stenosis can still be well cured after endoscopic treatment. Therefore, ESD can be used as the first choice for the treatment of circumferential superficial esophageal squamous cell neoplasm.