Orifice plate energy dissipater as well as plug energy dissipater, as a kind of effective energy dissipater with characteristics of simple structure, convenient construction and high energy dissipation ratio, has become welcomed more and more by hydraulics researchers. The two kinds of energy dissipaters with sudden reduction and sudden enlargement forms are similar in energy dissipation mechanism, but there are differences in energy dissipation characteristics and cavitation characteristics. In the present paper, the differences between orifice plate and plug in energy loss coefficient, relating to their energy dissipation ratio, in the backflow region length, relating to their energy loss coefficient, and in the lowest wall pressure coefficient, relating to their cavitations risk, were analyzed by numerical simulations and physical experiment, and their features in above three aspects were also revealed. The results of research in the present paper demonstrate that the backflow region length of orifice plate is longer than that of plug at the same contraction ratio, the lowest wall pressure coefficient of plug is smaller than that of orifice plate at the same contraction ratio, and the energy loss coefficient of orifice plate is bigger than that of plug, which illustrates that plug is superior to orifice plate in resistance cavitation damage at the same contraction ratio. Orifice plate energy dissipater as well as plug energy dissipater, as a kind of effective energy dissipater with characteristics of simple structure, convenient construction and high energy dissipation ratio, has become more and more by hydraulics researchers. The two kinds of energy dissipaters with sudden reduction and sudden enlargement forms are similar in energy dissipation mechanism, but there are differences in energy dissipation characteristics and cavitation characteristics. In the present paper, the differences between orifice plate and plug in energy loss coefficient, relating to their energy dissipation ratio, in the backflow region length, relating to their energy loss coefficient, and in the lowest wall pressure coefficient, relating to their cavitations risk, were analyzed by numerical simulations and physical experiments, and their features in above three aspects were also revealed. The results of research in the present paper demonstrate that the backflow regio n length of orifice plate is longer than that of plug at the same contraction ratio, the lower wall pressure coefficient of plug is smaller than that of orifice plate at the same contraction ratio, and the energy loss coefficient of orifice plate is bigger than that of plug, which illustrates that plug is superior to orifice plate in resistance cavitation damage at the same contraction ratio.