Objective: To systematically evaluate the safety, efficacy and short-term results of robotic gastrectomy (RG) for gastric cancer. Methods: The literature in both Chinese and English regarding studies comparing RG and laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) published between January 2005 and January 2015 were searched from national and international databases. Meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software. Results: Fifteen studies were finally included involving 5 286 patients, of whom 1 618 cases underwent RG (RG group) and 3 668 cases underwent LG (LG group). Results of Meta-analysis indicated that in RG group compared with LG group, the intraoperative blood loss was significantly reduced (WMD=–38.79, 95% CI=–53.73––23.84), number of dissected lymph nodes was increased (WMD=2.13, 95% CI=1.45–2.80), time to first flatus and oral intake, and length of hospital stay were shortened (WMD=–0.27, 95% CI=-0.37––0.16; WMD=–0.25, 95% CI=–0.37––0.14; WMD=–0.82, 95% CI=–1.32––0.32), but the operative time was significantly prolonged (WMD=37.39, 95% CI=26.79–47.98) (all P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the length of proximal and distal resection margin, or incidence of postoperative complications between the two groups (WMD=0.05, 95% CI=–0.11–0.20; WMD=0.30, 95% CI=–0.28–0.88; OR=0.97, 95% CI=0.79–1.19) (all P>0.05). Conclusion: RG is safe and feasible in treatment of gastric cancer, and can achieve comparable or better short-term and radical effect than LG.