Objective To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of different surgical methods in the treatment of early-stage gallbladder carcinoma (GBC). Methods The clinical data of 43 patients with early-stage GBC who received treatment in Peking University People’s Hospital from Jan. 2010 to Dec. 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the surgical methods, the patients were divided into laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC)+lymph node dissection (LND)+radiofrequency ablation (RA) group, open cholecystectomy (OC)+LND+RA group, and OC+LND+liver resection (LA) group. Operation duration, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospital stay, surgical complications, and long-term survival were compared among the 3 groups. Results All the 43 patients performed successful surgery without perioperative death. ① Operation duration and postoperative hospital stay. The differences of operation duration and postoperative hospital stay among the 3 groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). Compared with the LC+LND+RA group, operation duration and postoperative hospital stay of the OC+LND+RA group and the OC+LND+LR group were longer (P<0.017), but there was no statistically significant difference between the OC+LND+RA group and the OC+LND+LR group (P>0.017). ② Intraoperative blood loss. The difference of intraoperative blood loss among the 3 groups was statistically significant (P<0.001). Compared with the OC+LND+LR group, the intraoperative blood loss was lower in the LC+LND+RA group and the OC+LND+RA group (P<0.017), but there was no significant difference between the LC+LND+RA group and the OC+LND+RA group (P=0.172). ③ Postoperative complications. There was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative complications among the 3 groups (P=0.326). ④ Long-term survival. There was no significant difference in survival curves among the 3 groups (P=0.057). Conclusions The method of cholecystectomy combined with LND and RA of gallbladder bed can achieve the radical effect on early-stage GBC (Tis–T2). Laparoscopic surgery, in particular, has shorter operation duration and faster recovery.