Objective To investigate the clinical effect of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) versus total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for the treatment of spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee (SONK) in collapse stage. Methods A total of 80 SONK patients in collapse stage were selected as the research subjects, and they were randomly divided into UKA group (receiving UKA treatment) or TKA group (receiving TKA treatment) by the random number table method, with 40 cases in each group. Indices related to surgery and postoperative complications of both groups were recorded. Before surgery, at discharge, and 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery, pain degree of patients was evaluated by using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS); moreover, knee joint score of Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), Oxford Knee Score (OKS), and American Knee Society (AKS) score were adopted to evaluate functions of knee joint in patients; in addition, the 12⁃Item Short Form Health Survey (SF⁃12) was employed to evaluate quality of life in patients, and flexion and straight raising range of motion of knee joint in patients were measured. Results The operation duration, incision length, perioperative bleeding volume, first time to out⁃of⁃bed activity, straight leg raising activity time, knee flexion 90° activity time, and postoperative length of hospital stay in the UKA group were shorter/less than those in the TKA group (P<0.05). At discharge, and 1, 3, and 6 months after operation, the VAS score of the two groups was lower than that before operation, and HSS knee joint score, OKS, AKS score, SF⁃12 score were higher than those before operation (P<0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). At discharge, and 1, 3, and 6 months after operation, the flexion and straight raising range of motion of knee joint in the two groups were increased as compared with before operation, and those in the UKA group were greater than those in the TKA group (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence rate of postoperative complications between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion UKA and TKA have similar effects in pain relief and knee function recovery, but UKA can obtain a larger knee range of motion and faster postoperative recovery than TKA among SONK patients in collapse stage.