Trabeculectomy and non-penetrating trabecular surgery are common operations for glaucoma. This meta-analysis aims to compare the effect of trabeculectomy and non-penetrating trabecular surgery in postoperative astigmatism of patients with glaucoma. A systematic literature search was performed for studies comparing trabeculectomy and non-penetrating trabecular surgery in patients with glaucoma. The time frame for the search was from the time of construction to April 2024. There were no restrictions regarding study type or type of glaucoma. The endpoint was the surgically induced astigmatism assessed 6 months after operation. We conducted this meta-analysis following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis). Five eligible studies were included in this meta-analysis and presented data for 359 eyes with various types of glaucoma at different stages. The results revealed an increase in astigmatism in patients with glaucoma after trabeculectomy and non-penetrating trabecular surgery. Trabeculectomy had a higher incidence of astigmatism than in the non-penetrating trabecular surgery group at or around 6months postoperatively, and the difference was statistically significant. (SMD = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.19 to 0.61, P = 0.02). Our results demonstrated that both trabeculectomy and non-penetrating trabecular surgery could increase astigmatism until 6 months after operation. Moreover, non-penetrating trabecular surgery group seems to have less influence on astigmatism. CRD42024517708.