AbstractTaking both pile end stress diffusion effect and pile‐soil interface softening effect into account, a new nonlinear method for the vertical settlement of pile is proposed in this paper. In detail, a new model, namely stress bubble fictitious soil pile model, is proposed to simulate the support from the pile bottom soil. The nonlinear soil softening model is introduced to establish the relationship between unit pile shaft friction and pile‐soil relative displacement. Then, a nonlinear calculation method for load‐settlement analysis in multilayered soil is developed with the integration of these two models. The validity and accuracy of the proposed method are verified through the comparisons against experimental and existing simplified methods. At last, a detailed parametric study is conducted to assess the influence of the parameters related to the proposed model and pile‐soil system on the load‐displacement behavior of single pile. The promotion of this method could hugely boost the prediction of the single pile settlement for the preliminary design of pile foundation in layered soil.