This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of esomeprazole and omeprazole in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Electronic searches on PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were carried out for reports up to February 28, 2015. Ten eligible studies from 8 articles were found that enrolled a total of 10,286 patients for meta-analysis. These results revealed a significant difference between esomeprazole vs. omeprazole (RR=1.06, 95% CI [1.01, 1.10], I2=72%, p=0.01) by subgroup according to dosage by random effects model, and a significant difference between esomeprazole 40 mg vs. omeprazole 20 mg (RR=1.07, 95% CI [1.004, 1.14], I2=78%, p=0.04) based on healing rate as determined by endoscopy, using a random effects model. A significant difference between esomeprazole 20 mg and omeprazole 40 mg (RR=0.68, 95% CI [0.47, 0.97], I2=not applicable, p=0.03) was also found in comparing relief of symptoms by random effects model. There were no significant differences in outcomes between other subgroups, including tolerability. Based on these results, a high dose of esomeprazole is recommended for GERD treatment and control in adults.