We performed a meta-analysis to compare the efficacy and safety of the femoral neck system (FNS) with cannulated cancellous screws (CCSs) in treating femoral neck fractures (FNFs) in controlled clinical trials. Eligible scientific articles published prior to September 2021 were retrieved from the PubMed, Web of Science, Springer, ScienceDirect and Cochrane Library databases. The statistical analysis was performed with RevMan 5.1. Seven retrospective studies met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis showed that there were significant differences in perioperative blood loss, the postoperative Harris score, healing time, fluoroscopy frequency, total complications, femoral head necrosis, femoral neck shortening and screw cutout. No significant differences were found regarding operation time, length of hospital stay or nonunion between the two groups. Compared with CCSs, the FNS showed better clinical efficacy and fewer complications in treating FNFs. Due to the limited quality and data of the currently available evidence, more high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed.