Summary Esophageal stenting with self‐expanding plastic or covered metal stents is believed to be safe and effective. As data on the outcome of patients with long‐term stenting are not available, this study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of long‐term esophageal stenting. From 2002 to 2008, 70 patients with long‐term esophageal stenting for various indications from a prospective database were included into further analysis. The median stent period was 297 (124–1980) days during a mean follow‐up time of 55 ± 52.4 months. Overall complication rate was 30% with a primary success rate of 97.2%. The stent‐related total reintervention rate was 17.1%. There were no correlations between stent characteristics and the risk of complication or migration. No stent‐related death was observed. Our data provide evidence that long‐period esophageal stenting is safe and effective for various indications.