•In sagittal plane bending, plates were less stiff than two-screw constructs.•In torsion and transverse plane bending, both constructs behaved similarly.•Lateral gaps at the joint occurred more readily with plates during cyclic loading.•Talonavicular fusion constructs must maintain contact across the articular surface. This study compared stiffness between two constructs for talonavicular arthrodesis: a dorsomedial plating system and two partially threaded cannulated cancellous screws. We hypothesized that the plate would exhibit greater stiffness and resistance to deformation during cyclic loading. The constructs were implanted in eight matched pairs of cadaveric feet and subjected to axial torsion, cantilever bending in two directions, and cyclic loading to failure. The two-screw constructs were significantly stiffer in plantar-dorsal bending (p = .025) and trended towards a higher number of cycles before failure than the plate group (p = .087). No significant differences were observed in internal torsion (p = .620), external torsion (p = .165), or medial-lateral bending (p = .686). This study provided the first biomechanical assessment of a plating system with an integrated compression screw, which was significantly less stiff than a two-screw construct when loaded from plantar to dorsal.