Background and Aim Patients with advanced malignant obstructive jaundice often require biliary drainage. Resources restraint makes clinicians need to outweigh effectiveness of each biliary stents and their costs. Hence, a cost‐effectiveness analysis is necessary. Methods A retrospective cohort study was done on malignant biliary obstruction patients undergoing palliative biliary stenting between January 2015 and December 2018. We evaluated 180‐day survival rate using log‐rank test and stent patency duration using Mann–Whitney U test. Effectiveness was defined as stent patency, while cost was calculated using hospital perspective using decision tree model and reported as incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio. Results A total of 81 men and 83 women were enrolled in this study. One hundred and eighty days survival rate was 35.9% (median 76 days, 95% confidence interval CI 50–102 days) and 33.3% (median 55 days, 95% CI 32–78 days), while average stent patency was 123 (8) days versus 149 (13) days for plastic and metal stent groups, respectively (P > 0.05). Metal stent could save Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) 1 217 750 to get additional 26 days of patency. Conclusion There were no differences in survival and stent patency between the two groups. Metal biliary stent is more cost‐effective than plastic stent for palliation in malignant biliary obstruction. This study describes the cost‐effectiveness, stent patency, and survival comparison between plastic stent and metal stent for palliation of pancreatobiliary malignancy in a developing country.