In this study, the mechanical behaviors of point contact wire rope (PCWR) and line contact wire rope (LCWR) were compared based on the finite element method. The three-dimensional models of PCWR and LCWR with the same diameter were established. Furthermore, the stress, deformation and contact slip characteristics of the two cases were analyzed with the aid of ABAQUS CAE software. The following findings were concluded. Stress is highly concentrated in PCWR, and its overall stress is higher than that of LCWR. In addition, for both PCWR and LCWR, the highest maximum principal stress occurs at the core wire in the independent wire strand, indicating that the independent wire strand is more likely to break and fail due to overload. The results obtained based on Costello’s theory and the finite element analysis are in good agreement.Meanwhile, for PCWR, the torsion at the loading end is smaller and the axial strain is larger under the identical axial stress; for both PCWR and LCWR, the steel wires at the contact positions of adjacent spiral strands are deformed most seriously. With the increase of axial stress, the contact stress between steel wires increases linearly, and the overall contact stress and the relative slip values of steel wires between spiral strands in PCWR are greater than those in LCWR.