Objective To explore the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) in the evaluation of efficacy after interventional therapy of primary liver cancer. Methods The clinical data of 48 patients with primary liver cancer (PLC) admitted to our hospital during March 2015 to January 2017 were analyzed retrospectively. All patients were given transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), and they were given 3.0 TMRI, 64-slice CT and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) examination postoperative review. DSA was used as the standard to compare the value of residual lesions, recurrent lesions and lesion capsule by MRI and CT. Results The sensitivity and accuracy of residual and recurrent lesions by MRI examination were higher than those by CT examination (P<0.05). The detection rates of residual and recurrent lesions of type II lipiodol deposition by MRI were higher than those by CT (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in type I, type III and type IV (P>0.05). The detection rate of capsule by MRI was higher than that by CT (P<0.05). Conclusion 3.0T MRI is more conducive to the detection of residual and recurrent lesions after TACE in PLC, and the effect of iodized oil to the lesion is smaller than that of CT. MRI also has higher ability of capsule detection rate than CT, and it has higher value in evaluating the efficacy after TACE in PLC.