Objective To compare the effect of early tracheotomy (ET) and late tracheotomy (LT) on ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) incidence and short-term mortality in critically ill patients who received mechanical ventilation. Data Sources We searched databases of PubMed, Embase, and others for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared ET (8 days after admission to the intensive care unit, initiation of translaryngeal intubation, or initiation of mechanical ventilation) with LT (6 days) in critically ill patients. Review Methods The overall odds ratio (OR) was estimated by traditional meta-analysis. In addition, cumulative meta-analysis was conducted by adding 1 study at a time in the order of year of publication. Results A total of 11 RCTs involving 1436 patients (708 in the ET group and 728 in the LT group) were included in this analysis. Early tracheotomy could significantly reduce the short-term mortality (OR = 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.58, 0.95]) but did not reduce the VAP incidence (OR = 0.70; 95% CI [0.47, 1.04]). The cumulative meta-analysis showed that evidence of the benefit of ET on VAP incidence was unstable over time. In contrast, the difference in short-term mortality was stable from the first appearance during the cumulative meta-analysis. Conclusion Early tracheotomy could improve short-term mortality but did not alter VAP incidence. Many factors may be responsible for the unstable results during cumulative meta-analysis, and further study is still needed to explore the optimal timing of tracheotomy.