The production of small-size plate for TC4 titanium alloy is generally carried out by the methods of upsetting forging of ingot and heating rolling of plate blank, and the small-size plate is usually forged by the method of upsetting forging, but its microstructure and properties cannot reach the relatively optimal state. Therefore, the influences of different forging methods on the process of small-size plate for TC4 titanium alloy were explored by the method of cross-comparison for key processes, namely, the plate blank with the same size was produced by two methods of ordinary free forging and upsetting forging, and then the same rolling process was used for comparative production to maintain consistence in all production processes. The results show that, compared with the free forging, the upsetting forging has a great effect on improving the internal microstructure of plate blank, but in the production of small-size plate, too much optimization of microstructure in the early stage leads to less improvement of microstructure in the subsequent rolling process. Thus, through comparison, the plate blank obtained by the free forging is more suitable for the production of small-size plate for TC4 titanium alloy, and its metallographic structure and comprehensive properties are better.