In order to obtain foaming agent for heavy oil thermal recovery with good foaming ability and temperature resistance，12 kinds of heat-resisting surfactants including petroleum sulfonate， alkylbenzene sulfonate， α-olefin sulfonate， alkyl ether carboxylate and alkyl phenol ether sulfonate were studied. The foaming ability and thermal stability of these surfactants were systematically evaluated. The results showed that some surfactants had better foaming ability and stability，including alkylbenzene sulfonate，α-olefin sulfonate，Gemini alkylbenzene sulfonate，short chain alcohol ether sulfonate and short chain alcohol ether carboxylate. The long chain α-olefin sulfonate and long chain alkylbenzene sulfonate had the biggest resistance factor among 12 kinds of surfactants，while heavy alkylbenzene sulfonate and petroleum sulfonate had the lowest value. The surfactants were arranged according to the thermal tolerance under experiment condition in following order: alkylbenzene sulfonate > α-olefin sulfonate > Gemini alkylbenzene sulfonate > alcohol ether sulfonates ≈ alcohol ether carboxylate > heavy alkylbenzene sulfonate > petroleum sulfonate. It was recommended that long chain alkylbenzene sulfonate or long chain α-olefin sulfonate should be used as high temperature resistant foaming agent