The paper aims to study the effect of different surfactants on the physical and mechanical properties of chitosan film-forming system to prepare chitosan film with good properties. 1% chitosan film-forming solution was prepared in this paper. And 30wt.% (chitosan) glycerin was used as the plasticizer, while 0.05% Tween 20, 40, 80, and Span 20, 40, 80 were added respectively as surfactant. Chitosan film was made by casting method. The rheological properties, surface tension and Zeta potential of film-forming solution, and mechanical properties, moisture sensitivity (water vapor transmission rate, swelling, solubility) and light transmittance of chitosan film were investigated. AHP-CRITIC method was applied to comprehensively evaluate the performance of the film-forming system. The results showed that the film-forming solution exhibited weak swelling plasticity at a concentration of 1%; the addition of surfactants could effectively reduce the surface tension of the solution and keep it in a stable state (Zeta potential>30 mV); the formed film was light yellow and translucent with light transmission range of 45%-77%; for the same series of surfactants, the mechanical properties of the film decreased but the moisture barrier capacity increased by the increase of hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB); in addition, film with Tween series had better mechanical properties, while moisture barrier performance displayed the opposite trend. The comprehensive evaluation of the film-forming performance shows that the chitosan film with Span 20 has the highest score. For chitosan film adding Tween series, the one with Tween 20 has higher score. The results from present study provide a theoretical basis for the selection of surfactants in the film-forming system.