The thermites with different morphologies performed differently. To explore the influence of different MoO₃ morphologies on the thermal properties and combustion behavior of Al/MoO₃ thermite， Al/rod-MoO₃ and Al/ribbon-MoO₃ thermite were prepared. Field emission scanning electron microscope （FE-SEM）， X-ray diffractometer （XRD） and differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） were used to characterize their morphology and thermal properties. The DSC results showed that the Al/ribbon-MoO₃ thermite had a heat release about 1702 J·g^-1， while the Al/rod-MoO₃ thermite released 432 J·g^-1. The initial reaction temperature of Al/ribbon-MoO₃ thermite was 401.95 ℃， which was 102.92 ℃ earlier than the 504.87 ℃ of Al/rod-MoO₃ thermite. Non-isothermal thermodynamic analysis showed that the activation energy （E_a） of the two thermites was not significantly different， but the Al/rod-MoO₃ thermite presented a higher thermal explosion critical temperature （T_b）， indicating that the Al/rod-MoO₃ thermite exhibited higher safety. In the open combustion experiment， there was little difference in the combustion behavior of the two thermites. When the thermite burnt out， the Al/ribbon-MoO₃ thermite splashed sparks. The closed-tube combustion experiment showed that the combustion wave velocity of Al/rod-MoO₃ thermite increased primely then decreased， and the maximum wave velocity reached 1037 m·s^-1. The combustion wave velocity of Al/ribbon-MoO₃ thermite was on the rise， and the maximum velocity was 2710 m·s^-1. Al/ribbon-MoO₃ thermite is superior to Al/rod-MoO₃ thermite in heat release and combustion performance， but the Al/rod-MoO₃ thermite is much safer.