Abstract Hydrogen recirculation loop in the fuel supply system of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell increases the fuel consumption efficiency and maintains moisture within the cell. Conventional recirculation systems utilize mechanical compressors with high power consumption or ejectors that are sensitive to any deviation from the optimum operating conditions. In this paper, an electrochemical pump is analyzed in the hydrogen recirculation loop of a PEM fuel cell and it is compared with two conventional systems, i.e. ejector and mechanical compressor, in terms of system efficiency. The results reveal that the efficiency of the integrated system with a mechanical compressor is lower than two other systems at any working current density due to higher power consumption. Moreover, the efficiency of hydrogen recirculation system with electrochemical pump is close to the system with ejector at low current density. However, at high current density, efficiency of ejector is relatively higher than electrochemical pump because PEM fuel cell has higher parasitic power that can be compensated using ejector in the anodic recirculation system.