As the self weight of cable affects mechanical behavior obviously with the inerease of span length.FRP (fiber reinforced polymer) cable that has the lighter weight than the conventional cables has advantage for long span structures.The analysis of single cable is the fundamental theory for the design of cable structures.Based on different considerations of gravity loads.the solutions of the single cable on gravity loads have three sets of solutions: parabola solution.catenary solution and elastic catenary solution.And the equations for the three sets of solutions are derived by taking the end tension force of cable as the control parameter.The comparison between FRP cables and steel cables is conducted by elastic catenary solution.and the results show that the lager span structure can be realized by FRP cables.The precision for the parabola solution and catenary solution is compared for stay cables and horizontal cables.and the proper ranges of both approximate methods are proposed.Based on the above methods.the ultimate span length of FRP cable and steel cable are analyzed.It is concluded that the ultimate span of FRP cable is 4.4 times larger than that of steel cable.