Objective To investigate the clinical value of conventional ultrasound, strain elastography (SE) and shear wave elastography (SWE) alone or in combination in the diagnosis of plantar fasciitis (PF).Methods A total of 140 clinically diagnosed PF patients (case group) and 200 healthy volunteers (control group) were selected for diagnostic study. All subjects underwent conventional ultrasound, SE and SWE to obtain the thickness, strain ratio and shear wave velocity of the plantar fascia. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of each parameter alone and in combination for PF.Results There were significant differences in plantar fascia thickness, strain ratio and shear wave velocity between the case group and the control group (all P < 0.01). ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of plantar fascia thickness, strain ratio, and shear wave velocity in the diagnosis of PF were 0.975, 0.889, and 0.981, respectively, with corresponding cut-off values of 3.95 mm, 0.75, and 3.75 m/s, and sensitivities of 87.1%, 89.3%, and 99.3%, respectively. The specificity were 94.5%, 77.0% and 88.5%; The AUC of the combination of the three parameters in the diagnosis of PF was 0.993, which was higher than that of each parameter alone, and the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05).Conclusion The plantar fascia thickness and shear wave velocity have high diagnostic efficiency for PF. The combination of conventional ultrasound, SE and SWE can further improve the diagnostic efficiency of PF.