Background Low back pain is a major health concern in China because of its high prevalence among the general population. Exercise is universally recommended as a core treatment to reduce the symptoms, but the relative efficacy of different types of exercise have not been evaluated, and the most appropriate exercise intervention is still unknown. We therefore aimed to compare and rank the effectiveness of different exercise interventions in relieving pain and improving function in patients with low back pain using a network meta-analysis. Methods We carried out a systematic review and network meta-analysis. We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, and the reference lists of relevant articles for randomised controlled trials (RCT) published up to May 15, 2018. We included RCT studies comparing exercise interventions with each other or with controls (usual care or no exercise), for adults with low back pain. We excluded non-RCT studies and studies that did not investigate exercise interventions. The primary outcomes were improvement in pain intensity (as measured by the numerical rating scale, the visual analogue scale, or others) and disability (as measured by the Morris disability index, the Oswestry disability index, or others). We used the standardised mean difference (SMD) and 95% CI to measure effect sizes, and did pairwise meta-analysis and network meta-analysis to combine both direct (within trial) and indirect (between trial) evidence of exercise effectiveness. The quality of evidence was assessed using the GRADE framework.