This paper presents a comparison of the performance of series and shunt compensation in stability improvement of wind farms. Static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) and static synchronous series compensator (SSSC) are used as shunt and series compensator respectively in order to enhance the system stability. The effect of control parameter tuning is also analysed. A comparison is also made between the required ratings of STATCOM and SSSC. To maintain permissible voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC) SSSC can perform well as STATCOM with lower voltage rating if it is placed at suitable position in the network. Effects of load variation and fault duration are investigated through nonlinear simulations. Constant power load is considered and varied with time to investigate the load changing effect. Simulations are carried out in Matlab/Simulink environment on a test system. It is found that both STATCOM and SSSC can enhance the performance of wind farms, however, they can be selected for a system depending on the system structure and operating conditions.