Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is designed for patients with small lesion areas that are not suitable for actual surgery. SRS delivers high dose to the lesion with high gradient on the irradiation margin area. In this study, radiophotoluminescent glass dosemeter (RPLGD) and radiochromic film were used to measure the output factor of a gamma knife. Also, a Monte Carlo code (OMEGA/BEAM) was applied to simulate the output factor. For 14 and 8 mm sizes of helmet collimators, the variations of output factors determined with RPLGD, radiochromic film, the Monte Carlo code and Elekta were all within 0.5 %. When helmet collimator size was 4 mm, the output factors detected from RPLGD, radiochromic film and Monte Carlo simulation were all within 3.2 % when compared with Elekta. Taken together, RPLGD, radiochromic film and Monte Carlo simulation will be used as precise tools to measure the output factor of a gamma knife.