The invention provides a buffering type differential fall arrester which is capable of achieving reliable locking and being prevented from generating large action force to the human body during locking and has the buffering effect. The buffering type differential fall arrester comprises a machine frame, a center shaft, a drum wheel rotationally arranged on the center shaft, and a safety rope woundaround the drum wheel; the space between the machine frame and a drum wheel disc is internally provided with a locking structure including pawls and a ratchet wheel; a ratchet wheel guide device is fixed to the machine frame, and the ratchet wheel can be rotationally arranged on the ratchet wheel guide device relative to the ratchet wheel guide device; one ends of steel plate springs are fixed tothe inner circumference of the ratchet wheel, and the other ends of the steel plate springs are slidably matched with the center shaft; the pawls are installed on pawl rotation shafts in a sleeving mode, and the pawl rotation shafts are fixed to the drum wheel; and when the rotation speed of the drum wheel in the working direction exceeds the locking speed, the pawls are rotated around the pawl rotation shafts under action of centrifugal force, the pawls are clamped into ratchet wheel grooves, and the drum wheel and the pawls drive the ratchet wheel to start to rotate together and then stop rotation after rotating by a certain angle under action of the steel plate springs.