Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a positioning method based on a time difference of arrival, user equipment, and a network device. The method includes: calculating, by user equipment, a first time difference of arrival RSTD1 based on positioning signals sent by a first base station and a second base station at a same moment; calculating a second time difference of arrival RSTD2 based on known location information of the user equipment; calculating a time alignment error TAE based on the RSTD1 and the RSTD2; and performing, based on the TAE, positioning based on a time difference of arrival TDOA. According to this method, the TAE caused by the base stations is subtracted during positioning calculation. In other words, the time alignment error caused by the base stations is eliminated. Therefore, accuracy of TDOA-based positioning can be ensured.