The present invention discloses a method and an apparatus for obtaining configuration information of a grant-free transmission unit. A centrally configured network element sends configuration information of a grant-free transmission unit of an access device to the access device, where the grant-free transmission unit refers to a transmission resource used for grant-free transmission, and the configuration information of the grant-free transmission unit includes at least one or more of the following information: information about the grant-free transmission unit or information about a grant-free transmission control mechanism. By using the method and the apparatus for obtaining configuration information of a grant-free transmission unit, an access device can obtain configuration information of a grant-free transmission unit.