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Tetanus is a fatal but vaccine‐preventable disease. The currently available tetanus vaccines are tetanus toxoid (TT)‐based. Although these vaccines are generally effective, challenges in vaccine development and access remain. A randomized, double‐blind, dose escalation, placebo‐ and positive‐controlled, phase 1/2 trial (ChiCTR1800015865) is performed to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of an alternative recombinant tetanus vaccine based on the Hc domain of tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT‐Hc) in healthy adult volunteers. The primary outcome is the safety profile of the recombinant tetanus vaccine, and immunogenicity is the secondary outcome. 150 eligible participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive one of the three doses of recombinant tetanus vaccine (TeNT‐Hc 10/20/30 µg), TT vaccine, or placebo. The recombinant tetanus vaccine shows a good safety profile. The frequency of any solicited and unsolicited adverse events after each vaccination does not differ across the vaccine and placebo recipients. No serious treatment‐related adverse events occur. The recombinant tetanus vaccine shows strong immune responses (seroconversion rates, geometric mean titer, and antigen‐specific CD4+/CD8+ T‐cell responses), which are roughly comparable to those of the TT vaccine. In conclusion, the findings from this study support that recombinant tetanus vaccine is safe and immunogenic; thereby, it represents a novel vaccine candidate against tetanus., This study is the first randomized, phase 1/2 trial comparing dose escalation recombinant tetanus vaccine (TeNT‐Hc) with TT vaccine and placebo in healthy adults. All three doses of recombinant tetanus vaccine show a good safety profile, and strong immune responses, which are roughly comparable with TT vaccine. Thus, recombinant tetanus vaccine might be a novel vaccine candidate against tetanus.