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Adopting drought-tolerant (DT) cultivars is an effective strategy to sustain maize (Zea mays L.) production under water shortage. Optimizing plant density is an important management practice for improving maize yield. In a two-year field trial, the response of yield, actual evapotranspiration (ET c act), and water productivity (WP) to plant density (6, 7.5, 9 plants m−2) was assessed under irrigated and rainfed conditions using a DT (ZD958) and a drought-susceptible (DS, ZY309) maize cultivar, and additionally, the comparison of soil water depletion will be conducted among soils growing different DT maize varieties. Under rainfed, average yield, ET c act , and WP were 24.7%, 8.6% and 14.8% greater in ZD958 than ZY309, respectively. When density increased from 6 to 9 plants m−2, for ZD958 and ZY309 ET c act remained relatively constant, whereas their yield and WP first increased and then decreased and ultimately reached their maximum at 7.5 plants m−2. Under irrigation, increasing density (6–9 plants m−2) significantly increased yield and WP for ZD958, but for ZY309, yield and WP were not significantly impacted. Yield across seasons did not differ between cultivars at 6 and 7.5 plants m−2, and ZD958 had a 10.2% yield advantage over ZY309 at 9 plants m−2. The findings imply that DT cultivar showed greater high density tolerance than DS cultivar and thus higher optimal density under irrigation. Under rainfed, both cultivars had similar density tolerance and optimum density, whereas DT cultivar had stronger drought tolerance than DS cultivar, which could explain DT cultivar's greater yield and WP. This study indicate that DT cultivar showed higher and more stable yields than DS cultivar across rainfed and irrigated conditions when grown at optimal densities. Thus, sustainable maize production could be achieved by adopting DT cultivars and optimizing density for different conditions in the study region. • Drought-tolerant cultivar had greater crowding tolerance than drought-susceptible cultivar under irrigation. • Crowding tolerance did not differ between drought-tolerant and drought- susceptible cultivars under rainfed. • Higher tolerance of drought-tolerant cultivar accounts for its higher yield and water productivity under rainfed. • Higher optimum density found in drought-tolerant vs. susceptible cultivar under irrigation but not under rainfed. • Drought-tolerant cultivar extracted more soil water than drought-susceptible cultivar under rainfed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]