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Abstract Notosuchia is a clade of crocodyliforms that was highly successful and diverse in the Cretaceous of Gondwana.Araripesuchus gomesiiis a small notosuchian from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil that belongs to Uruguaysuchidae, one of the subgroups of notosuchians that first radiated, during the Aptian–Albian. Here we present a finite element analysis ofA. gomesiibased on a model reconstructed from CT scans and performed using published bone properties for crocodiles. The adductor musculature and their respective attachment areas were reconstructed based on Extant Phylogenetic Bracket. Different functional scenarios were tested applying an estimated 158 N bite force: unilateral bite, bilateral bite, pullback, head‐shake, and head‐twist. The results obtained were compared with those ofAlligator mississippiensis, one of its closest living relatives. In the different simulations, the skull and lower jaws ofAraripesuchussuffers more stress in the head‐shake movement, followed by the unilateral and pullback bites with stress focalized in the premaxillary region. In contrast, the head‐twist is the one with smaller stress values.Araripesuchuspossess an oreinirostral skull that may provide greater overall resistance in the different scenarios on average, unlikeAlligatorthat has a platyrostral skull with less resistance to dorsoventral mechanical loads. Previous hypotheses that consideredA. gomesiias omnivorous coupled with our results, its small size, and likely limited bite force, suggest this taxon probably fed on small prey and other trophic items that could catch and handle entirely with its mouth, such as insects and small vertebrates.