Transportation and aerospace sectors use lightweight structures extensively owing to their advantage in terms of enhanced fuel economy. Such low-density structures with negative Poisson’s ratios find applications in energy absorption for superior crashworthiness. Commonly called auxetic structures, they ensure the safety of passengers by absorbing higher energy under various crash events through mechanisms which densify material normal to the external compressive forces. This study designs different structures consisting of three known auxetic unit cells, viz., rotating square, rectangular, and rhombohedral plates of same mass and initial Poisson’s ratios of – 1, and compares their performance through finite element simulations based on peak force and absorbed energy under dynamic compressive loading. The study uses commercial finite element solver Abaqus/Explicit for simulation of their dynamic compressive response to 50 mm displacement acting in 0.2 s. The investigation suggests that rhombohedral plate is the best structure in mitigating the effects of a crash.