The degradation characteristics of geogrids have important influence on the stability of reinforced embankments and retaining walls. A series of unidirectional cyclic load-extension tests under stress control were carried out on plastic geogrids. The influence of cyclic tension, pretension and load frequencies on strain and degradation characteristics of geogrids was studied. It is observed that, with the increase of cyclic tension and pretension and the decrease of load frequencies, the accumulative plastic strain and degradation index of geogrids increase, and the stiffness of geogrids decreases. Based on experimental data, the empirical equation for softening of geogrids was proposed. A modified Iwan model was put forward to describe the stress-strain relationship of the geogrids subjected to cyclic tensile load. The proposed model was proved to be reasonable by comparing the experimental data with the numerical results.