In practical application, arranging stiffeners on a section is a common method used to enhance the stability of structural members. This study focuses on investigating the effects of cold-formed stiffeners on the mechanical properties of high-strength steel tubular columns and evaluating the cost effectiveness of these stiffened columns. An axial compression analysis model for cold-formed stiffened steel tubular columns was established by using finite element ABAQUS software. The study explored the optimal stiffening configuration by investigating the influence of stiffening shape, the number of stiffeners, stiffening spacing and stiffening size on the mechanical performance of Q355 steel pipe columns. Furthermore, the reduction in steel consumption for high-strength Q690 cold-formed stiffened steel pipe columns was analyzed when their ultimate bearing capacity was equivalent to that of ordinary Q355 steel pipe columns. The results show that the addition of cold-formed stiffeners significantly improves the axial compression bearing capacity of steel pipe columns. Interestingly, the improvement in bearing capacity remains consistent even as the number of stiffeners increases. Notably, using a single semicircular arc stiffener yields favorable results in enhancing member bearing capacity. The spacing between cold-formed stiffeners has minimal effects on the overall stability of the members. It is recommended that the radius of the stiffener arc twice the thickness of plate. When achieving equal bearing capacity, the steel consumption for cold-formed stiffened Q690 steel pipe column is about 35% lower than that of Q355 steel pipe columns.