U720Li, a kind of precipitation type nickel-based superalloy, shows excellent mechanical properties at elevated temperature, which is also known as the difficult-to-deform alloy because of the high-alloying. To solve its deformation problem, new methods would be developed to enlarge the temperature deforming window and improve its plasticity. The hot compression deformation behaviors of directionally solidified and equiaxed grain U720Li alloys were studied by the MMS-300 testing system, as well as the dynamic recrystallization nucleation and growth mechanisms during the hot deformation were discussed. The microstructural characteristics of the alloy under different deformation conditions were examined using OM, SEM and EBSD. The results show that the deforming resistances of both directionally solidified and equiaxed grain U720Li alloys decrease with the increasing of deforming temperature. When the angle θ between the compression deforming direction and dendrite growth direction is 90°, the deforming resistance of directionally solidified U720Li alloy would be lower. With this direction, the coordination deformation between the dendrites becomes better and no crack can be found after deformation, which indicates that the deforming ability is best along θ=90° and it can be considered as the optimal deforming direction for directionally solidified U720Li alloy. Compared with equiaxed grain alloy, directionally solidified U720Li alloy performs higher deformation ability and more homogenous microstructures. During the deformation of directionally solidified U720Li alloy, bulging nucleation of grain boundary migration and dislocation pile-up induced nucleation are found as the main mechanism for the nucleation of dynamic recrystallization. In addition, the deformation activation energy of directionally solidified U720Li alloy is 766 kJ/mol, which is 482 kJ/mol lower than that of equiaxed grain alloy, indicating the directionally solidified U720Li alloy exhibits better hot-working plasticity.