Six models (CANOPY, ETFOREST, HEJMDAL, SIM5T/12, SOIL and WATREG) are compared with respect to the calculation of actual evapotranspiration (ET) or consumptive use and its components transpiration and evaporation. The common basis of comparison is a pine forest instrumented to yield both water and energy balance data. SOIL yields the lowest, CANOPY the highest ET estimates for the 1977 growing season, all other models being clos~ to an average of about 290 mm. The differences are partly related to different estimates of transpiration and evaporation and partly to different considerations of the soil water components in the models.