In the process of shale gas exploitation, the shale gas in the cylinder of the compressor host is rapidly compressed in a short time, resulting in high shale gas pressure and large fluctuation, and fast unit speed. As a result, the host is subjected to a variety of complex and periodic excitation loads, and the host and its components produce complex vibration, which seriously affects the working reliability of the compressor. Therefore, taking large reciprocating compressor host as research object, combining the transient response analysis with experimental test, the vibration research of the compressor host was carried out. The vibration simulation and test results of the host showed that the largest vibration deformation of the host was 0.09 mm at the end of the fourth cylinder; the maximum stress of the host was 29.66 MPa at the connection between the primary air intake buffer tank and the fourth cylinder; the vibration intensity of the free end of the secondary air intake buffer tank of the host in the reciprocating direction was the largest, which was 14.75 mm/s. In this state, the vibration intensity met the requirement, and the vibration of the host was in a safe state; the maximum error of vibration intensity obtained by simulation and test was 12.7%, which was within the allowable error range of the project, and verified the rationality and correctness of the simulation method. The research results provide a reference for further reducing the vibration and optimizing the structure of the compressor host.