Purpose This paper aims to study the corrosion inhibition of Methyl 2-(benzamido)-2-(4-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl) acetate (MBPTA) and Methyl 2-(benzamido)-2-(4-p-tolyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl) acetate (MBTTA) in 1 M H2SO4 solution at 25 °C. Design/methodology/approach The authors have used weight loss measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potentiodynamic polarization, FT-IR, quantum chemical calculations and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Findings The polarization measurements indicate that both compounds are mixed type inhibitors, and that MBTTA is more effective than MBPTA. The effect of temperature on the corrosion behavior using optimal concentration of MBTTA and MBPTA was studied in the temperature range 298-328 K. SEM was used to examine the morphology of the metal surface. Thermodynamic parameters were calculated and discussed. Monte Carlo simulations were applied to lookup for the most stalls configuration and adsorption energy for the interaction of inhibitors on Fe (1 1 1) interface. The difference in inhibition efficiencies between the two organic inhibitors can be clearly explained in terms of frontier molecular orbital theory. Originality/value The authors report on the comparative inhibiting effect of two new 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles, namely Methyl 2-(benzamido)-2-(4-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl) acetate (MBPTA) and Methyl 2-(benzamido)-2-(4-p-tolyl-1H-1, 2, 3-triazol-1-yl) acetate (MBTTA) on mild steel corrosion in 1 M H₂SO₄ solution.