Castor oil maleate is used in drying oils, water‐soluble paints, healthcare products, synthetic lubricants, and as a monomer in several polymers. This maleate can be produced by a direct autocatalyzed reaction between castor oil and maleic anhydride. However, the reaction rate can be increased using a free radical catalyst. In this work, the influence of the concentration of benzoyl peroxide (BPO) and temperature in the kinetics and productivity of castor oil maleate was studied. The optimal operating condition was found at 120°C, 1 mol of maleic anhydride/mol of castor oil, and 0.003 mol of BPO/mol of castor oil, yielding 90.0% of castor oil maleate in 90 min. A kinetic model was developed, and the model parameters were estimated both for the thermal autocatalyzed reaction and the free radical reaction.