Andrographolide (ADG) had profound functions as drug health‐care product. To improve ADG application in medical care, solid dispersion technique was introduced. Initially, several polymers were chosen to prepare ADG solid dispersion using hot‐melt extrusion. Working mechanisms of ADG solid dispersion, which include molecular docking and wetting property, were studied. The strongest molecular binding energy of ADG with Soluplus contributed to carrier‐controlled mechanism, leading to its highest drug dissolution. Soluplus as solid dispersion excipient could significantly improve drug absorption. In addition, ADG solid dispersions formulated by Soluplus were prepared and studied, and the ratios of drug to polymer were 1:5, 1:7, 1:9, and 1:12, respectively. It demonstrated that hydrogen bond interactions were formed between ADG and Soluplus based on infrared (IR) spectroscopy analysis. The characteristic peaks of crystal state of ADG at 11.97°, 14.95°, 15.86°, and 9.78° disappeared in ADG solid dispersion, demonstrating that excipient was efficient in transforming drug crystal state to amorphous phase by interacting with ADG. ADG‐Soluplus solid dispersion of 1:7 turned out to be the best with maximum cumulative release amount of more than 80%, whereas other ADG solid dispersions were in the range of 60–70%. The cumulative release amount of pure ADG was below 20%. Comparing with the oral administration of pure ADG, we found that the mean Cmax and AUC values of ADG for ADG‐Soluplus solid dispersion were approximately increased 1.96‐ to 2.53‐fold. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020, 137, 48354.