An analysis of the critical thickness dependence on misfit for epitaxy is presented including effects due to surface stresses. It is shown that these surface stress effects, which have not been included in previous theories of epitaxy, can have a major influence on the critical thickness, especially for relatively large misfits. A simple model incorporating effects due to compressive surface stresses is given which, compared to previous theories, predicts significantly larger (smaller) critical thicknesses when the stress‐free lattice parameter of the film is greater (less) than the lattice parameter of the substrate.