This paper focuses on the buckling capacity of a hybrid grid shell. The eigenvalue buckling, geometrical non-linear elastic buckling and elasto-plastic buckling analyses of the hybrid structure were carried out. Then the influences of the shape and scale of imperfections on the elasto-plastic buckling loads were discussed. Also, the effects of different structural parameters, such as the rise-to-span ratio, beam section, area and pre-stress of cables and boundary conditions, on the failure load were investigated. Based on the comparison between elastic and elasto-plastic buckling loads, the effect of material non-linearity on the stability of the hybrid barrel vault is found significant. Furthermore, the stability of a hybrid barrel vault is sensitive to the anti-symmetrical distribution of loads. It is also shown that the structures are highly imperfection sensitive which can greatly reduce their failure loads. The results also show that the support conditions pose significant effect on the elasto-plastic buckling load of a perfect hybrid structure.