Effects of template type on the catalytic performance of SAPO-34 catalyst in conversion of methanol to light olefins (MTO) have been investigated. SAPO34 molecular sieves were synthesized by hydrothermal method, using morpholine tetraethyl ammonium hydroxide and dipropylamine as the template in the synthesis of gel with molar composition of Al2O3: P2O5: SiO2: template: H2O being 1:1:0.6:2:50, respectively. The produced samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, NH3-TPD and TGA-DTA techniques. These results showed that template type affects crystal size, morphology, crystallinity and purity of samples. It was found that the average SAPO-34 crystal size increased when morpholine was used as the template. Conversion of methanol to light olefins using acidic SAPO34 as the reaction catalyst was studied in a fixed bed reactor in the temperature range of 250–450oC, atmospheric pressure and WHSV=1 hr-1. Although all the catalysts showed similar activity and product distribution, the catalyst obtained using morpholine as the template, had the shortest lifetime.