While Q-balls have been investigated intensively for many years, another type of nontopological solution, Q-tubes, have not been understood very well. In this paper we make a comparative study of Q-balls and Q-tubes. First, we investigate their equilibrium solutions for four types of potentials. We find, for example, that in some models the charge-energy relation is similar between Q-balls and Q-tubes while in other models the relation is quite different between them. To understand what determines the charge-energy relation, which is a key of stability of the equilibrium solutions, we establish an analytical method to obtain the two limit values of the energy and the charge. Our prescription indicates how the existent domain of solutions and their stability depend on their shape as well as potentials, which would also be useful for a future study of Q-objects in higher-dimensional spacetime.