In the present paper, discharge characteristics were studied in atmospheric pressure argon by a single needle jet and needle-plate jet through combination of optical measurement and electrical one. Results show that the length and cross-sectional area of the plasmas generated in the two jets increase with increasing the peak value of the applied voltage. The cross-sectional area generated by needle-plate jet is bigger than that of the single needle jet at the same voltage. A lower inception voltage is needed for the needle-plate jet compared with the single needle jet at the same Up. Through the spectra emitted from the two jets, electron temperature and vibration temperature wee compared for the plasmas generated by the single needle jet and needle-plate jet, respectively. It can be found that the electron temperature and the vibrational temperature of the two jets increase with increasing Up. The needle-plate jet has higher values of electron temperature and vibrational temperature than the single needle jet at the same Up. These results have significant values for the industrial application of the atmospheric pressure plasma jet.