The advancements in the domain of CAD/CAM and CNC machine tools facilitated machining of complex geometric shapes to meet functional requirements and/or aesthetic appearances. These shapes combine several geometric features such as zero curvature (straight), constant curvature (circular) and variable curvature surfaces. The components often contain thin-walled sections having inherently lower stiffness that induces static deflections transforming into surface error and violation of error limits specified by the designer. This paper presents a comparison of deflection induced surface error profile generated during the end milling of zero and constant curvature thin-walled components. The proposed framework incorporates computational model to estimate cutting forces, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model to compute workpiece deflections, and surface generation mechanism to derive error profile. The paper also investigates the effect of change in the radial engagement area due to workpiece curvature by introducing the concept of 'Equivalent Radial Depth of Cut'. Further, the effect of change in workpiece curvature is investigated on the surface error profile in the paper. The proposed framework has been generalized to accommodate the variation of workpiece geometry, and the results are validated by conducting a set of end milling experiments. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.