Circular RNAs (circRNAs) take on regulatory roles in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The research's goal was to figure out circ-CSPP1's role and molecular mechanism in RCC. The results clarified that circ-CSPP1 expression was enhanced in RCC. Down-regulating circ-CSPP1 refrained the proliferation, migration, invasion, and Warburg effect (aerobic glycolysis), but accelerated apoptosis of RCC cells. The luciferase activity assay exhibited that circ-CSPP1 could perform as an endogenous sponge for miR-493-5p. Elevating miR-493-5p repressed RCC progression. The bioinformatics website starBase confirmed that ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1 (RAC1) was a target gene of miR-493-5p. Circ-CSPP1 up-regulated RAC1 by sponging miR-493-5p, and elevating RAC1 could turn around the effect of down-regulating circ-CSPP1 on RCC cells. Taken together, circ-CSPP1 is identified as a novel RCC-promoting RNA that could serve as a latent therapeutic target for RCC therapy.