Seismic failure vulnerability of structures can be substantially reduced by retrofitting the structure using smart materials. Though metallic dampers are extensively used for this purpose, they leave a large residual deformation leading to a non-operative condition under post- earthquake scenario. This study deals with the seismic performance analysis of a superelastic slit damper (SSD), composed of shape memory alloy (SMA) bars diagonally connected to the web of steel slit damper. The SSD is analyzed for various fractions (25, 50 and 75 %) of SMA bars strength in terms of the energy dissipation capacity and residual deformation. It is observed from the cyclic loading of the dampers that, with increasing fraction of SMA, the energy dissipation capacity of SSD decreases by 20–45% and the recentering ability increases by 55–100% than slit damper. Further, the performance of these dampers is studied for 5, 10 and 15-storey frame structures. Displacement based pushover analysis is carried out in SAP2000. It is observed that, addition of SMA has no effect on structural performance, and the SSD follows similar pattern of slit damper. The hinge states of the slit damper and all SSD are compared at a 2% drift ratio. It is found that with increasing SMA percentage in SSD, the load carrying capacity of the frames increases by 5–20%, and also improves the damage stages (as per FEMA) from collapse prevention to immediate occupancy.