Spinal cord injury (SCI) results from direct damage to the spinal cord, devastating patients’ quality of life and emotional and economic stability. Unfortunately, fully effective therapeutic strategies have yet to be developed to treat this disease, affecting millions worldwide. Apoptosis and autophagy are critical cell death signaling pathways after SCI that should be targeted for early therapeutic interventions to mitigate their adverse effects and promote functional recovery. Tibolone (TIB) is a selective tissue estrogen activity regulator (STEAR) with neuroprotective properties demonstrated in some experimental models. This study aimed to investigate the effect of TIB on apoptotic cell death and autophagy after SCI and verify whether TIB promoted motor function recovery. A moderate contusion SCI was produced at thoracic level 9 (T9) in male Sprague Dawley rats. Subsequently, animals received a daily dose of TIB orally and were sacrificed at 1-, 3-, 14- or 30 days post-injury. Tissue samples were collected for morphometric and immunofluorescence analysis to identify tissue damage and the percentage of neurons at the injury site. Autophagic (Beclin-1, LC3-I/LC3-II, p62) and apoptotic (Caspase 3) markers were also analyzed by Western blot. Finally, motor function was assessed using the BBB scale. TIB administration significantly increased the amount of preserved tissue (p < 0.05), improved the recovery of motor function (p < 0.001), and modulated the expression of autophagy markers in a time-dependent manner while consistently inhibiting apoptosis (p < 0.05). Therefore, TIB could be a therapeutic alternative for recovery of motor function after SCI.