Harmful algal blooms (HABs) caused by the eutrophication and climate warming have become one of the most serious environmental problems in the world. At present, the uses of allelochemicals released from plants to control HABs have become an inexpensive and effective method, which have recently received considerable attention worldwide. In this paper, we reviewed different aquatic and terrestrial plants possess certain inhibitory effects on algae the algae suppression effect of different allelopathic substances on different algae and the major mechanism of the allelopathic effect on algae. Finally, the trends of future research and application prospects of allelochemicals in this field are also discussed. It is important to combine multiple disciplines and methods to investigate the mechanism of the allelopathic effect on algae,and the method and effect of algae removal in situ should be systematically studied.