•Excellent anti-corrosive properties of grapheme.•Pure graphene coatings and graphene composite coatings were used as anti-corrosive.•Anti-corrosion mechanism, optimization measures, and corrosion resistance of grapheme.•Explanation on its existing problems, challenges, and future research directions have been highlighted. In various academic and industrial interests, graphene has achieved remarkable attention mainly by its distinctive chemical, mechanical, thermal, electrical and excellent anti-corrosion properties respectively, whereby the previous and ongoing researches have shown positive outcomes and its respective results achieved were at a satisfactory level. Over the last few years, the scope of the research on the applications of graphene based anti-corrosion has been intensely broadened and consists of two components, firstly pure graphene coatings and secondly graphene composite coatings. In the formulation of polymeric coatings, due to graphene and its derivatives having extraordinary lamellar structure, this material is highly suitable as anti-corrosive additives. Graphene creates pathways that are highly tortuous, thereby preventing the water and oxygen molecules to be diffused to the metal-based surface of materials, resulting in the protection of metal from oxidation and corrosion. Therefore, comprehensively reviewed in this article is the graphene-based coatings applications to metal anti-corrosion. First, the basic fundamentals of anti-corrosive coating technology will be discussed followed by and the current progress. Second, in detail, the preparation of graphene followed by pure graphene coatings methods respectively are illustrated. Third, the pure graphene coating in terms of corrosion resistance will be discussed, followed by detailed explanation on its existing problems and optimization respectively. Next, associated with graphene-based organic coatings, the graphene and graphene oxide dispersion and modification will be discussed, followed by the mechanism of barrier properties of graphene as well as the influence of the electrical conductivity. The anti-corrosion mechanism, optimization measures, corrosion resistance, and existing problems are summarized for the composite coatings fabricated using graphene. The challenges and future developments of anticorrosive graphene coatings are finally discussed and proposed, and their potential applications are discussed.