This review summarizes the AIE self-assembly gel research progresses on cyanostibene derivatives made in the past decade with an emphasis on the regulation and their applications in different fields. Display omitted •The advances of AIE self-assembly gel based cyanostibene derivatives.•The design strategies and the regulation of self-assembly process of gel systems.•The diverse application of AIE self-assembly gel based cyanostibene derivatives.•The challenges and outlook in AIE self-assembly gel based cyanostibene derivatives. Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) is attracting enormous attention due to the immense potential practical application of luminescent materials in the solid state. Cyanostilbene derivatives are a kind of desired AIE fluorophore with advantages of photostability and thermostability, distinguished fluorescence quantum yields and adjustable emission wavelengths. Cyanostilbene derivatives with AIE behaviour can be combined with self-assembly gels, to achieve advantages the complementary advantages of the two materials. In this review, we summarized the sate-of-the-art progress of supramolecular gel based on cyanostilbene derivatives, as well as their applications in the regulation of self-assembly process and emission behaviour, multifunctional sensor, photoresponsive materials, circularly polarized luminescence and biological fields. A brief summary and outlook on cyanostilbene-based supramolecular self-assembly materials are also included.