Inexpensive electrocatalysts are one of the research hotspots in the production of hydrogen from water electrolysis. There are few systematic summaries the steel-based electrocatalyst for water splitting. This review summarized the research status of steel-based electrocatalysts (stainless steel, low-carbon steel and other steels) in the past 40 years, and introduced them as oxygen evolution electrocatalysts, hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts, dual-function electrocatalysts. In this paper, the different preparation methods, fabrication processes and electrocatalytic reaction conditions were analysized. Meanwhile, the influencing factors of the activity, stability and tolerance of oxygen evolution at anode and hydrogen evolution at cathode were summarized. It was found that the oxygen evolution electrocatalyst and the hydrogen-oxygen evolution bifunctional electrocatalyst were mainly prepared with stainless steel as the matrix, while the hydrogen evolution electrocatalyst was prepared with the low carbon steelas the matrix. Furthermore, advantages and disadvantages of fabrication methods and further research focus were discussed. The in-depth understanding provides the guidance for the design of the high-performance water splitting electrocatalysts for industrial applications.