The intermetallic compounds based on the high aluminum activity have very attractive properties, such as low density, high melting temperature, high thermal conductivity, high elastic modulus, high specific strength, specific stiffness and good hightemperature oxidation resistance, which have been regarded as a novel inorganic porous material and been playing an active role for the application in high temperature and corrosive environments. Tremendous efforts have been devoted for the researches on innovative processing technologies of porous intermetallic compounds in recent years, resulting in better control of the porous structures and substantial improvements of the properties. This paper intends to give a comprehensive review about the most recent progresses in preparation, microstructure and properties of porous FeAl, TiAl and NiAl intermetallic compounds, as well as their potential applications in application prospect. The preparation methods for porous intermetallic compounds are discussed mainly including chemical element reaction synthesis, pore forming additive, combustion synthesis, and impregnation method. The fastpreparing highly porous intermetallic compounds with nearnetshape by thermal explosion reaction are particularly exposed in detail, which is a simultaneous reaction that involves a whole model of the combustion synthesis. Finally, to facilitate further research and development, the present problems and the technical challenges are discussed, and several future research directions are also suggested in this review.