In the context of addressing the energy crisis and realizing environmental sustainability, energy storage systems have received much attention. With the challenges posed by the rapid depletion of lithium resources and its uneven distribution, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) with similar electrochemical properties have gradually become a research hotspot. Hard carbon (HC) materials have become one of the highly promising anode materials for SIBs due to their abundance of resources, cost-effectiveness and high carbon conversion. Coal-based hard carbon (CHC) has become one of the competitive materials in HC precursors due to its low cost and high carbon conversion. This article reviews recent research on the preparation strategies, optimization modifications, and electrochemical properties of coal-based hard carbon materials. Furthermore, we discuss the development prospects and research directions for coal-based hard carbon materials.