The development of efficient and cheap anode materials for the utilization in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essential for energy-conversion technologies. In this study, hierarchically porous Co3O4 architectures with honeycomb-like structures are synthesized by employing cobalt-based zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67-Co) as metal source and sacrificial template. After a simple one-step calcination process, the ZIF-67-Co precursor can be chemically transformed into the Co3O4 architectures with abundant porosity and oxygen vacancy. These easily obtained and earth-abundant Co3O4 architectures present high performance toward the electrochemical water splitting for evolving molecular oxygen, affording a small OER onset potential, large anodic current and long-term durability in 0.1 M KOH solution, which are comparable to the electroactive noble- and transition-metal oxygen evolution catalysts previously reported. These merits suggest that the ZIF-derived Co3O4 architectures are promising electrocatalysts for OER from water splitting.