Lithium batteries (LIBs) with low capacity graphite anode (~ 372 mAh g−1) cannot meet the ever-growing demand for new energy electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. It is essential to replace graphite anode with higher capacity anode materials for high-energy density LIBs. Silicon (Si) is well known to be a possible alternative for graphite anode due to its highest capacity (~ 4200 mAh g−1). Unfortunately, large volume change during lithiation and delithiation has prevented the Si anode from being commercialized. Metal silicides are a promising type of anode materials which can improve cycling stability via the accommodation of volume change by dispersing Si in the metal inactive/active matrix, while maintain greater capacity than graphite. Here, we present a classification of Si alloying with metals in periodic table of elements, review the available literature on metal silicide anodes to outline the progress in improving and understanding the electrochemical performance of various metal silicides, analyze the challenges that remain in using metal silicides, and offer perspectives regarding their future research and development as anode materials for commercial LIBs application.