Alloy anodes are promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries due to their high-energy capacity and safety characteristics. However, the commercial use of alloy anodes has been hindered to date by their low cycle life and high initial capacity loss. This review highlights the recent progress in improving and understanding the electrochemical performance of various alloy anodes. The approaches used for performance improvement are summarized, and the causes of first-cycle irreversible capacity loss are discussed. The capacity retentions and irreversible capacity losses of various alloy anodes are compared. Several alloy anodes exhibited excellent cycle life (up to 300 cycles) with high initial coulombic efficiency (80–90%) and large reversible capacity (500–700mAhg−1).