Scrupulous design and fabrication of advanced anode materials are of great importance for developing high-performance lithium ion batteries. Herein, we report a facile strategy for construction of free-standing and free-binder 3D porous carbon coated MoS2/nitrogen-doped graphene (C-MoS2/N-G) integrated electrode via a hydrothermal-induced self-assembly process. The preformed carbon coated MoS2 is strongly anchored on the porous nitrogen-doped graphene aerogel architecture. As an anode for lithium ion batteries, the C-MoS2/N-G electrode delivers a high first discharge capacity of 1600 mAh g−1 and maintains 900 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles at a current density of 200 mA g−1. Impressively, superior high-rate capability is achieved for the C-MoS2/N-G with a reversible capacity of 500 mAh g−1 at a high current density of 4000 mA g−1. Furthermore, the lithium storage mechanism of the obtained integrated electrode is investigated by ex-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy in detail.