Porous hydrangea-like MnCo2O4 (h-MCO) have been prepared by simple hydrothermal and calcination methods. The stable three-dimensional (3D) structure, large specific surface area and mesoporous properties make it a huge potentiality for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) anode compared with rod-shaped MnCo2O4 (r-MCO). The discharge specific capacity of h-MCO maintained at 930 Ah/kg over 100 cycles at 0.1 A/g. Even cycling over 600 times at 1 A/g, the discharge capacity was still 678 Ah/kg, performing a good cycling performance. When the current densities gradually increased from 0.1 to 2 A/g, the average discharge capacity of h-MCO kept 1255, 1092, 969, 851, 717 and 566 Ah/kg, showing a good rate performance and promising prospects for LIBs.