Porphyridium spp. are a group of unicellular marine microalgae belonging to the Rhodophyta, which evolved over one billion years and are a source of a variety of natural active components. They can naturally and efficiently accumulate phycobilin, sulfated polysaccharides, polyunsaturated fatty acids and other bioactive substances. At present, numerous attempts have been made to explore the species Porphyridium spp., whereas mainly focused on cultivation methods, metabolism regulation and the function and application of bioactive products. There is a lack of systematic summary of the existing research conclusions. In this paper, we summarized the representative results related to culture and metabolism, analyzed and discussed the existing bottleneck restrictions for their large scale application, and proposed the potential industrial development and research direction in the future. This paper is expected to provide reference and thread for research and application of Porphyridium spp..