As a "green energy" with clean, high energy density and no secondary pollution, hydrogen is considered as one of the ideal energy sources to solve the current environmental and energy crisis. Firstly, we introduced the hydrogen evolution mechanism and the evaluation method of electrode activity, and then, summarized the development of three-dimensional metal/carbon substrate materials in the field of hydrogen evolution. Combined with our work in electrolytic water, we highlighted the recent application of self-supporting material (three-dimensional nanoporous material) in hydrogen production. In addition, emphasis was given to the synthesis methods of HER electrocatalysts and the strategies for performance improvement, meanwhile, the structural design and morphology control of various types of catalytic materials is discussed. Finally, we prospect the challenges and research directions of HER catalysts in the future.