Antifouling coatings were considered to be the most effective solution to marinebiofouling at present，among which tin-free self-polishing antifouling coatings containingantifouling agents were the most mainstream commodities. The choice of antifouling agent wascrucial to the development of antifouling coatings，which was closely related to the antifouling performance on the one hand，and restricted by many laws and regulations on the other. In this paper，the basic physicochemical properties，antifouling mechanism and application of several mainstream anti-fouling agents in the current market were introduced. Copper oxide as themain anti-fouling agent，compounded with some organic antifouling agents was the best choicefor spectral antifouling coatings. At the same time，the research progress of natural antifoulingagent was also reviewed. There were many research achievements in the field of naturalantifouling agents. Although there were many problems of natural antifouling agent，such as low toxicity，poor broad spectrum，and difficulty in mass production，it was still considered as the key research direction in the future.