Direct dehydrogenation with high selectivity and oxidative dehydrogenation with low thermal limit has been regarded as promising methods to solve the increasing demands of light olefins and styrene. Metal-based catalysts have shown remarkable performance for these reactions, such as Pt, CrO_x, Co, ZrO_x, Zn and V. Compared with metal-based catalysts, carbon materials with stable structure, rich pore texture and large surface area, are ideal platforms as the catalysts and the supports for dehydrogenation reactions. In this review, carbon materials applied in direct dehydrogenation and oxidative dehydrogenation reactions including ordered mesoporous carbon, carbon nanodiamond, carbon nanotubes, graphene and activated carbon, are summarized. A general introduction to the dehydrogenation mechanism and active sites of carbon catalysts is briefly presented to provide a deep understanding of the carbon-based materials used in dehydrogenation reactions. The unique structure of each carbon material is presented, and the diversified synthesis methods of carbon catalysts are clarified. The approaches for promoting the catalytic activity of carbon catalysts are elaborated with respect to preparation method optimization, suitable structure design and heteroatom doping. The regeneration mechanism of carbon-based catalysts is discussed for providing guidance on catalytic performance enhancement. In addition, carbon materials as the support of metal-based catalysts contribute to exploiting the excellent catalytic performance of catalysts due to superior structural characteristics. In the end, the challenges in current research and strategies for future improvements are proposed.