The non-azide gas generating composition is a hot research topic due to its many features, such as high nitrogen content, fast burning rate, good stability, non-toxicity, and green environmental protection. It is widely applied in airbag, spacecraft, fire fighting and other fields. In this paper, compared with the traditional azide gas generating composition, the properties of azole, azine, guanidine and azoic gas generating compositions are analyzed in detail; the progresses in the synthesis, the characterization and the application are reviewed; the formulas and characteristic parameters are discussed. It is found that the non-azide gas generating composition has not completely replaced the traditional azide gas generating composition, despite its superior properties in many aspects, because of factors like the high price,the excessive heat of combustion, and the high temperature. Therefore it is necessary to develop a more environment friendly,, non-toxic, effective, cheaper and practical non-azide gas generating composition.