Water-based cutting fluid has a broad application area and a hundred year history, but its poor corrosioninhibition and anti-rust ability limit its further promotion. Adding corrosion inhibitors can effectively solve the aboveproblems. However, no review papers are available on cutting fluid corrosion inhibitors, and their mechanism, suitability,and performance influencing factors have not been revealed. This article discusses cutting fluid corrosion inhibitorsto fill the gaps in theoretical research and industrial applications. Inorganic matters are initially used in corrosion inhibitiondue to their strong oxidizing properties. Therefore, the film formation mechanism of inorganic corrosion inhibitoroxide and precipitation film is first analyzed, and the applications in corrosive medium are summarized. Given thatinorganic corrosion inhibitors are not environmentally friendly and expensive, organic corrosion inhibitors are currentlyused as replacement. Thus, the film formation mechanism of different organic corrosion inhibitors adsorptionfilm is analyzed, and their suitability with metals is determined. The influence of molecular structure and temperatureon their corrosion inhibition effect is also studied, and the performance of inorganic and organic corrosion inhibitors iscompared. However, single organic corrosion inhibitors are greatly affected by metal surface state, temperature, andimmersion time. Therefore, the synergistic film formation after the compounding of organic and inorganic corrosioninhibitors is analyzed. In addition, the influence rate of concentration, molecular structure, and temperature on corrosioninhibition performance is revealed, and a matching database of corrosion inhibitor type and metal type in cuttingis established. Finally, in view of the limitations of cutting fluid corrosion inhibitors, the establishment of a moleculardynamics model of corrosion inhibitor failure and accelerates corrosion and the development of general-purpose greenadditives based on the molecular design and physical and chemical analysis of the suitability of corrosion inhibitor andbase liquid are prospected.