The current pandemic of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2) has raised significant public health concern. Rapid, affordable, and accurate diagnostics of SARS-CoV-2 is essential for early treatment and control of the disease spread. In the past few years, CRISPR technology has shown great potential for highly sensitive and specific molecular diagnostics. Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increasing interest in implementing CRISPR-based diagnostic principles to develop fast and precise methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2. In this work, we reviewed and summarized these CRISPR-based diagnostic systems as well as their characteristics and challenges. We also provided future perspectives of CRISPR-based sensing towards point-of-care molecular diagnosis applications. • CRISPR systems offer a sensitive and specific approach for SARS-CoV-2 detection. • Cas12 and Cas13 proteins are predominately used effectors in the SARS-CoV-2 CRISPR assays. • Reviewed and benchmarked the SARS-CoV-2 CRISPR assay from the sample to the result. • Presented future research perspectives for CRISPR-based SARS-CoV-2 detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]