Summary As global warming is becoming a pressing issue, H 2 as an alternative clean fuel has gained importance. The utilisation of solar energy for water splitting paves a way for environmentally friendly H 2 generation. The review discusses recent developments in photocatalytic water splitting for H 2 production with conjugated polymers, g-C 3 N 4 , graphene, other carbon-based photocatalysts, earth-abundant metal-based photocatalysts and co-catalysts. The need for inexpensive, non-toxic, corrosion resistant and earth-abundant material-based photocatalyst has been emphasised. Strategies for performance enhancement and development in field of photocatalytic reactors for H 2 production are reviewed. The importance of design of photocatalyst along with photocatalytic reactor, challenges related to efficiency of photocatalytic process and assessment and comparison of activities of photocatalysts for scalable and economically viable H 2 generation are highlighted.