Acute lung injury ( ALI) is one of the many life-threatening complications of sepsis, but its pathogenesis is still unclear. Establishing a stable and reliable preclinical model of sepsis ALI is a productive way to clarify its pathogenesis, explore potential therapeutic targets, and detect the safety and therapeutic effects of newly developed drugs. At present, the animal model of sepsis ALI in vivo is relatively mature. With improvements in scientific research technology, researchers around the world have built a variety of different cell models and lung organ chip models for studying the disease. In this paper, the research progress of three preclinical models of sepsis-related ALI, including animal, cell and lung-on-a-chip models, will be reviewed to provide a reference for those optimizing and selecting experimental models.