Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is prevalent worldwide and represents a serious threat to human life and health with a high morbidity and mortality. Currently, there are no effective curative therapeutics for CKD except hemodialysis and renal transplantation. Stem cells, which are able to self-renew and differentiate into multiple lineages, have been explored as a potentially viable treatment for CKD in recent years. In this review, the potential applications of three types of stem cells for treatment of CKD are briefly summarized, including embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, and mesenchymal stem cells.