There are mainly two types of preclinical models available for experimental research of colorectal cancer at present, namely, colorectal cancer cell lines (CCL), and patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDTX). They have many advantages in understanding the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer, but meanwhile inevitably possess some limitations and flaws. The newly developed organoid models not only play significant role in inducing intestinal stem cell differentiation and mimicking intestinal diseases, but also in anti-colorectal cancer drug screening and investigations of cancer signaling pathways, and may become a next-generation preclinical models for cancer research. The organoid models could be supplemented with CCL and PDTX for further improvement of the basic research of colorectal cancer. Here, the authors review the role and progress of organoid models in colorectal cancer research.