This paper summarizes the latest progress for vegetable oil-based polyurethanes mainly from the view of thermoset and thermoplastic. Firstly, the modification methods for traditional thermoset polyurethane are introduced, including physical modification methods (filling and alloying) and chemical modification methods (copolymerization grafting, crosslinking and interpenetrating polymer network). Materials used for physical modification mainly contain inorganic materials such as SiO₂ and organic substances such as cellulose. Grafting copolymerization of styrene, acrylate and other monomers with polyurethane is the main method of chemical modification. The characteristics, preparations and application fields of thermoplastic polyurethane are reviewed, and the preparations, performances and applications of oleic acid-based thermoplastic polyurethane are chiefly presented. The development prospects of vegetable oil-based polyurethane are put forward. Surface-initiated living polymerization and other methods are used to controllable chemical modification of the traditional thermoset polyurethane and click chemistry method is uesd to promote multi-functionalization of the thermoplastic polyurethane.