Carbon membranes are known for their high performance in the separation of gases, particularly for gases with similar kinetic diameter. For this reason, the investigation of carbon membranes continues to increase their performance by tweaking the formulation and heating strategy. One of the formulation aspects is polymer selection, which plays an important role in determining the success of producing carbon membrane with acceptable performance. This is because each polymer has its own characteristics, which then determines the method to be used to synthesize the carbon membrane. Four types of polymers were identified to produce carbon membranes, which are based on non-modified polymer solutions, modified polymer or polymer solutions, non-commercial organic materials and natural polymers such as natural cellulose. This review discusses the overview performances provided by each material.