The recent research progress of the proton-exchange membranes for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) including the requests and the methods were briefly reviewed in this paper. The details of the Nafion membrane and its modifications, the arylene main chain polymers such as polybenzimidazole (PBI), polyetherketone (PEEK) and polyethersulfone (PSU) membranes and their modifications, based on the structures of the membrane materials, were especially described. The research methods and their development foreground of the proton-exchange membranes were also discussed.