Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) has attracted considerable attention due to its special structure and properties, such as its good chemical and thermal stability under ambient conditions, low cost and non-toxicity, and facile synthesis. Recently, g-C 3 N 4 -based sensors have been demonstrated to be of high interests in the areas of sensing due to the unique optical, electronic and catalytic properties of g-C 3 N 4 . This review focuses on the most salient advances in luminescent sensors based on g-C 3 N 4 , chemiluminescence, cataluminescence and electrochemiluminescence methods are discussed. This review provides valuable information for researchers of related areas and thus may inspire the development of more practical and effective approaches for designing two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterial-assisted luminescent sensors.