Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world, with poor prognosis and is the main cause of cancer-related death. The 5-year survival rate of early gastric cancer can reach 90%. However, due to the low diagnosis rate of early gastric cancer, most patients are diagnosed as advanced gastric cancer at the first visit. Therefore, in order to improve the survival rate of gastric cancer patients, early diagnosis is particularly important. At present, tumor serum markers such as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), antibodies to Helicobacter pylori, histopathology, endoscopy, and determination of digestiogen are the main methods for the diagnosis and evaluation of gastric cancer. However, the effectiveness and sensitivity of these methods in the diagnosis of early gastric cancer are low. Therefore, it is of great significance to find new biomarkers with higher sensitivity and specificity for early diagnosis of gastric cancer. MiRNAs are abnormally expressed in many cancers, and some miR-NAs are closely related to tumor development, progression and treatment. Therefore, miRNAs may be used as biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of cancer in the future. In this review, the authors summarized the research progress of miRNAs in the development, early diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer, in order to provide new ideas for the future clinical treatment of gastric cancer.