<p>The surge in electricity demand and the pursuit of sustainability position organic batteries as potential alternatives to conventional inorganic systems. In this Review, we quantitatively and mechanistically analyse the inherent characteristics of organic materials in comparison to inorganic materials and compare the electrochemical performance of organic and inorganic batteries. Owing to their weak intermolecular interactions (bond energy &lt;100 kJ mol⁻¹), light weight (density &lt;2 g cm⁻³), high flexibility (Young’s modulus &lt;10 GPa), high and non-selective ion diffusion coefficients (up to 10⁻⁸–10⁻⁹cm²s⁻¹), low synthesis temperatures (&lt;200 °C) and potentially high specific capacity, organic batteries might find application in high-specific-energy, large-scale, flexible devices or operating under extreme conditions such as ultrafast charging (higher than 10 C) and a wide temperature range (from −60 °C to 70 °C). Designability of organic electrode materials offers flexibility to tailor the properties of active materials to the requirements of different applications. Moreover, the optimization of the components and design packaging of organic batteries should also be considered in the development of large-scale cells. To advance practical applications, more attention should be paid to the sustainability, scalability and implementation aspects of organic batteries as well as performance standards, policies and regulations.</p>