For millions of people living in developing countries like Sub-Saharan Africa, biomass cookstoves are a lifeline. Innumerable households rely solely on these stoves for their energy needs. This review article explores the current status, potential, problems, and prospects for biomass cookstoves in the future. The paper examines various types of biomass cookstoves, including traditional and improved, forced-draft and natural-draft, as well as mono-functional and multifunctional stoves, highlighting technological advancements in combustion efficiency, thermal output, and fuel utilization. Additionally, it presents the testing protocols used to evaluate the performance of these cookstoves. Traditional biomass cookstoves are unquestionably widely used, but they pose serious problems such as health risks and environmental degradation. These stoves’ indoor air pollution causes respiratory problems, and their increased need for wood fuels hastens deforestation, which increases carbon emissions. Improvements in stove design have showed promise in spite of these shortcomings. Although reducing emissions and increasing efficiency are important goals, socio-economic barriers prevent their widespread adoption. There are lots of intriguing opportunities to enhance stove performance through the investigation of novel materials and sustainable biomass sources. The main purpose of this review paper is to show the challenges and opportunities of biomass cookstove from different perspectives. Types of biomass cookstoves, international testing protocols, and barriers of improved biomass cookstoves dissemination and design considerations that should be taken into account during biomass cookstove designs are clearly stated. Finally, a recommendation for future research works are highlighted.