With the rapid development of molecular techniques, gut microbiota of animals have become a hot topic in the fields of medicine, animal physiology and microbial ecology. Soil animals, with high species diversity and wild distribution, are important organisms playing significantly functional roles in terrestrial ecosystems. Associations of microbiota with their animal hosts are evolutionary products of interactions between the two parties. The animal-associated microbiota may indirectly regulate ecosystem functions by influencing host physiological functions. In the recent years, studies on gut microbiota of soil animals have gained much attention. Here, 1) we summarized the current research progresses in studies on microbial community associated with soil animals:Number of publications of this research field increased, especially in the past decade; most of the gut microbial studies focused on soil model animals; frontiers of the research topics included species composition, co-existence and assembly processes of gut microbial communities. 2) We described microbial compositions in soil animal gut, and introduced the common approaches used in the field:Dominant microbial taxa included Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes; while early work was mainly based on culturing methods, new sequencing technology had advanced the field recently. 3) We described biological and ecological functions provided by gut microbiota:Gut microbiota could help soil animals in digesting compound food resources, participate in host nutrient assimilation, affect host lifetime and reproduction and adjust host immune capacity; they may also indirectly affect gas emission and mediate nutrient cycling in soil ecosystems. 4) We discussed the main drivers, including host attributes and environmental factors, that influenced gut microbiota of soil animals:The gut microbial community was closely related to host intestinal morphology, phylogeny, feeding habits and developmental stages, as well as habitat and environmental pollutants. This review can help to understand composition and diversity of gut microbiota of soil animals and advance our knowledge on the roles played by gut microbiota in soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.