Abstract: As a main raw material for metal additive manufacturing, spherical metal powder characteristics play an important role in the performance of additive manufacturing parts. The efficient preparation of high-quality spherical metal powder has become an important development direction to promote the upgrading of additive manufacturing technologies and industrial applications. The main preparation methods of spherical metal powder including gas atomization, plasma rotating electrode atomization and plasma atomization are introduced. The technical principle and the influence of important process parameters on powder characteristics are discussed, and the future development direction of these three types of technologies is prospected.