Water pollution is one of the serious global issues caused by expanding urbanization and industrialization. Over the last few decades, various adsorbents have been developed to improve water quality and address future challenges of water pollution. Among them, the development of hydrogel-based adsorbents has received significant attention due to their hydrophilic nature, 3D formation, high porosity, non-toxic properties, reusability, and multifunctionality. Therefore, this review provides various types and characterizations of hydrogel and summarizes recent progress in the use of hydrogel adsorbents for the removal of water contaminants. Further, we introduced the preparation of hydrogel-based adsorbents, their adsorption capacity, and the development of multifunctional adsorbents for discussing the future direction of advanced adsorbents.