Because of their excellent optical and electrical properties and the special band structure, topological insulators have great prospects in the development of high-performance broadband photodetectors. However, owing to the late discovery of topological insulators, research based on them, in the field of photodetectors, is still in its early stages. Therefore, there are several problems that need to be resolved, such as the preparation of topological insulator materials of a higher quality. This review summarizes the development of topological insulator materials and further delineates the research progress of photodetectors, based on topological insulator materials from the perspective of material preparations and material systems; furthermore, it details the prospects for the development of topological insulator materials in the field of photodetectors.