Carbon fiber reinforced plastics is composed of carbon fiber and resin matrix. Owing to the big difference in thermal properties between the carbon fiber and matrix, the laser processing of carbon fiber reinforced plastics in the air will cause damage problems such as large heat affected zone, fiber expansion, fiber pull-out and section material delamination, etc. Therefore, the control of its thermal damage has become a key issue in the laser processing of carbon fiber reinforced plastics. This paper reviews the current domestic and overseas research status of carbon fiber reinforced plastics composite processed with laser, which focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of the two processing methods, i.e., under gas-assisted and water-assisted lasers. Finally, this paper analyzes and summarizes the quality of laser processing in the two cases. In the aid of gas, different types of gas, pressures, phosgene coaxial and paraxial assist will bring different processing effects. There are three forms of water assisted, i.e., water jet, water layer and water conduction processing. This paper summarizes the mechanism of gas/liquid assisted laser processing of carbon fiber reinforced plastics, which aims to balance the difference in the absorption of laser energy between carbon fiber and matrix. This paper can provide a reference for laser low-damage processing of carbon fiber reinforced plastics.