Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) still has a heavy disease burden in our country. Severe patients often fail to receive treatment due to excessive inflammatory response. As an adjunctive therapy, glucocorticoids inhibit the inflammatory cytokines and attenuate the cytokine storm through multiple mechanisms. It has demonstrated clinical benefits in severely ill patients such as reduced mortality and shortened duration of mechanical ventilation. However, their efficacy remains uncertain in non-severe CAP patients. It may increase the risks of hyperglycemia and secondary infections. Current domestic and international guidelines recommend that glucocorticoids can be used only for severe CAP. The benefits and risks require individualized assessment. Future research needs to further clarify the patients most likely to benefit, the optimal drug dose, and duration of treatment as well as combination therapy options. It also needs continuously to monitor the new evidence.