Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a severe systemic inflammatory disease. It is often associated with serious cartilage destruction and massive inflammatory infiltration, which might ultimately cause disability, wide complications and reduced life quality. Current clinical treatments of RA show several drawbacks such as high doses, frequent administration and serious side effects. These limitations have motivated tremendous expansion of the research and application of nanomedicines in RA therapy. In this review, we summarize the cutting edge progress in nanomedicines for the treatment of RA and discuss the application of various targeting strategies. Additionally, we also discuss the pivotal challenges to be addressed, as well as future perspectives.