Because of its high carbon content and easy graphitization, pitch is a promising precursor for carbon materials. To produce carbon materials with the desired performance, it is necessary to overcome the inherent shortcomings of pitch. For example, its complex composition and easy melting make it difficult to control the structure of the resulting carbon materials. Recently, researchers have proposed several methods to control the structure of carbon materials produced from pitch for energy storage. The latest advances in the structural design and preparation of pitch-based carbon materials for use in energy storage devices such as supercapacitors and alkali metal ion batteries are reviewed.