Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic and systemic autoimmune disease with aggressive and symmetrical polyarthritis as the main clinical manifestation, which has a considerably high incidence and mortality. In clinics, traditional drug therapy often produces toxicity to gastrointestinal and immunosuppression-mediated infection, which has greatly promoted the research and application of drugs based on nanomaterials in the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. In recent years, nanotechnology has shown great advantages in developing novel therapeutic and diagnostic systems in the field of inflammation-related diseases. Among them, metal nanoparticles can be applied as therapeutic agents and drug delivery vectors for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as well as achieve quantitative analysis of RA markers rapidly attributed to the extra optical and magnetic effects of metal nanoparticles. The purpose of this review is to introduce the application of metal nanoparticles in rheumatoid arthritis, focusing on its latest progress, challenges, and future development prospects.