Aerobic composting is an effective way to recycle solid waste. Composting promotes the transformation of degradable organic matter in solid waste into mature manure, precursors of humic substances, by microorganisms widely existed in nature, so as to provide nutrient rich fertilizer for the growth of crops. The community and function of microorganisms play a key role in the successful progress of composting. In recent years, with the vigorous development of molecular biology technology, the succession of microbial community in each stage of composting process has been studied more deeply. Thus, we have a deeper understanding of the metabolic function and functional groups of microorganisms in the composting process. The succession law of microbial community in different stages of composting can be summarized as follows: from mesophilic bacteria and fungi to cellulose decomposing bacteria, then cellulose decomposing bacteria, finally lignin decomposing bacteria. These studies will help us develop microbial additives and improve the efficiency of composting. This paper systematically summarizes the research progress of these molecular biology technologies applied in studies on the microbial community of composting, summarizes the research results of succession changes of microbial community in all stages of composting in recent years, introduces the application of microbial additives in aerobic composting, and prospects the future development of microbial additives.