Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a kind of material which are able to integrate functional groups on their framework backbones. The tunable functionalities let MOFs be applied in various fields of luminescence, gas storage, sensing, magnetics, catalysis and biomedical imaging. Because of their interesting properties of structural robustness, catalysis, charge and energy transformations, using porphyrins and metalloporphyrins as synthons for the fabrication of functional MOFs has attracted considerable interest. Many efficient strategies have been established for the construction of functional porphyrinic MOFs, and some of them present interesting properties for potential applications. This perspective is aimed to summarize recent progress on porphyrinic MOFs, including new synthesis strategies and applications.