Metal halide perovskites have recently emerged as promising materials for the next generation of optoelectronic devices owing to their remarkable intrinsic properties. In the growth of perovskite crystals, the substrates are essential and play a vital role. Herein, substrate engineering in the growth of perovskite crystals have been reviewed. Particularly, various modified strategies and corresponding mechanism based on the substrate engineering applied to the optimization of thickness, nucleation and growth rate are highlighted. Then the alterable adhesion to substrates will also be discussed. Furthermore, applying the structural coherence of epitaxial crystals with substrate, scalable perovskite single-crystalline thin films have been obtained and can be transferred onto arbitrary substrates. Substrate engineering also can stabilize the desired perovskite phases by modulating the strain between crystals and substrates. Finally, several key challenges and related solutions in the growth of perovskite crystals based on substrate engineering are proposed. This review aims to guide the future of substrate engineering in perovskite crystals for various optoelectronic applications.