<p>The growing concerns about climate change have intensified the efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Investing in renewable fuels is a viable option as they can effectively reduce the dependency on fossil fuels, consequently lowering GHG emissions. Among the alternatives, ethanol stands out as the most feasible solution, whether as a standalone fuel or fuel additive. To fully leverage the benefits of ethanol as a biofuel in internal combustion engines (ICEs), precise and trustworthy kinetics mechanisms for its oxidation and pyrolysis are required. However, despite significant advancements in chemical kinetics and the availability of several detailed kinetic mechanisms with varying numbers of reactions and species, the models still have inherent limitations. Depending on the simulation conditions, the results may not always meet the expected level of accuracy. While numerous articles delve into the development and assessment of chemical kinetic mechanisms for ethanol, a dedicated overview of these mechanisms emphasizing their weaknesses and strengths remains lacking. Therefore, this paper aims to fill this gap by reviewing detailed kinetics mechanisms for ethanol oxidation and pyrolysis, highlighting the disparities in reactions, species, and combustion chemistry between them. For such, seven kinetics models were chosen, including Aramco v3.0 (Aramco), Mittal mechanism, Creck, LLNL, San Diego, Zhang mechanism, and PCRL-1. Overall, this work contributes to an enhanced understanding of ethanol combustion chemistry, shedding light on areas that require further investigation.</p>