Concrete composed of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) as its primary binder is widely used as a construction material. Its widespread use in the construction industry contributes substantially to CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. The use of recycled industrial byproducts as binders emerged as sustainable alternatives to OPC, reducing CO2 emissions and conserving landfill space. Among industrial byproducts, fly ash and slag are commonly used binders. This article evaluates the carbonation resistance of concretes with alkali-activated fly ash/slag binders, comparing their performance with OPC-based concretes. Both natural and accelerated carbonation tests were evaluated across various studies to assess concrete performance against carbonation. The properties of alkali-activated concrete that influence carbonation rate and depth, including the nature of the precursor, binder composition, activator type, and concentration, relative humidity, curing regime, and testing conditions were discussed. Generally, concrete with alkali-activated fly ash/slag systems undergo different carbonation processes compared to concrete with OPC binders, leading to variations in their carbonation resistance. In OPC-based concrete, the fundamental carbonation reaction involves combining CO2 with portlandite to produce calcium carbonate in larger quantities than carbonation of alkali-activated concrete. Carbonation of mortar with alkali-activated slag binder involves decalcification of the C–A–S–H gel, while carbonation of fly ash binder forms bicarbonate salts but leaves N–A–S–H gel unaffected.