The importance of the interdependence between water and energy is well recognized. It is important to develop energy-efficient desalination technologies for turning salt water into freshwater. Capacitive deionization (CDI) with nanoporous carbon materials is a promising desalination process to remove salt ions from aqueous water due to its low energy input, low fouling potential, and environmental friendliness. In CDI, the mechanism is based on the charge separation and capacitive electrosorption, in which ions can be electrostatically held within the charged pores of nanoporous carbon electrodes by electrical double layer formation. Most recently, many efforts have been made on the development of novel carbon-based materials for high-performance electrosorption of salt ions. In this review, three major categories of nanoporous carbon-based composite electrodes, including carbon-carbon composites, carbon-metal oxide composites, carbon- polymer composites, are presented for CDI applications.