Biomass is increasingly used as a source of fuels and chemicals as a renewable alternative to fossil feedstocks. Cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin are converted into platform chemicals from which a large range of compounds are derived with different structures. These biomass transformation processes require the use of efficient and durable catalysts that should drive the selectivity of the process. This review focuses on the use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and derivatives as catalysts for biomass conversion. After an introduction setting up the importance of the field and the MOF features that justify their prevalence as heterogeneous catalysts for liquid phase reactions, the two main parts of the review are the description of MOF synthesis and adaptation and coverage of the catalytic reactions involving biomass substrates organized according to the type of MOF. The last section summarizes the current state of the art and our outlook for the future development of the field.