In recent years, Agave has shown its potential as a bioenergy feedstock with a higher land productivity (up to 42 ton/ha year) than traditional feedstocks. Other features are its adaptation mechanism to high temperatures and its resistance to drought. The agronomics of Agave in Mexico are discussed, including total land planted, inputs required, and the harvesting and transport costs. Heating values, mineral concentration, and carbohydrate and lignin content show the potential of the Agave species to compete with current bioenergy crops. Currently, the pre-treatment of Agave is the most widely studied stage in biofuels and value-added products, which include technologies capable of reducing its recalcitrance while removing xylan and/or lignin and reducing cellulose crystallinity, among other effects, to increase the overall yield in saccharification and fermentation, which will be discussed as well. In addition to spirits and fibers from industrial interests, different liquid (ethanol and n-butanol) and gaseous (methane and hydrogen) biofuels, including certain value-added products (enzymes, lactic acid, and succinic acid), can be obtained from Agave in high yields. The main objective of this review is to address the recent advances in the utilization of Agave as a bioenergy feedstock for biofuels and value-added products within a sustainable biorefinery scheme. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]