This paper presents a detailed and objective review of regenerative flow turbomachines, namely pumps, blowers and compressors. Several aspects of turbomachines like design and operating parameters, working principle, flow behaviour, performance parameters and analytical and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) related details have been reviewed and summarized. Experimental work has been put in perspective and the most useful results for optimized performance have been presented. Consolidated plots of specific speed-specific diameter have been plotted which can be helpful in the early stages of design. Industrial outlook involving details of suppliers from various parts of the world, their product description and applications too are included. Finally, future research work to be carried out to make these machines widespread is suggested. This review is targeted at designer engineers who would need quantitative data to work with. © IMechE 2021.