Snakebite is a major socio-medical problem affecting many communities globally, especially African and Asian countries. It is still depending on the usage of antisera as the major source of treatment, which has its limitations. In many rural communities, health care facilities are inadequate and victims of snakebites mostly depend on traditional healers for herbal antidotes as an alternative treatment. This review has focused on the mechanisms of action of the animal derived anivenoms (antisera or antivenins) as well as those derived from plant resources (phyto-antivenoms). Antigen-antibody reaction is the basic mechanism of snake venom neutralization by the antivenins, but for the phyto-antivenoms, there are many hypotheses proposed on how the herbal compounds neutralize the toxic venom constituents. These include; protein precipitation, enzyme inactivation, chelation activity, adjuvant action, antioxidant activity, combination of these activities, etc. The review might be a stepping stone in establishing an effective and widely acceptable future therapy against snakebite treatment and management