Fuel cells, especially proton exchange membrane fuel cells, are considered promising and an attractive replacement for existing sources of energy. Despite the high potential of proton exchange membrane fuel cells as an environmental friendly alternative energy source, high cost and limited durability hinder its production for commercial application. Progress, however, has been made over the past few years on ways to achieve the commercialization of this alternative energy source by reducing the cost of the cell contents consisting of the electrode, the flow field plate, and membrane. This review gives an assessment of the benefits and shortcomings of the respective membrane types and the future direction most promising for the development of the proton exchange membrane fuel cells for commercialization.