Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global public health emergency threatening people's lives around the world. Although the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) induced by COVID-19 is similar to the ARDS caused by other diseases in terms of pathophysiological basis and clinical manifestations, they are also different in many aspects, which lead to different clinical therapies. Therefore, understanding the differences and similarities of ARDS induced by COVID-19 and other diseases currently are the basis for clinicians to make decisions for the treatment of COVID-19 induced ARDS.