Defects and damage during the manufacture of composites or metal parts are inevitable. Therefore, non-destructive testing is essential to prevent failure and increase the reliability of composite structures or metal components. Non-destructive thermography technologies have shown many advantages in this regard. In the thermography technology, the temperature variation of the external surface of the work piece was determined by receiving the radiated infrared waves. These waves indicated the point temperature precisely. In this paper, a compelet and comprehensive study of non-destructive infrared thermgraphy test methods for metal and composite inspection, detailed analysis was performed and the developments of infrared therapeutic technologies were investigated. First, the basic concepts for non-destructive test theramography were introduced. Then different types of thermography with radiation stimulation are described and compared. In the following, research examples of the application of thermography methods and some of the strengths and limitations of thermography technologies were compared and described in detail.