The invention relates to an additive for a zinc-based battery. The additive for the zinc-based battery is characterized in that the additive is one of metal, alloy and oxides or hydroxides of the metals and the alloy or more; the metal is one of gallium, indium, tin, lead and bismuth or more; the alloy is one of binary or multielement alloys of gallium, indium, tin, lead and bismuth or more; the metal oxide is one of oxides of gallium, indium, tin, lead and bismuth or more; the hydroxide is one of hydroxide of gallium, indium, tin, lead and bismuth or more. After the additive is used, the cycle life of the zinc-based battery is more than 500 times, and the zinc-based battery can be stably charged and discharged at the rate of 0.1-50C. The additive has the advantages that the raw materialsare easy to prepare, and the zinc dendritic crystal inhibition capability is high; and the battery shows excellent electrochemical performance and cycling stability, and can be widely applied to various portable electronic equipment, electric vehicles, aerospace and other fields.