A serum-free cartilage cell culture solution is obtained by adding exogenous additives to a basic culture solution. The basic culture solution is a DMEM culture solution or an F12 culture solution or a DMEM culture solution-F12 culture solution mixed culture solution, and the exogenous additives are nonessential amino acids, glucan, vitamin C, glutamine, sodium pyruvate, insulin or insulin-like growth factor, transferrin, growth hormone, triiodothyronine, hydrocortisone, dexamethasone, sodium selenite, beta-mercaptoethanol, lipid concentrate, progesterone, succinimide, a basic fibroblast growth factor, an epidermal growth factor, a transforming growth factor, a bone morphogenetic protein and a platelet derived growth factor respectively. The serum-free cartilage cell solution can avoid potential risks due to the use of serum, improves the extracellular matrix secreting ability of cartilage cells, makes the growth propagation state approach the growth propagation state of the cells in a serum-containing culture solution, and allows the dedifferentiation rate and the matrix secreting ability of low density inoculation cartilage cells to be obviously better than those of the cells in the serum-containing culture solution respectively.