Due to its beneficial corrosion resistance, stainless steel is widely used in, e.g., biomedical applications, as surfaces in food contact, and for products intended to come into skin contact. Low levels of metals can be released from the stainless steel surface into solution, even for these highly corrosion resistant alloys. This needs to be considered in risk assessment and management. This review aims to compile the different metal release mechanisms that are relevant for stainless steel when used in different biological settings. These mechanisms include corrosion-induced metal release, dissolution of the surface oxide, friction-induced metal release, and their combinations. The influence of important physicochemical surface properties, different organic species and proteins in solution, and of biofilm formation on corrosion-induced metal release is discussed. Chemical and electrochemical dissolution mechanisms of the surface oxides of stainless steel are presented with a focus on protonation, complexation/ligand-induced dissolution, and reductive dissolution by applying a perspective on surface adsorption of complexing or reducing ligands and proteins. The influence of alloy composition, microstructure, route of manufacture, and surface finish on the metal release process is furthermore discussed as well as the chemical speciation of released metals. Typical metal release patterns are summarized.