Medical devices and surgical implants are necessary for tissue engineering and regenerative medicines. However, the biofouling and microbial colonization on the implant surface continues to be a major concern, which is difficult to eradicate and typically necessitates either antibiotic therapy or implant removal. As a result, efficient and eco-friendly bioinspired coating strategies for tethering functional materials or molecules on different medical substrates are highly desirable, especially for endowing versatile surface functionalities. Tannic acid (TA), a well-known tea stain polyphenol, has a good affinity for various substrates and actively inhibits the adhesion and colonization of microbes. Thus, functionalization of polymers, nanomaterials, metal-phenolic networks (MPNs), and proteins using TA bestows the end-products with unique binding or anchoring abilities on various implantable surfaces. This review addresses the recent advancements in the essential biomedical perspective of TA-based bioinspired universal surface coating technologies by focusing on their intrinsic features and ability to produce engineered functional composites. Further, the possible contributions of TA-based composites in antifouling and antibacterial applications on various biomedical substrates are outlined.