Introduction: Plasmodium vivax has accounted for an enormous share of the global malaria burden in recent years, along with Plasmodium falciparum. The wide distribution of P. vivax and recent evidences of severe and complicated vivax malaria across several endemic regions of the world suggest that this disease may have been more overlooked than benign. While P. falciparum has been extensively studied, P. vivax has received limited research attention owing to its complex nature and absence of a continuous culture system. Areas covered: This review briefly describes the epidemiology of vivax malaria, analyzes challenges towards effective control and summarizes major insights provided by genomics and transcriptomics research in the area. Subsequently, the review provides a detailed description of the applications of proteomics in vivax malaria research, focusing on both host responses and parasite proteomics studies to understand P. vivax biology. Expert commentary: In recent years, proteomics technologies are being used effectively to understand P. vivax biology and the underlying pathogenesis. Technological advances in mass spectrometry configurations, multiomics investigations and emerging strategies such as targeted proteomics may also immensely aid in studying disease severity, improving existing diagnosis and identifying new drug and vaccine targets. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.