Synthetic organic chemists have a long-standing appreciation for transition metal cyclopentadienyl complexes, of which many have been used as catalysts for organic transformations. Much less well known are the contributions of the benzo-fuzed relative of the cyclopentadienyl ligand, the indenyl ligand, whose unique properties have in many cases imparted differential reactivity in catalytic processes toward the synthesis of small molecules. In this review, we will present examples of indenylmetal complexes in catalysis and compare their reactivity to their cyclopentadienyl analogues, wherever possible.