Conventional Portland cement concrete, OPC, is one of the most used materials in general, and its production has a negative impact on the environment, contributing to the total anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Although it has been the main building material for decades, it is known that it does not show sufficient resistance in aggressive environments. In the last couple of decades, alternative binders have been developed in order to reduce the ecological footprint, but also to improve the properties of concrete, especially reinforced concrete in an aggressive environment. One of the solutions are alkali-activated binders, which are completely cement-free binders. Alkaline-activated materials, AAM, are composed of alumino-silicate precursor material, usually a by-product of various industries such as fly ash and slag, activated with highly alkaline solutions. Due to the massive exploitation of slag and fly ash in concrete, and the coal-fired thermal power plants are being shut down, stocks of "standard" precursors are decreasing and it is necessary to find alternatives. Recently, more and more attention has been paid to the by-product of the aluminum industry, red mud. With its physical and chemical properties, red mud shows great potential for use in the construction industry. In this research a brief state of the art survey on red mud, alkali-activated binders based on various precursors and durability of such materials was given. In the experimental part of the work, the compressive strength, consistency, chloride penetration, electrical resistance and corrosion behavior of steel in AAMs based on fly ash and slag, in which part of the precursor was replaced by red mud, were examined.