Low-mass star-formation studies deal with the birth of individual solar-type stars as it occurs in nearby molecular clouds. While this isolated mode of star formation may not represent the most common form of stellar birth, its study often provides rst evidence for the general ingredients of star formation, such as gravitational infall, disk formation, or out ow acceleration. Here I brie y review the current status and the main challenges in our understanding of low-mass star formation, with emphasis in the still mysterious pre-stellar phase. In addition to presenting by-now classical work, I also show how ALMA is starting to play a decisive role driving progress in this eld.