A random access method and a terminal are provided. The random access method comprises: receiving random access mechanism configuration information sent by a base station, wherein the random access mechanism configuration information includes a random access type and random access time-frequency resource information corresponding to the random access type, and the random access type includes a first random access mechanism and/or a second random access mechanism; and performing a random access process of the first random access mechanism or the second random access mechanism according to the random access mechanism configuration information.