Chatter vibrations encountered in machining can degrade surface finish and damage the machining hardware. Since chatter originates from unstable interaction of the machining process and the machining structure, information about vibration parameters of the machining structure should be used to predict combinations of cutting parameters that allow stable machining. While modal test methods, for example those with impact hammers, are widely used to identify structural parameters; the need for sophisticated test equipment is prohibitive in their use. Furthermore, dynamic properties of critical components of a machine tool may change as they get affected by cutting loads, material removal and spindle rotation. Recently few algorithms have been proposed that identify the in-process dynamic parameters by frequency measurements, thus avoiding these problems. In this paper, some of these algorithms are reviewed and their capabilities and limitations in processing am experimental data set are compared and discussed. © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.