Lightweight, highly efficient, thermal stable microwave absorption materials are highly desirable but challenging for electromagnetic protection. Impedance matching and electromagnetic loss are two crucial factors for the microwave absorption materials design. Here, we successfully designed and synthesized a lightweight (31.5 mg/cm³) and porous NiCo₂O₄@carbon nanotubes (CNTs) hybrid sponge (NiCo₂O₄@CNTs) based on N-doped and Fe-filled CNTs. The as-prepared NiCo₂O₄@CNTs shows high thermal stability (>500 °C) and excellent microwave absorption properties with a minimum reflection loss value of - 45.1 dB at 9.0 GHz for absorber thickness of 2.5 mm. Moreover, the maximum absorption peak frequency and effective microwave absorption region (<10 dB) can be controlled in the range of 4.0–16.0 GHz by varying the thickness of the absorber. The highly efficient electromagnetic absorption performance of the sponge is mainly attributed to the high dipolar polarization, interfacial polarization loss and suitable impedance matching characteristic. These results indicate that the NiCo₂O₄@CNTs sponge can serve as the lightweight, highly efficient, and high temperature resistant microwave absorption materials.