Cr coating has been widely used in industry because of its excellent performance. However, Cr (VI) compounds have carcinogenic effect, coating of good tribological property and corrosion resistance shall be found to replace electroplated Cr (VI). As one of the substitutes of Cr (VI) coating, Co-P alloy coating has become a new development of composite materials and is increasingly concerned and studied by people due to its unique physical and chemical properties. After heat treatment, hardness of the Co-P alloy coating could be up to 1224 HV, which was comparable to that of the hard Cr coating. Compared with other coatings (such as pure Ni, pure Co, Ni-P, Ni-Fe, Ni-Co, etc.), the Co-P alloy coating exhibited better thermal stability. In thermal cycle, Co-P alloy was subject to plastic deformation→hot cracking→substrate detachment→substrate damage as cycle indices increased. the Co-P alloy coating was uniform and compact, free from local effects including pitting, which greatly improved corrosion resistance of the coating. Corrosion resistance of high P coating was better than that of low P coating, that of amorphous Co-P alloy coating was better than that of crystalline Co-P alloy coating. Friction and wear properties of Co-P alloy coating was greatly improved compared with pure Co coating, but abrasion resistance improved slightly when the P content exceeded 2wt.%. There was schistose domain in the Co-P alloy coating, spontaneous magnetization direction was parallel with Co grain easy magnetization direction, and the thicker the coating was, the stronger the tendency of the spontaneous magnetization would be. However, in the process of preparing Co-P alloy coating, problems such as preparation and preservation of the plating solution, and incomplete waste liquor recovery-treatment-recycling have not arouse enough attention. The research status of hardness, thermal stability, corrosion resistance, high temperature abrasion resistance and magnetic properties of Co-P alloy coating were reviewed.