The work summarized research status, existing problem and development direction of self-lubricating coatings by laser cladding from four aspects including material design, preparation process, performance optimization, etc. based on practical examples of self-lubricating coating. The tribological properties of common solid lubricants were summarized and the research progress on how to choose self-lubricating materials and encapsulation technology and lubrication on wide temperature ranges was explained briefly. The relationship between soft lubricating phase and hard wear-resistant phase in self-lubricating coatings by laser cladding was discussed and the influence of the material proportion on tribological performance of coating was analyzed. The cause of the crack and the common means of improving coating quality were analyzed briefly. The influence of laser process parameters on the volume fraction and distribution of lubrication phases in coatings was discussed emphatically. The application of coating by laser cladding in engineering was also summarized to provide reference for laser cladding technology. The self-lubricating coating by laser cladding has took shape in application, but still has large development space in terms of failure and protection of lubricants, research and application of new materials, optimization of fabrication process and tribological experiment study in special environment.