The work aims to reduce thermal stress of laser cladding with invar effect of low thermal expansion alloy, and ensure the coating having excellent mechanical properties on the premise of low expansion. A low thermal expansion FeNiCoTiNb coating was successfully fabricated on 316L stainless steel via laser cladding technique. Microstructure, residual stress, CTE, microhardness and wear-resisting property of the coating were analyzed by SEM, EDS, thermal expansion analyzer, friction wear testing machine, etc. The coating was mainly composed of γ-(Fe,Ni) solid solution matrix phase with FCC structure. Cellular or columnar dendritic structure was observed at the coating bottom and equiaxed dendritic structure transformed by cellular or columnar dendritic structure also appeared at the bottom and upper region, respectively. The residual stresses and thermal expansion coefficient of coating all remained at a low level with an average value of (43±15) MPa and 8.5×10-6 ℃-1 at 30~600 ℃, respectively. The CTE of FeNiCoTiNb coating was lower than that of FeCrNi and NiCrBSi coatings significantly. The hardness of the coatings could reach 400HV0.5. The wear mechanism of coating was abrasive wear and oxidation wear. The wear mechanism of substrate was adhesive wear and oxidation wear. In the end, low thermal expansion FeNiCoTiNb coating is produced by laser cladding on 316L stainless steel, which has low thermal expansion coefficient, high microhardness and high tribological resistance, and reduces thermal stress of laser cladding to some extent.