With the pressure for environmental protection and energy saving being more serious, green coatings have become the development trend of metal corrosion protection. Phosphate coating is a kind of inorganic coating with high mechanical strength, good thermal stability and high corrosion resistance, which is also non-toxic and environmental-friendly. Compared with metallic coatings and inorganic silicon coatings, phosphate coating has attracted more and more attention due to its simple preparation method and performance advantages and has been widely applied in construction, automobile, navigation, aerospace, medicine and other fields. The reaction cured phosphate coating and phosphate conversion coating were introduced. At first, the composition of the reaction cured phosphate coating, including adhesive, curing agent, functional filler and other additives was expounded and the studies on synthesis and proportion of adhesive, the curing mechanism and the selection of curing agents, the influence of functional fillers on the performance, and the influence of other additives on the overall performance and practical applications were introduced, respectively. Then, the film-forming mechanism of the phosphate conversion coating as the special phosphate coating and the common phosphating solution were introduced. The film-forming mechanism mainly included three steps which were the electrochemical dissolution of substrate, the crystallization and growth of phosphates, and the dynamic equilibrium between the dissolution and formation of phosphate conversion film. Typical phosphating solution includes zinc system, iron system, calcium system, manganese system, and their combinations. The application of phosphate coating in corrosion protection, high temperature resistance and some other functions was summarized. Finally, the development trend of phosphate coatings was prospected, and it was pointed out that the research would focus on the application of phosphate coatings in the fields of aerospace and petrochemical industry.