Electroless Ni-P based alloy platings have found extensive application in industry because of its high hardness, uniform thickness and excellent wear resistance. The development of the electroless Ni-P based alloy platings, from binary and tenary alloy coatings to composite coatings, was summarized, and the influence factors of the wear resistance were presented from the chemical composition of alloy coating, the combining power between coating and matrix and the hardness of coating, as well as current status of improving the wear resistance of electroless plated Ni-P based alloys. At last, the problem exiting in the research of improving the wear resistance of alloy coating and the future research orientation were raised.