In this paper, research progress of vacuum coating methods including physical vapor deposition ( PVD) and chemical vapor deposition ( CVD) were reviewed for the inner surface protection of tubular workpieces. Thermal CVD and various kinds of plasma-enhanced CVD ( PECVD) including direct current plasma, radio-frequency plasma and electron spin resonance ( ECR) plasma were introduced, and the advantages and disadvantages of these methods were analyzed. The study was mainly focused on the effects of sputtering method ( including direct current diode ( tripolar ) sputtering, magnetron sputtering and ion beam ( laser beam) sputtering) and arc ion plating technique for the inner surface coating of tubular workpieces on the film type, film deposition rate, axial uniformity of film thickness and film / substrate adhesion, etc. . Finally, the CVD and PVD methods for the inner surface coating of tubular workpieces were analyzed and compared, and the existing problems at present and developing direction in the future were presented.