The high-velocity-oxy-fuel (HVOF) spray process represents the state-of-the-art for thermal spray metallic coatings and can result in very dense, tightly adherent coatings with minor oxidation during the deposition and low residual stresses. It provides superior wear resistance characteristics due to minimal decarburization, high coating density and excellent particle cohesion. In particular this technology is applied in the automotive, aerospace, biomedical, chemical processing and power generation industry as well as in the textile and paper machinery and can be an interesting alternative to the use of galvanic processes with high environmental impact. It is being extensively used to resist erosive wear, abrasive wear, fatigue wear and cavitation wear. Substitution of hard chromium coatings with new HVOF coatings has been studied in this paper with a special reference to wear applications. The studies regarding the use of HVOF coatings onto the piston ring faces have also been summarized. A comprehensive review of the open literature has been presented to highlight the abrasive, erosive, cavitation erosion and scuffing resistance of HVOF coatings.