Thermal spraying of wear-resistant coatings is a common process for the refinement of parts in numerous applications. Properties of the coatings critically depend on their microstructure, which in turn is determined by the initial powders used in the spray process. In this study, layers based on conventional coarse powders TiC-Ni based cermet will be compared to novel layers based on nanostructured composite powders, produced by high-energy milling. Depending of processing conditions and the kind of wear applied, the novel layers based on nanostructured precursor powders show comparable or improved wear resistance and higher hardness. Regarding wear mechanisms, the results indicate that wear of nanostructured coatings is determined by wedge formation and material delamination. Thus, wear of nanostructured coatings appears to be more homogeneous, and therefore, nanostructured coatings are promising for applications where low surface roughness is required, e.g. in the paper industry.