The coatings on a stainless steel substrate were conducted by laser cladding of Ni-based alloy, using a 5 kW continuous wave CO2 flow transverse laser. SEM, EDX and X-ray diffraction were used to analyze the microstructure and constituent phases of the obtained coatings by laser cladding with direct injection of the powder into the melt pool. Solidification planar, cellular and dendrite structures were observed in Ni-based alloy coating. There exists an optimum metallurgical bond between Ni-based laser cladding layer and the base material. The high hardness of the Ni-based alloy coating is attributed to the presence of M7C3-type carbides (essentially chromium-riched carbide) dispersed in the γ(Ni,Fe) phase matrix.