MoSx coatings were prepared by means of bipolar-pulsed DC magnetron sputtering on different substrate type at various temperature. The structure and fretting behavior of MoSx coatings have been determined respectively by XRD and fretting tester in air of 10% to 90% RH and under the load of 1 to 10 N. With increasing substrate temperature, the edge orientation evolves in the MoSx coating, and the relative content of edge-to-basal orientation becomes large. The tribological performance of coatings gets deteriorated. Compared with MoSx coatings on TiN/H13, CrN/H13 and MoSx /Ti multilayer, MoSx coating on H13 substrate has a lower load bearing capacity, and worn away easily under higher normal load 5N or 10N and in air of 90% RH during the fretting process. The friction and wear properties of MoSx coatings on TiN/H13 and CrN/H13 (dual-layer) are slight better than that of MoSx /Ti multilayer under the normal load tested and in air of ＜10% to 90% RH.