Abstract: With the wide application of coating materials in aerospace and other fields, their safety under fatigue conditions in service is important. However, research on the fatigue properties of ceramic hard coatings started late, and a unified standard is yet to be established to evaluate the fatigue life of hard coating–ductile substrate systems. Studies also present different opinions on whether coatings can improve or reduce the fatigue life of substrates. In this paper, the influence of the properties of ceramic coatings on fatigue performance is reviewed, and the effects of coating on the mechanism of fatigue crack initiation in substrates are discussed, aiming to help readers understand the fatigue behavior of hard coating–ductile substrate systems.