Zirconium alloy is widely used as nuclear fuel cladding materials for water-cooled reactors because of its good mechanical properties, corrosion resistance and neutron economy. However, it will react with high temperature steam with generating a large amount of hydrogen under the loss of coolant accident, thus leading to the nuclear accident. At present, the most effective way to improve the service performance of zirconium alloy cladding is to prepare a layer of protective coating on its surface. The metal Cr coating is one of the most potential materials for the zirconium alloy cladding, owing to its excellent high-temperature oxidation resistance, corrosion resistance, good mechanical strength and interfacial adhesion. In this paper, research status of the metal Cr coating on zirconium alloy cladding was reviewed from three aspects of preparation technology, microstructure and service performance. Firstly, the main preparation techniques of metal Cr coating were introduced, and the characteristics and shortcomings of each preparation method were emphasized. Secondly, the columnar crystal, equiaxed crystal and disordered amorphous structure of Cr coating were summarized. The structural characteristics and growth mechanisms of the three microstructures, as well as the effect of process parameters on the microstructures were analyzed. Moreover, the mechanical properties, high-temperature oxidation resistance, corrosion resistance and irradiation resistance of the metal Cr coating were elaborated, deeply analyzing the plastic deformation, corrosion, oxidation and irradiation damage mechanisms. Finally, the existed problems and the future development direction in the current research were analyzed and prospected.