Friction surfacing is a novel solid-state surfacing process with several advantages over conventional weld overlay processes. In this work, the corrosion behavior of AISI 316L stainless steel coatings made using friction surfacing and manual metal arc welding processes was comparatively evaluated. Friction surfaced coatings exhibited superior general and pitting corrosion resistance compared to manual metal arc coatings, while both the coatings were found to be immune to intergranular corrosion. Compared to alloy 316L bulk material, friction surfaced coatings showed better pitting corrosion resistance, but considerably lower general corrosion resistance. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.