The present study aims to improve the hardness and wear resistance of aluminum-silicon alloys using atmospheric plasma-sprayed ZrO2, Al2O3-ZrO2 multilayer and Al2O3/ZrO2 composite coatings. The fabricated coatings were characterized to explore their morphological changes, surface hardness, phase composition, surface roughness, friction and wear. Friction and wear resistance against cast iron were determined under dry-sliding conditions at the load of 15 N in room temperature. The micro structural studies revealed the morphological changes of the various coatings fabricated on aluminum-silicon alloys. The Al2O3/ZrO2 composite coating contained equiaxed grains due to differences in the melting points of the two particles. The formation of equiaxed grains increased the hardness of the aluminum-silicon alloy from 55 HV0.3 to 1168 HV0.3 after the deposition of the Al2O3/ZrO2 composite. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of intermetallic phases in the various deposits. Low surface roughness of 2.51 μm was exhibited for ZrO2 deposit compared to 3.02 μm of Al2O3/ZrO2 composite and 3.90 μm of Al2O3-ZrO2 multilayer deposit. Al2O3/ZrO2 composite coating achieved better tribological performance than the ZrO2 and Al2O3-ZrO2 multi-layer coatings. Hardened tribofilm reduced the wear rate to 9.5 × 10-5 gm-1 for Al2O3/ZrO2 composite from the wear rate of 4.53 × 10-4 gm-1 of Al-Si alloy. Though the wear resistance is improved for the composite deposit, the COF was increased to 0.55 compared to the other deposit. The delamination, adhesive, abrasive and Grain pull-out wear mechanism occurred during the sliding of Al-Si alloy, ZrO2 and Al2O3-ZrO2 multilayer against the cast iron had been reduced considerably after the Al2O3/ZrO2 composite. © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd.