The comparative study of contact fatigue properties between the n-SiO2/Ni coating and the nickel coating prepared by electro-brush plating was carried out by means of microstructure characterization and taking account of effect of heat treatment on it. Results showed that the microstructure of n-SiO2/Ni composite coating was finer and the distribution of nano-particles incorporated in the nickel matrix was uniformly dispersive. The contact fatigue life of the heat-treated n-SiO2/Ni coating was over 1.3 million cycles, and 4.67 times that of the nickel coating, and almost equivalent to that of the as-deposited n-SiO2/Ni coating. The fracture zones of the heat-treated n-SiO2/Ni coating exhibited the feature of plastic deformation. The heat treatment can improve the ability of plastic deformation during the contact fatigue processes.