In order to improve the poor friction and wear properties of soft metal, tungsten carbide (WC)-doped diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings were prepared on the surface of different TC4-DT, TC21 and TB17 titanium alloys by medium frequency magnetron sputtering technology. The Ti/TiN/TiCN gradient transition layer was designed and fabricated by multi-arc ion plating. The influence of the matrix effect of different titanium alloys on the mechanical properties and frictional wear properties of WC– DLC coating was studied. The surface morphology and chemical element distribution of the coatings were analyzed by SEM and EDS, while the cross-sectional morphology and structure were observed by TEM, the structure of the coating was characterized by XRD and Raman spectra, and the mechanical properties such as bonding strength and Vickers hardness of the coating were tested by scratch tester and microhardness tester. Friction and wear prepared coating is more than two times higher than that of the three substrates, and the hardness of TC4-DT titanium alloy surface coating is the highest, reaching 1566HV0.05. The coating on TB17 titanium alloy has the strongest adhesion, whichis more than 53 N, and its friction and wear performance are also the best. The wear rate was 0.593×10^–6 mm³·N–1·m^–1, which is 99.79% lower than the substrate wear rate. However, the surface coating on TC21 titanium alloy shows the highest friction coefficient, the largest wear depth and wear rate among the three. The above results show that different substrate materials lead to differences in mechanical properties and bonding properties of diamond-like carbon coatings, which then affect the friction and wear properties of the coatings.