An iron-based alloy includes (in weight percent) carbon from about 1 to about 2 percent; manganese up to about 1 percent; silicon up to about 1 percent; nickel up to about 4 percent; chromium from about 10 to about 25 percent; molybdenum from about 5 to about 20 percent; tungsten up to about 4 percent; cobalt from about 17 to about 23 percent; vanadium up to about 1.5 percent; boron up to about 0.2 percent; sulfur up to about 0.03 percent; nitrogen up to about 0.4 percent; phosphorus up to about 0.06 percent; niobium up to about 4 percent; iron from about 35 to about 55 percent; and incidental impurities. The chromium/molybdenum ratio of the iron-based alloy is from about 1 to about 2.5. The alloy is suitable for use in elevated temperature applications, such as valve seat inserts for combustion engines.