An iron-based alloy includes, in weight percent, carbon from about 1 to about 2 percent; manganese from about 0.1 to about 1 percent; silicon from about 0.1 to about 2.5 percent; chromium from about 11 to about 19 percent; nickel up to about 8 percent; vanadium from about 0.8 to about 5 percent; molybdenum from about 11 to about 19 percent; tungsten up to about 0.5 percent; niobium from about 1 to about 4 percent; cobalt up to about 5.5 percent; boron up to about 0.5 percent; nitrogen up to about 0.5 percent, copper up to about 1.5 percent, sulfur up to about 0.3 percent, phosphorus up to about 0.3 percent, up to about 5 percent total of tantalum, titanium, hafnium and zirconium; iron from about 50 to about 70 percent; and incidental impurities. The alloy is suitable for use in elevated temperature applications such as in valve seat inserts for combustion engines.