Pt counter electrode (CE) has been a burden for the commercialization of liquid-junction dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In searching for cost-effective CEs without sacrificing electrochemical activities, here we report the experimental realization of ZnO nanorods assisted Ni1.1Pt and Co3.9Pt alloy microtube (MT) CEs by combining a simple electrodeposition deposition on aligned ZnO nanorods and a galvanic displacement reaction. On behalf of the good charge-transfer ability along one-dimensional alloy electrocatalyst and electrocatalytic activity toward liquid electrolyte, the resultant DSSCs with Ni1.1Pt and Co3.9Pt MT CEs display promising power conversion efficiencies of 8.29% and 7.73%, yielding 30.6% and 21.7% enhancements, respectively. Similarly importantly, the alloyed CEs are still scalable, other alloyed low-Pt or non-Pt nano/microstructures can also be realized using the method reported here. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.