SummaryIn this article, considering actuator constraints and possible failures, an adaptive compensation control scheme is developed to realize tracking control for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with quantized inputs. A new variable is generated to evaluate the effect of actuator saturation and is used in the process of controller design to compensate for the influence of actuator saturation constraint. Moreover, the controller is able to show certain accommodation capability to tolerate possible actuator failures and input quantization error via integrating parameter update process of unknown fault constants into adaption of parametric uncertainties under the backstepping procedure. Specifically, actuator saturation effect and possible actuator failures as well as input quantization error can be dealt with uniformly under the framework of the proposed scheme and the control system has certain robustness to external disturbances. It is proved that all the signals of the closed‐loop system are ensured to be bounded and the tracking error is enabled to converge toward a compact set, which is adjustable by tuning design parameters. Finally, experiments are carried out on an active suspension plant to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.