The work aims to compare the structure and performance of chromium nitride (CrN) thin films deposited by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) and reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). CrN thin films were deposited on nickel (Ni) substrate by reactive DCMS and HiPIMS. The crystal structure, surface and cross-section morphology, composite hardness and friction properties of CrN thin films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and microhardness tester. From XRD of crystal measurement, CrN films deposited by DCMS grew preferentially in (111) facet and had larger inner stress, while is the films deposited by HiPIMS grew preferentially in (200) facet and had smaller inner stress. The SEM revealed that CrN films prepared by both methods were in columnar crystal structure, but the particle size of films by HiPIMS was smaller and the columnar crystal structure and particle size were denser. The microhardness of CrN films deposited by HiPIMS and DCMS was respectively 855.9HV and 501.5HV. Additionally, the average friction coefficient of CrN films deposited by DCMS and HiPIMS was respectively 0.640 and 0.545, so the wear resistance was good. The corrosion current of the films deposited by HiPIMS was one order of magnitude lower than that of CrN films deposited by DCMS. CrN thin films prepared by HiPIMS have smaller particles, denser structure, less defects, higher hardness and better corrosion, so the performance indicators are superior to that of CrN films prepared by DCMS.