The paper aims to compare and analyze the influences of hydrogen on the tribological performance of diamond-like coating, and study the cutting performance of DLC coatings with or without hydrogen. Hydrogen free and hydrogen coatings were prepared through plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and magnetron sputtering physical vapor deposition (MS). The surface topography of the coatings was characterized by three-dimensional topography instrument, and the cutting performance of two coating milling cutters was analyzed by cutting experiments. The results showed that the hydrogen-free coating had dense structure, without pits, pinholes and other defects. The wear rate of hydrogen-free DLC coating (3.58×10–6 mm3/N) was lower than that of hydrogen DLC coating (4.62×10–6 mm3/N), thus hydrogen-free DLC coating showed better wear resistance. Hydrogen-free DLC coating deposited by MS has no apparent surface defects. It has excellent tribological performance. It also shows better wearing resistance, abrasion resistance and adhesion resistance in the milling test against ZL108 aluminum alloy. The machined surface and chip surface quality obtained by applying hydrogen-free DLC coating were better than that obtained by applying a-C:H coating.