Although α– and κ–Al ₂ O ₃ hard coatings deposited by chemical vapor deposition are well established in the metal-cutting industry for their ability to increase the performance and lifetime of cutting tools, the literature on their fracture properties is scarce. Thus, within this study, the mi-crostructure and mechanical properties of α– and κ–Al ₂ O ₃ coatings were investigated and compared to each other. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy combined with electron backscatter diffraction showed that both coatings exhibited a fiber texture, where the α–Al ₂ O ₃ coating displayed a (0001) texture and the κ–Al ₂ O ₃ coating a (001) texture with a certain (013) contribution. Higher hardness and Young’s modulus values of 31.0 ± 0.9 GPa and 474.6 ± 12.5 GPa, respectively, were ob-tained for the α–Al ₂ O ₃ coating, compared to 24.2 ± 0.8 GPa and 356.8 ± 7.9 GPa for κ–Al ₂ O ₃ . While the α–Al ₂ O ₃ coating exhibited a higher fracture stress of 8.1 ± 0.3 GPa (compared to 6.4 ± 0.6 GPa for κ–Al ₂ O ₃ ), the κ–Al ₂ O ₃ coating showed a higher fracture toughness of 4.4 ± 0.3 MPa*m ^1/2 (compared to 3.2 ± 0.3 MPa*m ^1/2 for alpha).