Lead free Ba0.92Ca0.08Ti0.95Zr0.05O3 (BCZT) thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si and LaNiO3(LNO)/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by a sol-gel processing technique, respectively. The effects of substrate on structure, dielectric and piezoelectric properties were investigated in detail. The BCZT thin films deposited on LNO/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates exhibit (100) orientation, larger grain size and higher dielectric tunability (64%). The BCZT thin films deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si exhibit (110) orientation, higher Curie temperature (75 degrees C), better piezoelectric property (d(33) of 50 pm/V) and lower dielectric loss (0.02). The differences in dielectric and piezoelectric properties in the two kinds of oriented BCZT films should be attributed to the difference of structure, in-plane stress and polarization rotation in orientation engineered BCZT films. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.