Nanocrystalline/amorphous CrN/ZrSiN multilayer coatings with a bilayer thickness ranging from 11 to 153 nm were prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The microstructure and mechanical properties of these thin films were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and nanoindentation. The formation of nanocrystalline CrN and nanocomposite ZiSiN in the single layer coatings was identified by XRD and FTIR. The periodic structure of the as-deposited multilayer coatings was confirmed by TEM observation. Nanoindentation tests showed that both the values of hardness (H) and reduced elastic modulus (E-r) of CrN/ZrSiN multilayers remained almost constant despite varying the bilayer thickness. The multilayer coatings exhibited higher H of 30 GPa and higher resistance to plastic deformation when compared to the single layer CrN and ZrSiN coatings.