The adhesion tendency of the polymers polyoxymethylene, polyamide 6.6 and polyether ether ketone against hard coatings to protect molds in polymer processing was evaluated by a combination of tribological tests, investigations of wear tracks and measurements of the coatings' surface energies. It was found that a low surface roughness and a low surface energy of the coating are beneficial to reduce friction and adhesion tendency. Among the coating materials investigated, CrN seems to be the most promising candidate for the protection of molds for polymer processing.