The residual stress study of nanostructured zirconia films obtained by two deposition techniques, MOCVD and sol-gel used in this work, shows the advantages and limitations of each process. The MOCVD technique allows obtaining dense and thick zirconia films. Sol-gel deposition led to thinner zirconia films compared to those obtained by MOCVD, but the possible control of deposition parameters including multi-layers deposition is an advantage for the development of dense and homogeneous zirconia films. The crystalline structures and residual stress levels of nanostructured films have been studied by X-ray diffraction method; the film morphology has been analyzed by FEG-MEB. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.