TiO2 and ZrO2 coatings were produced by hydrolysis of Ti[OCH(CH3)(2))(4), Ti(OC2H5)4 and Zr(OC4H9)(4) precursors by sol-gel method and applied on a Cr-Ni-Mo steel 316L by dip-coating. The coatings were tested for biocompatibility with mesenchymal stem cells. The cell proliferation did not differ on individual coatings but the cell morphology was substantially better on TiO2 than on ZrO2.