This study was to investigate the influence of the substrate hardness on the hardness and adhesion of TiN thin film deposited by R.F. PACVD. Although the substrate hardness changed, chemical composition, stoichiometry and structure of TiN thin film did not change. ISE index was 1.96-1.99 for the substrate and was 1.57-1.79 for TiN thin film. And ISE index of TiN thin film was inverse proportion to the substrate hardness. When the substrate hardness was low, TiN thin film had many cracks around the indentation. But as the substrate hardness increased, TiN thin film had a few cracks and the deformation was limited within indentation. In having measured the adhesion of TiN thin film by SAT, the critical load (Lc) generally increased as the substrate hardness decreased.