Cemented carbide is today the most frequently used drawing die material in steel wire drawing applications. This is mainly due to the possibility to obtain a broad combination of hardness and toughness thus meeting the requirements concerning strength, crack resistance and wear resistance set by the wire drawing process. However, the increasing cost of cemented carbide in combination with the possibility to increase the wear resistance of steel through the deposition of wear resistant CVD and PVD coatings have increased the interest for steel wire drawing dies during the last years. In the present study, the possibility to replace cemented carbide wire drawing dies with CVD and PVD coated steel drawing dies have been investigated by i) tribological testing, i.e. pin-on-disc and scratch testing, in combination with post-test observations of the tribo surfaces using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and 3D surface profilometry and ii) steel wire drawing under full scale industrial conditions. In the tests a sodium stearate based soap was used as a lubricant. Of the CVD and PVD coatings evaluated in the tribological tests, a CVD TiC and a PVD CrC/C coating displayed the most promising results, i.e. a combination of high wear resistance and low friction in contact with the steel wire material and consequently these coatings were selected for the steel wire drawing tests. Post-test examination of the worn drawing dies showed that the CrC/C coating displayed a high wear rate while the TiC coating showed a low wear rate but also signs of local cracking and chipping. However, the overall best performance was displayed by a TiC – CrC/C dual layer coating which displayed a limited cracking and chipping tendency although the top CrC/C coating showed a high wear rate. Based on the results obtained, CVD and PVD coatings aimed to provide improved tribological performance of steel wire drawing dies should display a smooth surface topography, a high wear resistance, a high fracture toughness (i.e. a high cracking and chipping resistance) and intrinsic low friction properties in contact with the wire material. Also, the steel substrate used must display a sufficient load carrying capacity and resistance to thermal softening.