Hard coatings deposited by plasma-assisted vapor deposition are widely used to reduce tool wear. The presently applied transition metal nitride coatings show high friction against steels, which restricts their applicability with reduced or without coolant. Tool temperatures for different machining operations are extremely different ranging from relatively low temperatures for deep drawing to above 1000°C for dry cutting. Presently applied low-friction coatings are essentially based on diamond-like carbon and MoS@sub2@, which often begin to fail with increasing temperature, in humid atmosphere or due to oxidation. The aim of the present contribution is thus to present now concepts for low-friction coatings for different temperature ranges. Examples for low-temperature lubrication approaches to be described include Cl-alloyed TiN coatings, where low-friction coefficients are provided by the Cl-induced formation of rutile layers on top of the coating in humid air, and CrC/a-C:H, where graphitization of the a-C:H phase is responsible for low friction coefficients. Approaches for lubricant phases at high temperatures (i.e. above 600°C) are based on the formation of Magneli phase oxides, in particular V@sub2@O@sub5@, due to oxidation of VN in Ti@sub1-x@Al@subx@N/VN superlattices or V in V-alloyed Ti@sub1-x-y@Al@subx@V@suby@N coatings. Using these concepts, friction coefficients of 0.2-0.4 against steel can be obtained for temperatures of 700°C, where lubrication is achieved by melting of the V@sub2@O@sub5@ phase. Another high-temperature low-friction approach is the application of thin top layers based on intermetallic phases on hard coatings. In particular, the Al@sub2@Au phase is stable up to 850°C without oxidation, shows a pink color and yields friction coefficients of 0.45 at 700°C. These nanoscale design approaches allow the utilization of functional properties facilitating the development of next generations hard coatings.