Display omitted •TiN films were deposited using HiPIMS and dcMS technologies.•The effect of nitrogen content of TixN(1−x), on structure, hardness and corrosion of TiN coatings was studied.•TiN coatings obtained using HIPIMS have shown a maximum hardness as a function of the nitrogen content.•The H/E ratio evolution with the nitrogen flow have shown also a maximum.•The corrosion protection efficiency was higher than 90% for all coatings deposited with HiPIMS. The effect of nitrogen content on the structural, mechanical and corrosion properties of titanium nitride (TixN1−x) coatings deposited by high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) is investigated. The XRD results showed a (111) oriented crystalline structure at low nitrogen flow rate Qv(N2), and a mixed (111) and (200) at high Qv(N2). The average grain size was derived from XRD results and was found to increase with increasing N2 flow. The hardness results showed a maximum with variation of nitrogen content. All coatings exhibited excellent protection efficiency in acidic media compared to the uncoated steel samples, with protection efficiency reaching up to 98.9%. For reference, direct current magnetron sputtered (dcMS) coatings were deposited and investigated, confirming the superior performance of the HiPIMS coatings.