Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 and related materials have been lauded for their piezoelectric properties, but their toxicity has driven the search for alternative materials with the same high performance in electronic devices. Among these, BaTiO 3 -based materials are regarded as excellent substitutes. Using a screen printing method, in this study, we prepare BaTiO 3 thick films on ZrO 2 stabilized with 3 mol % Y 2 O 3 (YSZ) or MgO ceramics with Pt bottom electrodes. BaTiO 3 thick films prepared on YSZ and MgO substrates preferentially oriented along the a-and c-axes, respectively. The remanent polarization P r of the MgO-based films was higher than that of the YSZ-based films (10.8 µC/cm 2 vs 6.5 µC/cm 2 ) and comparable to that of BaTiO 3 bulk ceramics. Thermal expansion measurements of BaTiO 3 , YSZ, and MgO ceramics suggested that compressive stress was exerted on the BaTiO 3 thick films, causing them to orient along the c-axis. (Ba 0.92 Ca 0.08 )(Ti 0.975 Zr 0.025 )O 3 thick films were also prepared on the YSZ and MgO substrates and showed similar preference for the c-axis on MgO. However, the remanent polarization of (Ba 0.92 Ca 0.08 )(Ti 0.975 Zr 0.025 )O 3 thick films prepared on MgO was greater than that of bulk ceramics (14.9 µC/cm 2 vs 11.0 µC/cm 2 ).