Due to its inherent material properties, the implementation of niobium carbide (NbC) as hard phase in cutting materials represents a promising alternative to machining. Recent investigations show equivalent tool life in metal cutting compared with cemented carbides based on tungsten carbide (WC). Besides metal cutting, the machining of high-performance composite materials poses an increasing importance due to its growing demand in the automotive and aeronautical sector. NbC and its wear resistance against abrasion can be suitable for this specific application. Additionally, the low density of NbC indicates an advantageous dynamic behaviour. Thus, this study focuses on the milling of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). Complex tool geometries are implemented in a peripheral milling strategy. The machining trials are conducted with uncoated NbC-based cutting materials in CFRP with varying cutting speeds vc. The utilized NbC compositions (NbC-10TiC)-6Ni7.5VC and (NbC-15TiC7N3)-5Ni7.5WC2.5Mo2C embedded in a Nickel (Ni) matrix were applied and compared towards their performance with an industrial available cemented carbide (WC-Co). As tool life criteria, a tool diameter reduction of Δd = 0.1 mm and a cutting path of lc = 10.000 mm were defined. Apart from tool life performance, the workpiece quality was assessed. An inferior performance was identified with (NbC-10TiC)-6Ni7.5VC in terms of tool life compared to WC-Co, which can be attributed to microstructure issues. Yet, (NbC-15TiC7N3)-5Ni7.5WC2.5Mo2C shows a competitive performance in machining with an achieved cutting path lc identical to WC-Co. It can be stated, that NbC-Ni systems can accomplish an equivalent performance in comparison to WC-Co when machining CFRP.