The invention relates to a coating system (1) containing at least one evacuable recipient (10), at least one substrate holder (40) which is provided for receiving a substrate (4), at least one gas supply device, by means of which at least one gaseous precursor can be introduced into the recipient (10), and at least one plasma generating device (2) which is designed to at least partly ionize the precursor. The substrate holder (40) can be moved such that the substrate holder can be brought from a working position into a rest position. The invention further relates to a method for coating a substrate, wherein the substrate (4) is brought into an evacuable recipient (10) by means of a substrate holder (40); at least one gaseous precursor is introduced into the recipient (10) by means of at least one gas supply device; and the precursor is at least partly ionized by means of at least one plasma generating device (2). The plasma (25) is ignited as long as the substrate holder (40) with the substrate (4) is located in a rest position, and the substrate holder (40) is moved into a working position after a specifiable duration.