Steel exposure to hydrogen generation conditions, such as in environments containing H2S or under cathodic protection, can cause an increase in the hydrogen content on the surface which leads to the material embrittlement. A comparative study was carried out on the structure behavior of two different stainless steels, an austenitic class P550 and a duplex S31803, concerning permeation and consequent hydrogen embrittlement. The steels were tested in conditions with and without autogenous welding using the same welding parameters. It was performed microstructural analysis by OM, SEM and TEM, tensile tests, BTD tests with the specimens immersed in a synthetic seawater solution and under application of a cathodic potential of -1200 mV SCE, in order to simulate service conditions, and surface fractography of these specimens by SEM. It was observed that both grades of steel suffered some fragility. However, the loss of ductility due to the reduction of the area of the specimens occurred in a more pronounced way for the duplex stainless steel. It was also observed that the austenitic steel in the base metal contained a higher density of twinnings than the weld metal, resulting in greater embrittlement. In addition, a higher density of dislocations and precipitates was observed in the base metal. On the other hand, duplex steel showed much more significant embrittlement than austenitic in both conditions when permeated by hydrogen. However, this weakness was more pronounced in the as welded condition. This behavior was attributed to the partial ferritization of the structure and the formation of Widmanstätten austenite. Fractographic analyzes suggest that the fracture mechanism morphology changed from ductile to brittle when the specimens were tested in the air and hydrogen condition respectively. This observation is based on the fact that the fracture surfaces of all samples tested in the air consisted predominantly of dimples (ductile). In contrast, in the test with hydrogen generation, the fracture surfaces appear with different brittle morphologies for each steel.