The hydrolytic activity of the ZrIV-substituted Keggin-type (Et2NH2)8[{α-PW11O39Zr-(μ-OH)(H2O)}2]·7H2O (1), Lindqvist-type (Me4N)2[W5O18Zr(H2O)3] (2), and Wells–Dawson-type Na14[Zr4(P2W16O59)2(μ3-O)2(OH)2(H2O)4]·57H2O (3) polyoxometalates (POMs) towards the peptide bonds in the oligopeptides triglycine, tetraglycine, glycylglycylhistidine, and glycylserylphenylalanine was investigated by kinetic methods and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy. 31P NMR and UV/Vis spectroscopy showed that 1–3 were stable under the conditions used to study peptide bond hydrolysis. The reactivity of 1–3 towards oligopeptides was compared on the basis of the amount of free glycine produced at a certain time increment. In the presence of 1–3, rate constants in the range 6.25 × 10–7 to 10.14 × 10–7 s–1 were obtained, whereas no hydrolysis was observed after one month in the absence of these POMs. The results showed that the Keggin-type complex 1 was the most active towards peptide bond hydrolysis in tri- and tetrapeptides. 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy showed that triglycine, tetraglycine, and glycylserylphenylalanine interact with 1 and 2 preferentially through the amine nitrogen atom and the N-terminal amide oxygen atom to activate the peptide bond towards hydrolysis. The coordination of glycylglycylhistidine resulted in multiple complexes with 1–3 as a result of additional imidazole coordination to the ZrIV centers.