In this paper, a systematic investigations on the effects of transition metals such as Mn and Ni-dopant on physical properties of cadmium oxide (CdO) thin films coated on soda lime glass substrates by using SILAR method have been reported. The characterizations of un-doped, Mn-doped (Cd0.99 Mn0.01O) and Mn/Ni double doped CdO [(Cd0.99−xMn0.01NixO)(0 ≤ x ≤ 0.001)] films were investigated by SEM, EDX, XRD and UV–Vis spectrophotometry to determine the morphological, structural and optical properties, respectively. SEM analysis showed that the surface morphologies of the CdO films were influenced by Mn doping and Mn/Ni co-doping. The EDX result verified the presence of expected elements Cd, O, Mn and Ni in the growing solution. The crystal phases of the samples and their crystallinity quality have been investigated by XRD measurements. The X-ray diffractograms show all the diffraction peaks are highly intense also they demonstrate the preferential orientations of (111) and (200) directions. Optical investigations revealed red shift with Mn doping and Mn/Ni co-doping in the absorbance spectrum.