In the present study, we have delineated the synthesis of transparent conductive un-doped, Co doped (Co0.01Cd0.99 O) and Co:Al dual-doped CdO films [(AlmCo0.01Cd0.99-m) (m: 0.005, 0.01 and 0.02, respectively)] by using facile successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method at room temperature. Scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM/EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopic measurements had been executed to reveal the influence of Co and Al dopants on the morphological, crystallinity and optical characteristics of CdO films. The effect of Co doping and Co:Al dual doping on the surface morphology of CdO films was identified through SEM analysis. The EDX analysis results confirmed the presence of Co2+ and Al3+ dopant ions in the CdO lattices. The XRD measurements revealed that all of the SILAR-grown CdO films were polycrystalline with a cubic structure and exhibited (111) and (200) preferred orientations. The presence of chemical bonding was verified by FT-IR spectroscopic investigation. Furthermore, the optical band gap (Eg) values of the all deposited films were evaluated from UV–Vis spectrophotometric data. The Eg values of all the films were remarkably widened in proportion to the Al doping from 1.92 eV to 3.05 eV. The investigations have shown that mono doping and dual doping have a substantial impact on the physical properties of SILAR-grown CdO films.