The manganese-, nickel-, and aluminum-doped cobalt ferrite powders, Mn0.2Co0.8Fe2O4, Ni0.2Co0.8Fe2O4, and Al0.2CoFe1.8O4, are fabricated by the sol-gel method, and the crystallographic and magnetic properties of the powders are studied in comparison with those of CoFe2O4. All the ferrite powders are nano-sized and have a single spinel structure with the lattice constant increasing in Mn0.2Co0.8Fe2O4 but decreasing in Ni0.2Co0.8Fe2O4 and Al0.2CoFe1.8O4. All the Mössbauer spectra are fitted as a superposition of two Zeeman sextets due to the tetrahedral and octahedral sites of the Fe3+ ions. The values of the magnetic hyperfine fields of Ni0.2Co0.8Fe2O4 are somewhat increased in the A and B sites, while those of Mn0.2Co0.8Fe2O4 and Al0.2CoFe1.8O4 are decreased. The variation of Mössbauer parameters is explained using the cation distribution equation, superexchange interaction and particle size. The hysteresis curves of the ferrite powders reveal a typical soft ferrite pattern. The variation in the values of saturation magnetization and coercivity are explained in terms of the site distributions, particle sizes and the spin magnetic moments of the doped ions.