To understand the effect of the substrate nature on the cadmium oxide (CdO) thin film, the properties such as structural, surface morphological, elemental, optical, and electrical are studied to optimize it for photodetection applications. The structural results indicate that the cubic crystal structure of the CdO formed on all substrates consists of crystallites with a 28–45 nm average size. The morphological micrographs show a dependency on the substrate type with a flower‐like shape of the CdO particles that are grown on all the substrates except for the indium tin oxide (ITO)‐coated glass. The energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy spectra and mapping images confirm the uniform distribution of the cadmium and oxygen. The CdO thin film on the fused silica glass (FSG) shows a high transmittance with a 2.05 eV bandgap. I–V characteristics present a good electrical conductivity of CdO thin film on the soda lime glass (SLG) substrate. The photodetecting characteristic of the SLG thin films as a visible light sensor is studied and is found to have a good stability with 225 and 475 s response and recovery times, respectively.