Mn- and Co-doped ZnO powders were prepared by sol–gel method. The XRD peak position shifts regularly with the magnetic-ions concentration of the samples. Magnetism analyzing indicates that Zn 1− x Mn x O is paramagnetic at room temperature, and at low temperature the exchange interaction between Mn ions is antiferromagnetic. Co-doped ZnO is also paramagnetic at room temperature. Ferromagnetic behavior can be found in Zn 1− x Co x O at low temperature ( T c ≈ 150 K), but the saturation magnetization is only about 0.1 μ B/Co, indicating only a fraction of Co ions participate in ferromagnetism and the rest may contribute to the observed paramagnetic signal or even be antiferromagnetic coupled.