In this article, the in vitro cytotoxic results of pristine and doped (with Sn and Cr) β-Ga<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf> synthesized via simple, template-free hydrothermal route in a neutral medium of pH of 7 were incorporated and discussed along with their material characterization results. In this piece of work, Sn and Cr were successfully doped at a concentrations of 2 mol% and 1 mol%, respectively into β-Ga<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf>. The prepared powder samples were assayed through XRD, SEM, XPS, UV–Visible spectroscopic studies to analyse them structurally, morphologically, compositionally (elemental mapping) and optically. These powder samples were then exploited for their ability towards in vitro anticancer activity to look into their cytotoxic efficacy on A549 (lung carcinoma), LoVo (colon adenocarcinoma) and HuH-7 (hepato cellular carcinoma) cultured cancer cell lines. All samples exhibited good activity against all types of cancer cells studied. It was understood that Sn loading into β-Ga<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf> exceptionally ameliorated its activity against cell proliferation of A549, LoVo and HuH-7 cancer cells with least observed IC<inf>50</inf> values of 5.37 ± 0.56 µM, 5.62 ± 0.49 µM and 6.52 ± 0.69 µM respectively. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.