This research paper reports the deposition of nanostructured pure and Ni-doped ZnO thin films deposited at the substrate temperature of 523 K using simple and economical spray pyrolysis technique and subsequently post annealed at 673 K in air atmosphere for 3 h. Ni-doping greatly affected the crystallographic orientation, surface morphology, roughness and room temperature sensing response. Noticeable change in the crystallite size, transmittance and electrical properties was observed. The room temperature sensing characteristics like selectivity, response recovery studies, range of detection, stability and reproducibility of the undoped and Ni-doped ZnO thin films were investigated. Especially, the sensing elements exhibited an excellent selectivity towards ammonia. A lower detection limit of 5 and 25 ppm was observed for undoped and Ni-doped ZnO thin films respectively. The upper detection range was widened to 1000 ppm for the Ni-doped film. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.