Epitaxial thin films of cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂O₄) are grown on two isostructural substrates, (001)-oriented MgGa₂O₄ and ZnGa₂O₄, using pulsed laser deposition. The substrates have a lattice mismatch of 1.26% and 0.70% with bulk CoFe₂O₄ (CFO) crystal. We have systematically investigated the structural and magnetic properties of the epitaxial CFO films on these substrates. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy result analysis reveal that the films deposited on spinel ZnGa₂O₄ are essentially free of defects and are under a small compressive strain, while films on MgGa₂O₄ show partial strain relaxation along with defect formation. Room temperature magnetization data indicate that CFO grown on ZnGa₂O₄ substrates have a bulk-like saturation magnetization of 420 emu/cc and a uniaxial substrate-induced anisotropy value of [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] erg/cm³ with an anisotropy field as low as 60 kOe.