In this work, we highlight the influence of three different sol stabilizers, namely diethanolamine (DEA), Ammonium Hydroxide (NH4OH), and Nitric Acid (HNO3), on the optical and structural properties of spin-coated zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films. The XRD patterns related to all films exhibit a hexagonal crystal structure with a preferential orientation along the (0 0 2) direction. However an additional <100> peak arises when the films are prepared with DEA and NH4OH showing a better crystallinity than that displayed by HNO3-prepared films. The elaborated films show a high transparency reaching 80% for DEA-prepared films. The analysis of the transmittance and the reflectance measurements confirms a direct band-to-band transition. Depending on the sol stabilizer, the optical band gap energy is varying from 3.16 to 3.22eV. The relatively wide band-gap of DEA-prepared ZnO films is correlated to their high crystallinity. Room temperature photoluminescence spectra indicate strong UV emission at around 377nm originated from nearby band-edge transitions. Yet, the use of DEA as a stabilizer leads to a net intensity increase of the blue peak emission.