Dicyandiamide (DCD) and thiosulfates are two type of nitrification inhibitors (NIs) that have been widely used in agriculture to improve nitrogen (N) fertilizer use efficiency and mitigate negative effect of N on environment. Little information is available concerning the comparison of the efficacy of DCD and thiosulfate on N transformations in soil. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of DCD and thiosulfate (K₂S₂O₃) on changes of NH₄⁺-N, nitrification inhibition and N recovery in a latosolic red soil. An incubation experiment was conducted with four treatments of control (CK), N, N+DCD, and N+K₂S₂O₃. Soil samples were collected periodically over 50 d to determine concentrations of mineral N, and the amoA gene abundance of ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) for ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was estimated by qPCR after 10 d incubation. In the N treatment, 67.8% of the applied N as NH₄⁺-N disappeared from the mineral N pool and only 2.7% and 30.8% of the applied N was accumulated as NO₂^--N and NO₃^--N, respectively. Addition of DCD and thiosulfate to the soil prevented NH₄⁺-N disappearance by 63.0% and 13.6%, respectively. DCD suppressed the production of NO₂^--N by 97.41%, whereas thiosulfate increased accumulation of NO₂^--N by 14.6%. Application of N along with DCD and thiosulfate inhibited nitrification, respectively, by 72.6% and 33.1%, resulting in the delay of the nitrification process for 30 days and 10 days, respectively. Apparent N recovery in N treatment was 66.2%, which increased by 55.2% and 4.8% by DCD and thiosulfate, respectively. Numbers of AOB amoA gene copy was significantly inhibited by both DCD and thiosulfate, and the stronger inhibition induced by DCD than thiosulfate was recorded. Results indicated that both DCD and thiosulfate were effective inhibitors for NH₄⁺-N oxidation, NO₃^--N production, mineral N losses and AOB growth. DCD showed a more pronounced effect on nitrification inhibition than thiosulfate.