As prospective alternative fuels for diesel engines, the current study examines two edible oils, namely sunflower and palm oil, and three non-edible oils namely jatropha, karanja, and waste cooking oil. The transesterification process was used to produce methyl esters from Karanja oil, Jatropha oil, Sunflower oil, Palm oil, and Waste cooking oil. The physical properties of these methyl esters met the specifications of IS biodiesel standards and were found to be similar to those of conventional diesel. An experimental setup used a single-cylinder, air-cooled, four-stroke direct injection diesel engine with a power output of 4.4 kW to assess the fuels performance, emission and combustion characteristics with varying blends of the methyl esters (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%). Peak pressure, ignition delay and heat release rate were assessed in the combustion analysis. The performance metrics assessed included brake thermal efficiency, while the exhaust emissions analyzed were nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, smoke, and carbon monoxide. The experimental outcomes were compared to baseline data from diesel fuel. The findings indicated that the low blends of 20% biodiesel of Jatropha oil methyl esters (JTME), Karanja oil methyl esters (KME), Palm oil methyl esters (POME), Sunflower oil methyl esters (SFOME) and Waste cooking oil methyl esters (WCOME) served as the effective alternative fuel for performance and emissions under full load conditions among all fuels tested.