Two rhodamine and azo based chemosensors (HL1 = (3′,6′-bis(ethylamino)-2-((2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-5-(phenyldiazenyl)benzylidene)amino)-2′,7′-dimethylspiro[isoindoline-1,9′-xanthen]-3-one) and HL2 = (3′,6′-bis(ethylamino)-2-(((2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-5-(p-tolyldiazenyl)benzylidene)amino)-2′,7′-dimethylspiro[isoindoline-1,9′-xanthen]-3-one) have been synthesized for colorimetric and fluorometric detection of three trivalent metal ions, Al³⁺, Cr³⁺ and Fe³⁺. The chemosensors have been thoroughly characterized by different spectroscopic techniques and X-ray crystallography. They are non-fluorescent due to the presence of a spirolactam ring. The trivalent metal ions initiate an opening of the spirolactam ring when excited at 490 nm in Britton–Robinson buffer solution (H₂O/MeOH 1 : 9 v/v; pH 7.4). The opening of the spirolactam ring increases conjugation within the probe, which is supported by an intense fluorescent pinkish-yellow colouration and an enhancement of the fluorescence intensity of the chemosensors by ∼400 times in the presence of Al³⁺ and Cr³⁺ ions and by ∼100 times in the presence of Fe³⁺ ions. Such a type of enormous fluorescence enhancement is rarely observed in other chemosensors for the detection of trivalent metal ions. A 2 : 1 binding stoichiometry of the probes with the respective ions has been confirmed by Job's plot analysis. Elucidation of the crystal structures of the Al³⁺ bound chemosensors (1 and 4) also justifies the 2 : 1 binding stoichiometry and the presence of an open spirolactam ring within the chemosensor framework. The limit of detection (LOD) values for both the chemosensors towards the respective metal ions are in the order of ∼10⁻⁹ M which supports their application in the biological field. The biocompatibility of the ligands has been studied with the help of the MTT assay. The results show that no significant toxicity was observed up to 100 μM of chemosensor concentration. The capability of our synthesized chemosensors to detect intracellular Al³⁺, Cr³⁺ and Fe³⁺ ions in the cervical cancer cell line HeLa was evaluated with the aid of fluorescence imaging.