Iron phase has a significant positive effect on the durability of cement concrete. In order to broaden the sources of iron phase, the effects of iron salts on the properties and hydration products of aluminate cement were studied. The combination of aluminate cement and sulfate (gypsum and ferrous sulfate) was used to form ettringite as a main hydration product of aluminate cement. Then, the influence of the proportion of ferrous sulfate in sulfate on the setting time, compressive strength and volume stability of aluminate cement paste was studied. The type and microstructure of the hydration products were also analyzed by XRD and SEM to reveal the influence mechanism of ferrous sulfate on properties of cement paste. The results show that appropriate amount of sulfate can improve the compressive strength of aluminate cement paste. Ferrous sulfate has a slight promoting effect on the setting time and a significant inhibiting effect on the expansion rate of aluminate cement. Ferrous sulfate inhibits the formation of ettringite, and an appropriate amount of ferrous sulfate makes the generated ettringite with smaller size and uniform distribution, which is conducive to improving the compressive strength of the hardened paste.