Lanthanide-doped LiAlB and BaB glasses with different modifier-to-former ratios are investigated for their material parameters and optical properties. BaB glass is harder than LiAlB glass, while the latter one shows the higher elastic modulus. An increase in the amount of the network modifier leads to an increase in hardness and elasticity of the glass. The choice and amount of network modifier also affect the luminescence properties and the color impression. The investigation of Dy³⁺ single-doped LiAlB and BaB glasses shows that the higher the amount of network former, the more intense the resulting green-yellowish luminescence. Tb³⁺ single-doped BaB glass shows an increase of the intense green luminescence with growing amount of Tb³⁺. Compared to Dy³⁺, Tb³⁺ shows luminescence quenching at significantly higher doping concentrations. To achieve a more intense, broader green luminescence, BaB glass is double-doped with Dy³⁺ and Tb³⁺. Upon excitation of the Dy³⁺-related absorption band at 452 nm, an intense Tb³⁺-related green emission is observed, indicating a strong energy transfer between the two lanthanides. The most promising candidates are investigated as light guides. The luminance and color impression at the output face depend on light guide length and surface structure. A rough surface with Lambertian scattering characteristics as the output face results in a mixture of excitation and luminescence light until the excitation light is completely absorbed. A pyramidally-structured output face enables to halve the required light guide length as the optical path of the excitation light is doubled by total internal reflection at the pyramid tip. The color impression at the output face is always in the green-yellowish to green spectral range.