A comparative study of optical properties and laser induced heating effects in Tm 3+ , Yb 3+ doped YNbO 4 , GdNbO 4 and LaNbO 4 phosphors is presented in this work. The phosphors were structurally characterized by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy measurements. The vibrational structures of the phosphors were studied using FTIR measurements. The optical band gaps (E g), calculated from the Wood and Tauc plot, are found to be 3.78, 4.50 and 3.27 eV for YNbO 4 , GdNbO 4 and LaNbO 4 , respectively. The luminescence property (downshifting (DS) and upconversion (UC)) was studied in the powder and the pellet forms of the phosphor samples. The DS emission of Tm 3+ doped ANbO 4 phosphors (λ ex = 265 nm) consists of broad blue emission due to (NbO 4) 3− group overlapped with sharp peaks due to f-f transition of Tm 3+ ion with most prominent emission one in the case of YNbO 4 phosphor. The DS emission is comparatively more intense in the pellet form. The NIR excited UC emission spectra of Tm 3+ , Yb 3+ co-doped ANbO 4 phosphors contain intense blue and NIR emissions due to the Tm 3+ ion. Contrary to the DS study, the best UC result is found for LaNbO 4 phosphor in pellet form. Further, the laser induced heating effect in UC emission with respect to laser pump power and irradiation time has also been studied in Tm 3+ , and Yb 3+ co-doped ANbO 4 phosphors. It was found to be more effective in the case of the YNbO 4 host where the heating effect is more prominent in the powder sample. We discuss the mechanisms involved in these observations in detail.