# Lightyear vs Brightfin: which do AI models recommend for telecom expense mgmt, October 2026

Finance AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Telecom expense management. Three of fourteen models named Lightyear first on the direct prompt; two named Brightfin. Page: https://finance-ai-index.com/spend/telecom-expense-management/lightyear-vs-brightfin/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightyear | 12% | #2 of 8 | 3% | 30 | 13 of 14 |
| Brightfin | 4% | #6 of 8 | 16% | 25 | 11 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Claude Haiku 4.5: lightyear first (first choices: Lightyear) (alternatives: Cimpl, Tangoe One Telecom, Valicom's Clearview, vCom Solutions)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: lightyear first (first choices: Lightyear) (alternatives: Brightfin, Mindglobal, vCom Solutions, vManager)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: lightyear first (first choices: Lightyear) (alternatives: Brightfin, Calero, Mindglobal, vCom Solutions)
- Perplexity Sonar: brightfin first (first choices: Brightfin) (alternatives: Clearview, Lightyear, vCom Solutions)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: brightfin first (first choices: Brightfin) (alternatives: RadiusPoint, vCom Solutions)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Mindglobal, vCom Solutions) (alternatives: Cimpl, Lightyear, Valicom)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: Upland Cimpl) (alternatives: Calero, Ginger Telecom, Lightyear, Stratix, Tangoe One Telecom)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither first, one named (first choices: Clearview) (alternatives: Brightfin, Genuity)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: Calero) (alternatives: Sakon, Tangoe One Telecom, Valicom Clearview)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither named (first choices: Sakon, vCom Solutions) (alternatives: Calero, Genuity, Valicom)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: ClearSight TEMs, LINQ Qonnect)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named (first choices: ClearSight TEMs) (alternatives: LINQ Qonnect)
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: Calero) (alternatives: Asignet, Tellennium, vCom Solutions)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither named

## What the models said about Lightyear

- "it has far fewer reviews, so I'd treat it as a newer option rather than the safest default" (GPT-5.4 mini, direct prompt, soft negative)
- "Highly rated for mid-market and SMB companies, offering robust telecom expense management (TEM) with low service tiers that make it accessible for mid-sized businesses." (Mistral Small, paraphrase prompt, first choice)
- "I would recommend Lightyear if you want a TEM/wireless expense management platform that is explicitly positioned for *SMB and mid-market* organizations" (Perplexity Sonar, paraphrase prompt, first choice)
- "Lightyear is a strong choice because it connects procurement, inventory tracking, and expense management in a unified platform" (Claude Haiku 4.5, direct prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Brightfin

- "brightfin: Acquired by Proven Optics" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "brightfin — verify post-combination product plans. ... That's a reason to ask about product direction, support ownership, and reference customers" (GPT-6 Luna, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Strong automation capabilities and native ServiceNow integration, but reviews note: "Limited functionality outside of ServiceNow environments."" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "1. Brightfin ... Best For: Companies already using (or planning to use) ServiceNow." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, direct prompt, first choice)
- "the strongest overall choice from the results is Brightfin" (Perplexity Sonar, direct prompt, first choice)
- "the unified Brightfin brand has established itself as a powerhouse that bridges TEM and IT Financial Management (ITFM)" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, comparative prompt, alternative)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.