Model Comparison
Phi-4 Mini Instruct
vs. Qwen3 4B (Non-reasoning)
Comparing 2 AI models · 12 benchmarks · Microsoft, Alibaba
Recommended Pick
Al Qwen3 4B (Non-reasoning) 10 metric wins Strongest on: TTFT, Latency, Reasoning
Lowest Price
Phi-4 Mini Instruct
$0.00/1M input price
Best Reasoning
Qwen3 4B (Non-reasoning)
32.3 reasoning score
Blends available reasoning benchmarks
Best for Coding
Phi-4 Mini Instruct
3.6 coding index
Composite Indices
Higher is better; speed and price are normalized
Standard Benchmarks
Only benchmarks with data are shown
Differences That Matter
Price gap
Phi-4 Mini Instruct is ∞x cheaper on input tokens than Qwen3 4B (Non-reasoning).
Reasoning gap
Qwen3 4B (Non-reasoning) leads Phi-4 Mini Instruct by 13.5 points on reasoning.
Top-pick rationale
Qwen3 4B (Non-reasoning) wins 10 measurable categories, including TTFT, Latency, Reasoning, Intelligence.
Response Face-Off
Run one prompt through the selected models and compare response quality with live speed and cost context.
Phi-4 Mini Instruct
Microsoft
TTFT
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Time
—
tok/s
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Tokens
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Cost
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Qwen3 4B (Non-reasoning)
Alibaba
TTFT
—
Time
—
tok/s
—
Tokens
—
Cost
—
Which answer was more useful?
Full Comparison
| Metric | Mi Phi-4 Mini Instruct | Top Pick Al Qwen3 4B (Non-reasoning) |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing per 1M tokens | ||
| Input Cost | $0.00/1M | $0.11/1M |
| Output Cost | $0.00/1M | $0.42/1M |
| Blended (3:1) | — | $0.19/1M |
| Specifications | ||
| Organization | Microsoft | Alibaba |
| Release Date | Feb 26, 2024 | Apr 28, 2025 |
| Performance & Speed | ||
| Throughput | 21.9 tok/s | — |
| TTFT | 395ms | — |
| Latency | 395ms | — |
| Composite Indices | ||
| Value Score | — | 100.0 |
| Reasoning Score | 18.8 | 32.3 |
| Intelligence | 8.4 | 12.5 |
| Coding | 3.6 | — |
| Math | 6.7 | — |
| Standard Benchmarks | ||
| GPQA | 33.1% | 39.8% |
| MMLU Pro | 46.5% | 58.6% |
| HLE | 4.2% | 3.7% |
| LiveCodeBench | 12.6% | 23.3% |
| MATH 500 | 69.6% | 84.3% |
| AIME 2025 | 6.7% | — |
| AIME (Original) | 3.0% | 21.3% |
| SciCode | 10.8% | 16.7% |
| LCR | 13.7% | — |
| IFBench | 21.1% | — |
| TAU-bench v2 | 8.2% | — |
| TerminalBench Hard | 0.0% | — |
Key Takeaways
Phi-4 Mini Instruct offers the best value at $0.00/1M, making it ideal for high-volume applications and cost-conscious projects.
Qwen3 4B (Non-reasoning) has the strongest reasoning profile with a 32.3 reasoning score, combining the available reasoning-heavy benchmarks.
Phi-4 Mini Instruct reaches a 3.6 coding index, making it the top choice for software development and code generation tasks.
All models support context windows of ∞+ tokens, suitable for processing lengthy documents and maintaining extended conversations.
When to Choose Each Model
Phi-4 Mini Instruct
- Cost-sensitive applications
- High-volume processing
- Code generation
- Software development
Qwen3 4B (Non-reasoning)
- Complex reasoning tasks
- Research & analysis
