Grok 3 Mini vs Microsoft Phi-4
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
Grok 3 Mini
xAICost-effective xAI model for high-volume tasks. Good balance of capability and affordability.
| Input | $0.300/M |
| Output | $0.500/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | High-volume tasks, simple coding, cost-sensitive projects |
| Benchmark | 50/100 |
Microsoft Phi-4
MicrosoftMicrosoft's compact 14B model with strong reasoning and coding capability. Excellent value for small-scale deployments.
| Input | $0.100/M |
| Output | $0.300/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | Edge deployments, local inference, budget coding |
| Benchmark | 45/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | Grok 3 Mini | Microsoft Phi-4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 50 | 45 | Grok 3 Mini leads by 5pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 42 | 38 | Grok 3 Mini leads by 4pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 52 | 46 | Grok 3 Mini leads by 6pts |
| HumanEval | 72 | 68 | Grok 3 Mini leads by 4pts |
| BigCodeBench | 36 | 30 | Grok 3 Mini leads by 6pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Grok 3 Mini | Microsoft Phi-4 | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.03 | $0.01 | Microsoft Phi-4 saves $0.01 (51%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $0.21 | $0.10 | Microsoft Phi-4 saves $0.11 (54%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $1.02 | $0.47 | Microsoft Phi-4 saves $0.55 (54%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.07 | $0.02 | Microsoft Phi-4 saves $0.04 (62%) |
Value Analysis (Price per Benchmark Score Point)
Lower is better — how much you pay for each point of benchmark performance.
| Model | Overall Score | Price per Score Point | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grok 3 Mini | 50 | $0.006/pt | Higher cost per point |
| Microsoft Phi-4 | 45 | $0.002/pt | Better value |
Microsoft Phi-4 delivers the best value at $0.002 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Grok 3 Mini
- + Budget option
- + Fast
- - Limited capabilities
Microsoft Phi-4
- + Small model, runs locally
- - Limited capacity
Verdict
Microsoft Phi-4 is cheaper at $0.100/M, but Grok 3 Mini scores higher on benchmarks (50 vs 45).
Choose Microsoft Phi-4 for cost-sensitive projects, Grok 3 Mini when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
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Claude Opus 4
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Claude 3.5 Sonnet
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Claude 3.5 Haiku
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Claude 3 Opus
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Claude 3 Sonnet
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