Microsoft Phi-4 vs Phi-3 Mini
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
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 |
Phi-3 Mini
MicrosoftMicrosoft's compact Phi-3 model. Small but capable model for edge and IoT deployment.
| Input | $0.050/M |
| Output | $0.100/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | Edge AI, IoT devices, lightweight applications |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Microsoft Phi-4 | Phi-3 Mini | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.01 | <$0.01 | Phi-3 Mini saves <$0.01 (62%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $0.10 | $0.04 | Phi-3 Mini saves $0.06 (61%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $0.47 | $0.19 | Phi-3 Mini saves $0.29 (61%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.02 | $0.01 | Phi-3 Mini saves $0.01 (55%) |
Verdict
Phi-3 Mini wins on both price and performance — $0.050/M input with a benchmark score of N/A/100.
For most developers, this is the clear choice between these two models.
Compare with Other Models
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