| Signal | Grok 4 | Delta | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 100 | +67 | |
Benchmarks | 86 | +22 | |
Pricing | 85 | -15 | |
Context window size | 86 | +5 | |
Recency | 77 | -18 | |
Output Capacity | 20 | -65 | |
| Overall Result | 3 wins | of 6 | 3 wins |
Score History
88.1
current score
Grok 4
right now
52.7
current score
xAI
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini Instruct saves you $1024.50/month
That's $12294.00/year compared to Grok 4 at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | Grok 4 | Phi 4 Mini Instruct | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 88 | 53 | Grok 4 |
| Rank | #12 | #167 | Grok 4 |
| Quality Rank | #12 | #167 | Grok 4 |
| Adoption Rank | #12 | #167 | Grok 4 |
| Parameters | -- | -- | -- |
| Context Window | 256K | 128K | Grok 4 |
| Pricing | $3.00/$15.00/M | $0.08/$0.35/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 100 | 33 | Grok 4 |
| Benchmarks | 86 | 65 | Grok 4 |
| Pricing | 85 | 100 | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
| Context window size | 86 | 81 | Grok 4 |
| Recency | 77 | 96 | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
| Output Capacity | 20 | 85 | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
Our score (0-100) is driven by benchmark performance (90%) from Arena Elo ratings, MMLU, GPQA, HumanEval, SWE-bench, and 15+ standardized evaluations. Capabilities and context window serve as tiebreakers (10%). Learn more about our methodology.
Scores 88/100 (rank #12), placing it in the top 96% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 53/100 (rank #167), placing it in the top 43% of all 290 models tracked.
Grok 4 has a 35-point advantage, which typically translates to noticeably stronger performance on complex reasoning, code generation, and multi-step tasks.
Phi 4 Mini Instruct offers 98% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $6.45/month with Phi 4 Mini Instruct vs $270.00/month with Grok 4 - a $263.55 monthly difference.
Both models have comparable response speeds. For most applications, the latency difference is negligible.
When latency matters most: Interactive chatbots, IDE code completion, real-time translation, and user-facing applications where response time directly impacts experience. For batch processing, background summarization, or offline analysis, latency is less critical.
Code generation & review
Based on overall model capabilities and architecture for coding tasks like generating functions, debugging, and refactoring
Customer support chatbot
Suitable for user-facing chat with competitive response times. Phi 4 Mini Instruct also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (256K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($0.35/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (88/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content
Image understanding & OCR
Supports vision input - can analyze screenshots, diagrams, photos, and scanned documents directly
Grok 4 clearly outperforms Phi 4 Mini Instruct with a significant 35.39999999999999-point lead. For most general use cases, Grok 4 is the stronger choice. However, Phi 4 Mini Instruct may still excel in niche scenarios.
Best for Quality
Grok 4
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
Phi 4 Mini Instruct
98% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
Grok 4
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
Grok 4
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
Grok 4
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by xAI
| Capability | Grok 4 | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input)differs | ||
| Function Callingdiffers | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoningdiffers | ||
| Web Searchdiffers | ||
| Image Output |
xAI
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini Instruct saves you $22.84/month
That's 98% cheaper than Grok 4 at 1,000 tokens/request and 100 requests/day.
Assumes 60% input / 40% output token ratio per request. Actual costs may vary based on your usage pattern.
| Parameter | Grok 4 | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 256K | 128K |
| Max Output Tokens | -- | 128,000 |
| Open Source | No | Yes |
| Created | Jul 9, 2025 | Oct 17, 2025 |