| Signal | GPT-5.4 Mini | Delta | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 100 | +67 | |
Benchmarks | 90 | +26 | |
Pricing | 96 | -4 | |
Context window size | 89 | +8 | |
Recency | 100 | +5 | |
Output Capacity | 85 | -- | |
| Overall Result | 4 wins | of 6 | 1 wins |
Score History
79.3
current score
GPT-5.4 Mini
right now
52.7
current score
OpenAI
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini Instruct saves you $274.50/month
That's $3294.00/year compared to GPT-5.4 Mini at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | GPT-5.4 Mini | Phi 4 Mini Instruct | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 79 | 53 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Rank | #43 | #167 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Quality Rank | #43 | #167 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Adoption Rank | #43 | #167 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Parameters | -- | -- | -- |
| Context Window | 400K | 128K | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Pricing | $0.75/$4.50/M | $0.08/$0.35/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 100 | 33 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Benchmarks | 90 | 65 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Pricing | 96 | 100 | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
| Context window size | 89 | 81 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Recency | 100 | 96 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Output Capacity | 85 | 85 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
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 79/100 (rank #43), placing it in the top 86% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 53/100 (rank #167), placing it in the top 43% of all 290 models tracked.
GPT-5.4 Mini has a 27-point advantage, which typically translates to noticeably stronger performance on complex reasoning, code generation, and multi-step tasks.
Phi 4 Mini Instruct offers 92% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $6.45/month with Phi 4 Mini Instruct vs $78.75/month with GPT-5.4 Mini - a $72.30 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 (400K 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 (79/100) 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
GPT-5.4 Mini clearly outperforms Phi 4 Mini Instruct with a significant 26.599999999999994-point lead. For most general use cases, GPT-5.4 Mini is the stronger choice. However, Phi 4 Mini Instruct may still excel in niche scenarios.
Best for Quality
GPT-5.4 Mini
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
Phi 4 Mini Instruct
92% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
GPT-5.4 Mini
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
GPT-5.4 Mini
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
GPT-5.4 Mini
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by OpenAI
| Capability | GPT-5.4 Mini | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input)differs | ||
| Function Callingdiffers | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoningdiffers | ||
| Web Searchdiffers | ||
| Image Output |
OpenAI
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini Instruct saves you $6.19/month
That's 92% cheaper than GPT-5.4 Mini 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 | GPT-5.4 Mini | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 400K | 128K |
| Max Output Tokens | 128,000 | 128,000 |
| Open Source | No | Yes |
| Created | Mar 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2025 |