| Signal | Phi 4 Mini Instruct | Delta | Qwen3 235B A22B |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 33 | -33 | |
Benchmarks | 65 | +10 | |
Pricing | 100 | +2 | |
Context window size | 81 | 0 | |
Recency | 96 | +31 | |
Output Capacity | 85 | +20 | |
| Overall Result | 4 wins | of 6 | 2 wins |
Score History
52.7
current score
Qwen3 235B A22B
right now
54
current score
Microsoft
Alibaba
Phi 4 Mini Instruct saves you $111.00/month
That's $1332.00/year compared to Qwen3 235B A22B at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | Phi 4 Mini Instruct | Qwen3 235B A22B | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 53 | 54 | Qwen3 235B A22B |
| Rank | #167 | #163 | Qwen3 235B A22B |
| Quality Rank | #167 | #163 | Qwen3 235B A22B |
| Adoption Rank | #167 | #163 | Qwen3 235B A22B |
| Parameters | -- | 235B | -- |
| Context Window | 128K | 131K | Qwen3 235B A22B |
| Pricing | $0.08/$0.35/M | $0.45/$1.82/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 33 | 67 | Qwen3 235B A22B |
| Benchmarks | 65 | 55 | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
| Pricing | 100 | 98 | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
| Context window size | 81 | 81 | Qwen3 235B A22B |
| Recency | 96 | 64 | Phi 4 Mini Instruct |
| Output Capacity | 85 | 65 | 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 53/100 (rank #167), placing it in the top 43% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 54/100 (rank #163), placing it in the top 44% of all 290 models tracked.
With only a 1-point gap, these models are in the same performance tier. The practical difference in output quality is minimal - your choice should depend on pricing, latency requirements, and specific feature needs.
Phi 4 Mini Instruct offers 81% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $6.45/month with Phi 4 Mini Instruct vs $34.13/month with Qwen3 235B A22B - a $27.68 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 (131K 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 (54/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content
Phi 4 Mini Instruct and Qwen3 235B A22B are extremely close in overall performance (only 1.2999999999999972 points apart). Your best choice depends entirely on which specific strengths matter most for your use case.
Best for Quality
Phi 4 Mini Instruct
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
Phi 4 Mini Instruct
81% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
Phi 4 Mini Instruct
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
Phi 4 Mini Instruct
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
Phi 4 Mini Instruct
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by Microsoft
| Capability | Phi 4 Mini Instruct | Qwen3 235B A22B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input) | ||
| Function Callingdiffers | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoningdiffers | ||
| Web Search | ||
| Image Output |
Microsoft
Alibaba
Phi 4 Mini Instruct saves you $2.44/month
That's 81% cheaper than Qwen3 235B A22B 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 | Phi 4 Mini Instruct | Qwen3 235B A22B |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 128K | 131K |
| Max Output Tokens | 128,000 | 8,192 |
| Open Source | Yes | Yes |
| Created | Oct 17, 2025 | Apr 28, 2025 |