ModelRefs / Phi-4 vs GPT-4.1 Mini
Phi-4 vs GPT-4.1 Mini
Phi-4 vs GPT-4.1 Mini: side-by-side benchmarks, pricing, context windows, coding ability and deployment. Pick the right model for your stack.
Overview
GPT-4.1 Mini: GPT-4.1 Mini is OpenAI's April 2025 smaller, faster GPT-4.1 variant, carrying the same 1,047,576-token context window, 32,768-token maximum output and June 2024 knowledge cutoff as the full model at roughly a fifth of its input price. It accepts text and image input and, like GPT-4.1, answers without a reasoning step. OpenAI has since deprecated it, scheduling the gpt-4.1-mini-2025-04-14 snapshot to shut down on 14 January 2027 with gpt-6-luna as the replacement.
Phi-4: Microsoft's 14B dense decoder-only open-weight text model, trained on 9.8T tokens with a synthetic-data-centered curriculum and available through the microsoft/phi-4 artifact and Microsoft Foundry.
Context window: GPT-4.1 Mini accepts up to 1,000,000 tokens, Phi-4 up to 16,384. Confirm the limit for your specific deployment channel before relying on it.
GPT-4.1 Mini vs Phi-4 at a glance
| Attribute | GPT-4.1 Mini | Phi-4 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI | Microsoft |
| Released | 2025-04-14 | 2024-12-12 |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 16,384 tokens |
| Input price | $0.4/M tokens | Free / self-hosted |
| Output price | $1.6/M tokens | Free / self-hosted |
| Licence | Proprietary | MIT |
| Self-hostable | No, hosted only | Yes, open weights |
| Modalities | text, vision | text |
Benchmarks reported for both
| Benchmark | GPT-4.1 Mini | Phi-4 | Reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (accuracy) | 65 | 56.1 | 2024-12-12 |
Each row compares the same benchmark, the same reported metric, and the same task set. Scores are as published by their cited sources on the dates shown. Different runs still use different harnesses and prompts, so treat these as directional evidence rather than a head-to-head result.
Where they differ most
- Cost Efficiency: GPT-4.1 Mini 80%, Phi-4 100%. Phi-4 leads on this dimension.
- Reasoning: GPT-4.1 Mini 60%, Phi-4 61%. Phi-4 leads on this dimension.
Capability scores are ModelRefs' own derived signals, not vendor claims or benchmark results. Validate against your own workload before relying on them.
Continue your research
Use these connected ModelRefs sections to compare alternatives, inspect implementation paths, and review the evidence and governance boundaries relevant to Phi-4 vs GPT-4.1 Mini.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, Phi-4 or GPT-4.1 Mini?
Phi-4 and GPT-4.1 Mini target different workloads — see the benchmark and pricing tables for a side-by-side answer.
Is Phi-4 cheaper than GPT-4.1 Mini?
Compare $0.00000 vs $0.00040 on this page.