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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Command R7B vs Nova Micro vs Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct comes out ahead, 72 to 65 and 62 on our weighted score, though Nova Micro is 23% cheaper per token.

  1. Cohere

    Command R7B

    Released Dec 13, 2024

    65/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.037 / $0.15
    • Context128K
  2. Amazon

    Nova Micro

    Released Dec 3, 2024

    62/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.035 / $0.14
    • Context128K
  3. Our pick

    Microsoft

    Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

    Released Feb 26, 2025

    72/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.07 / $0.11
    • Context131K
01 — Verdict

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is our pick

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Command R7B (65) and Nova Micro (62). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceNova MicroNova Micro $0.061 · Command R7B $0.066 · Phi-4-multimodal-instruct $0.08 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextPhi-4-multimodal-instructPhi-4-multimodal-instruct 131,072 · Command R7B 128,000 · Nova Micro 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsPhi-4-multimodal-instructCommand R7B: Text · Nova Micro: Text · Phi-4-multimodal-instruct: Text, Images, Audio
  • Self-hostingCommand R7B and Phi-4-multimodal-instructPublishes downloadable weights (MIT)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightCommand R7BNova MicroPhi-4-multimodal-instruct
Price50%10010098
Inputs & features30%352560
Context window20%242425
Overall100%65/10062/10072/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Command R7B vs Nova Micro vs Phi-4-multimodal-instruct specifications side by side
SpecificationCommand R7BCohereNova MicroAmazonPhi-4-multimodal-instructMicrosoft
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input$0.037$0.035 (best)$0.07
Output$0.15$0.14$0.11 (best)
Cached input—$0.0088—
Blended (3:1)$0.066$0.061 (best)$0.08
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Cohere APIOfficial Amazon Bedrock APIMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens128,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Max output4,000 tokens10,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoNoYes
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoYes
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoNo
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputYesNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietaryOpenMIT
API model IDcommand-r7b-12-2024amazon.nova-micro-v1:0—
API providers68 (best)1
ReleasedDec 13, 2024Dec 3, 2024Feb 26, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJun 1, 2024Oct 2024Jun 2024
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Command R7B$0.675
  • Nova Micro$0.63
  • Phi-4-multimodal-instruct$0.92
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Command R7B, Nova Micro or Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Command R7B (65) and Nova Micro (62). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Command R7B, Nova Micro or Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Nova Micro is cheaper at $0.035 input / $0.14 output per million tokens (official Amazon Bedrock API price). Command R7B costs $0.037 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Cohere API price); Phi-4-multimodal-instruct costs $0.07 input / $0.11 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.061 per million tokens for Nova Micro versus $0.066 for Command R7B (1.1× as much) and $0.08 for Phi-4-multimodal-instruct (1.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Command R7B has not been scored yet, Nova Micro has not been scored yet and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Command R7B, Nova Micro and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Command R7B and 128,000 for Nova Micro. Maximum output per response: Command R7B up to 4,000, Nova Micro up to 10,000, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Command R7B accepts text; Nova Micro accepts text; Phi-4-multimodal-instruct accepts text, images and audio. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Command R7B and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; Nova Micro is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is the newest, released Feb 26, 2025. Command R7B came out Dec 13, 2024; Nova Micro came out Dec 3, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Command R7B Jun 1, 2024, Nova Micro Oct 2024, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct Jun 2024.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.