ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B vs Phi-4-mini vs Reka Flash 3
Too close to call on our weighted score (ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B 57, Phi-4-mini 56, Reka Flash 3 50). The right pick depends on what you value most.
BaiduERNIE 4.5 21B A3B
57/100- ECI—
- Price$0.07 / $0.28
- Context131K
MicrosoftPhi-4-mini
56/100- ECI—
- Price$0.075 / $0.30
- Context128K
Reka AIReka Flash 3
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.20
- Context66K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B 57/100, Phi-4-mini 56/100, Reka Flash 3 50/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B on price and ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B for long inputs. 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 priceERNIE 4.5 21B A3BERNIE 4.5 21B A3B $0.122 · Reka Flash 3 $0.125 · Phi-4-mini $0.131 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextERNIE 4.5 21B A3BERNIE 4.5 21B A3B 131,072 · Phi-4-mini 128,000 · Reka Flash 3 65,536 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsERNIE 4.5 21B A3B: Text · Phi-4-mini: Text · Reka Flash 3: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B | Phi-4-mini | Reka Flash 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 89 | 88 | 89 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 25 | 10 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 24 | 12 |
| Overall | 100% | 57/100 | 56/100 | 50/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | ERNIE 4.5 21B A3BBaidu | Phi-4-miniMicrosoft | Reka Flash 3Reka AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.07 (best) | $0.075 | $0.10 |
| Output | $0.28 | $0.30 | $0.20 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.122 (best) | $0.131 | $0.125 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Official Azure API | Median of 3 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens | 65,536 tokens |
| Max output | 8,000 tokens | 4,096 tokens | 58,982 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenApache-2.0 | Open | Open |
| API model ID | — | phi-4-mini | — |
| API providers | 1 | 2 | 3 (best) |
| Released | Jun 30, 2025 | Feb 26, 2025 | Mar 10, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Jun 2024 | Jan 31, 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B$1.26
- Phi-4-mini$1.35
- Reka Flash 3$1.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B, Phi-4-mini or Reka Flash 3?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B 57/100, Phi-4-mini 56/100, Reka Flash 3 50/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B on price and ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B for long inputs. 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, ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B, Phi-4-mini or Reka Flash 3?
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is cheaper at $0.07 input / $0.28 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Reka Flash 3 costs $0.10 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers); Phi-4-mini costs $0.075 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official Azure API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.122 per million tokens for ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B versus $0.125 for Reka Flash 3 (1× as much) and $0.131 for Phi-4-mini (1.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B has not been scored yet, Phi-4-mini has not been scored yet and Reka Flash 3 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B, Phi-4-mini and Reka Flash 3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Reka Flash 3 does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Phi-4-mini and 65,536 for Reka Flash 3. Maximum output per response: ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B up to 8,000, Phi-4-mini up to 4,096, Reka Flash 3 up to 58,982 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B accepts text; Phi-4-mini accepts text; Reka Flash 3 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights (Apache-2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is the newest, released Jun 30, 2025. Reka Flash 3 came out Mar 10, 2025; Phi-4-mini came out Feb 26, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Phi-4-mini Jun 2024, Reka Flash 3 Jan 31, 2025.
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.
