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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs Phi-4-mini

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 85 to 58 on our weighted score, though Phi-4-mini is 25% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    85/100
    • ECI133.9
    • Price$0.10 / $0.40
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

  2. Microsoft

    Phi-4-mini

    Released Dec 11, 2024

    58/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.075 / $0.30
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Phi-4-mini

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 85/100 against Phi-4-mini (58). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Phi-4-mini wins on price. 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 pricePhi-4-miniPhi-4-mini $0.131 · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite $0.175 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · Phi-4-mini 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Phi-4-mini: Text
  • Self-hostingPhi-4-miniPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 2.5 Flash-LitePhi-4-mini
Price50%8692
Inputs & features30%10025
Context window20%6124
Overall100%85/10058/100

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.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs Phi-4-mini specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGooglePhi-4-miniMicrosoft
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)133.9—
ECI rank#118 of 148—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.10$0.075 (best)
Output$0.40$0.30 (best)
Cached input$0.01—
Blended (3:1)$0.175$0.131 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Google APIOfficial Azure API
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)4,096 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsYesNo
AudioYesNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgemini-2.5-flash-litephi-4-mini
API providers20 (best)1
ReleasedJun 17, 2025Dec 11, 2024
Knowledge cutoffJan 2025Oct 2023
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.

  • Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite$1.80
  • Phi-4-mini$1.35
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite or Phi-4-mini?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 85/100 against Phi-4-mini (58). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Phi-4-mini wins on price. 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, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite or Phi-4-mini?

Phi-4-mini is cheaper at $0.075 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official Azure API price). Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite costs $0.10 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Google API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.131 per million tokens for Phi-4-mini versus $0.175 for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite (1.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has an ECI of 133.9 and Phi-4-mini has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite and Phi-4-mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 128,000 for Phi-4-mini. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite up to 65,536, Phi-4-mini up to 4,096 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Phi-4-mini accepts text. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Phi-4-mini publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the newest, released Jun 17, 2025. Phi-4-mini came out Dec 11, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Jan 2025, Phi-4-mini Oct 2023.

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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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