Phi-4-mini vs Magistral Medium
Phi-4-mini comes out ahead, 58 to 30 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
MicrosoftPhi-4-mini
58/100- ECI—
- Price$0.075 / $0.30
- Context128K
Mistral AIMagistral Medium
30/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $5.00
- Context128K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Phi-4-mini is our pick
Phi-4-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 58/100 against Magistral Medium (30). It leads on price. Magistral Medium wins 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 pricePhi-4-miniPhi-4-mini $0.131 · Magistral Medium $2.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the samePhi-4-mini 128,000 · Magistral Medium 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsPhi-4-mini: Text · Magistral Medium: Text
- Self-hostingPhi-4-miniPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Phi-4-mini | Magistral Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 92 | 29 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 58/100 | 30/100 |
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 | Phi-4-miniMicrosoft | Magistral MediumMistral AI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.075 (best) | $2.00 |
| Output | $0.30 (best) | $5.00 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.131 (best) | $2.75 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Azure API | Official Mistral API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 16,384 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | phi-4-mini | magistral-medium-latest |
| API providers | 1 | 4 (best) |
| Released | Dec 11, 2024 | Mar 17, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Oct 2023 | Jun 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Phi-4-mini$1.35
- Magistral Medium$30.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Phi-4-mini or Magistral Medium?
Phi-4-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 58/100 against Magistral Medium (30). It leads on price. Magistral Medium wins 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, Phi-4-mini or Magistral Medium?
Phi-4-mini is cheaper at $0.075 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official Azure API price). Magistral Medium costs $2.00 input / $5.00 output per million tokens (official Mistral 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 $2.75 for Magistral Medium (21× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Phi-4-mini has not been scored yet and Magistral Medium has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Phi-4-mini and Magistral Medium 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?
Phi-4-mini and Magistral Medium share the same 128,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Phi-4-mini up to 4,096, Magistral Medium up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Phi-4-mini accepts text; Magistral Medium accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Phi-4-mini publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Magistral Medium is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Magistral Medium is the newest, released Mar 17, 2025. Phi-4-mini came out Dec 11, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Phi-4-mini Oct 2023, Magistral Medium Jun 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 Oct 4, 2026.
