Phi-4-mini vs MiniMax-M2 Her
Phi-4-mini comes out ahead, 58 to 45 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
MiniMaxMiniMax-M2 Her
45/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $1.20
- Context66K
Add a model
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 MiniMax-M2 Her (45). It leads on price and context window. MiniMax-M2 Her 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 · MiniMax-M2 Her $0.525 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextPhi-4-miniPhi-4-mini 128,000 · MiniMax-M2 Her 65,536 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsPhi-4-mini: Text · MiniMax-M2 Her: Text
- Self-hostingPhi-4-miniPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Phi-4-mini | MiniMax-M2 Her |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 92 | 63 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 12 |
| Overall | 100% | 58/100 | 45/100 |
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 | MiniMax-M2 HerMiniMax |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.075 (best) | $0.30 |
| Output | $0.30 (best) | $1.20 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.131 (best) | $0.525 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Azure API | Median of 4 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens (best) | 2,048 tokens |
| 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 | — |
| API providers | 1 | 4 (best) |
| Released | Dec 11, 2024 | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Oct 2023 | — |
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
- MiniMax-M2 Her$5.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Phi-4-mini or MiniMax-M2 Her?
Phi-4-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 58/100 against MiniMax-M2 Her (45). It leads on price and context window. MiniMax-M2 Her 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 MiniMax-M2 Her?
Phi-4-mini is cheaper at $0.075 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official Azure API price). MiniMax-M2 Her costs $0.30 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.131 per million tokens for Phi-4-mini versus $0.525 for MiniMax-M2 Her (4× 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 MiniMax-M2 Her has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Phi-4-mini and MiniMax-M2 Her 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 has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 65,536 for MiniMax-M2 Her. Maximum output per response: Phi-4-mini up to 4,096, MiniMax-M2 Her up to 2,048 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Phi-4-mini accepts text; MiniMax-M2 Her 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; MiniMax-M2 Her is proprietary.
Which is newer?
MiniMax-M2 Her is the newest, released Jan 23, 2026. Phi-4-mini came out Dec 11, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: 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.
