Phi-4-mini vs Vision Large vs Nova Lite
Vision Large comes out ahead, 84 to 58 and 25 on our weighted score.
MicrosoftPhi-4-mini
25/100- ECI—
- Price$0.075 / $0.30
- Context128K
- Our pick
VisparkVision Large
84/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context1M
AmazonNova Lite
58/100- ECI—
- Price$0.06 / $0.24
- Context300K
Vision Large is our pick
Vision Large is the better all-round choice, scoring 84/100 against Nova Lite (58) and Phi-4-mini (25). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. 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 LiteNova Lite $0.105 · Phi-4-mini $0.131 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Vision Large unpriced
- Longest contextVision LargeVision Large 1,000,000 · Nova Lite 300,000 · Phi-4-mini 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsVision LargePhi-4-mini: Text · Vision Large: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Nova Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
- Self-hostingPhi-4-miniPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Phi-4-mini | Vision Large | Nova Lite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 25 | 100 | 70 |
| Context window | 40% | 24 | 60 | 39 |
| Overall | 100% | 25/100 | 84/100 | 58/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. 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 | Vision LargeVispark | Nova LiteAmazon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.075 | — | $0.06 (best) |
| Output | $0.30 | — | $0.24 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | $0.015 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.131 | — | $0.105 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | — | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Azure API | — | Official Amazon Bedrock API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 300,000 tokens |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) | 10,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | Yes | Yes |
| Audio | No | Yes | No |
| Video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | phi-4-mini | — | amazon.nova-lite-v1:0 |
| API providers | 1 | — | 3 (best) |
| Released | Dec 11, 2024 | May 15, 2024 | Dec 3, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Oct 2023 | — | Oct 2024 |
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
- Vision Large—
- Nova Lite$1.08
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Phi-4-mini, Vision Large or Nova Lite?
Vision Large is the better all-round choice, scoring 84/100 against Nova Lite (58) and Phi-4-mini (25). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Phi-4-mini, Vision Large or Nova Lite?
Nova Lite is cheaper at $0.06 input / $0.24 output per million tokens (official Amazon Bedrock API price). 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 $0.105 per million tokens for Nova Lite versus $0.131 for Phi-4-mini (1.2× as much). Vision Large has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Phi-4-mini has not been scored yet, Vision Large has not been scored yet and Nova Lite has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Phi-4-mini, Vision Large and Nova Lite 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?
Vision Large has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 300,000 for Nova Lite and 128,000 for Phi-4-mini. Maximum output per response: Phi-4-mini up to 4,096, Vision Large up to 65,536, Nova Lite up to 10,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Phi-4-mini accepts text; Vision Large accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Nova Lite accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Vision Large handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Phi-4-mini publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Vision Large and Nova Lite is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Phi-4-mini is the newest, released Dec 11, 2024. Nova Lite came out Dec 3, 2024; Vision Large came out May 15, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Phi-4-mini Oct 2023, Nova Lite Oct 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 Oct 4, 2026.
