Phi-4-multimodal-instruct vs Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) vs Command R7B Arabic
Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 72, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct 72, Command R7B Arabic 65). The right pick depends on what you value most.
MicrosoftPhi-4-multimodal-instruct
72/100- ECI—
- Price$0.07 / $0.11
- Context131K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)
72/100- ECI—
- Price$0.022 / $0.215
- Context262K
CohereCommand R7B Arabic
65/100- ECI—
- Price$0.037 / $0.15
- Context128K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 72/100, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct 72/100, Command R7B Arabic 65/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Command R7B Arabic on price and Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 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 priceCommand R7B ArabicCommand R7B Arabic $0.066 · Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) $0.07 · Phi-4-multimodal-instruct $0.08 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 262,144 · Phi-4-multimodal-instruct 131,072 · Command R7B Arabic 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsPhi-4-multimodal-instructPhi-4-multimodal-instruct: Text, Images, Audio · Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud): Text, Images · Command R7B Arabic: Text
- Self-hostingPhi-4-multimodal-instruct and Command R7B ArabicPublishes downloadable weights (MIT)
| Measure | Weight | Phi-4-multimodal-instruct | Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) | Command R7B Arabic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 98 | 100 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 50 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 37 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 72/100 | 72/100 | 65/100 |
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-multimodal-instructMicrosoft | Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)Alibaba (Qwen) | Command R7B ArabicCohere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.07 | $0.022 (best) | $0.037 |
| Output | $0.11 (best) | $0.215 | $0.15 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.08 | $0.07 | $0.066 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Median of 1 providers | Official Cohere API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens | 4,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | Yes | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenMIT | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | — | command-r7b-arabic-02-2025 |
| API providers | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Released | Feb 26, 2025 | Oct 15, 2025 | Feb 27, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jun 2024 | — | Jun 1, 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-multimodal-instruct$0.92
- Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)$0.65
- Command R7B Arabic$0.675
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Phi-4-multimodal-instruct, Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) or Command R7B Arabic?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 72/100, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct 72/100, Command R7B Arabic 65/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Command R7B Arabic on price and Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 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, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct, Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) or Command R7B Arabic?
Command R7B Arabic is cheaper at $0.037 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) costs $0.022 input / $0.215 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider); Phi-4-multimodal-instruct costs $0.07 input / $0.11 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.066 per million tokens for Command R7B Arabic versus $0.07 for Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) (1.1× as much) and $0.08 for Phi-4-multimodal-instruct (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct has not been scored yet, Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) has not been scored yet and Command R7B Arabic has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Phi-4-multimodal-instruct, Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) and Command R7B Arabic 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?
Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for Phi-4-multimodal-instruct and 128,000 for Command R7B Arabic. Maximum output per response: Phi-4-multimodal-instruct up to 131,072, Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) up to 32,768, Command R7B Arabic up to 4,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct accepts text, images and audio; Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) accepts text and images; Command R7B Arabic accepts text. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct and Command R7B Arabic publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) is the newest, released Oct 15, 2025. Command R7B Arabic came out Feb 27, 2025; Phi-4-multimodal-instruct came out Feb 26, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Phi-4-multimodal-instruct Jun 2024, Command R7B Arabic Jun 1, 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 Nov 2, 2026.
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