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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct vs Phi-4-mini

Phi-4-mini comes out ahead, 58 to 28 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct

    Released Apr 2025

    28/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.50 / $7.50
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct
  2. Our pick

    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

Phi-4-mini is our pick

Phi-4-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 58/100 against Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct (28). It leads on price. Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct wins on context window. 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 · Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct 262,144 · Phi-4-mini 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct: Text · Phi-4-mini: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructPhi-4-mini
Price50%2792
Inputs & features30%2525
Context window20%3724
Overall100%28/10058/100

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.

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct vs Phi-4-mini specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)Phi-4-miniMicrosoft
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$1.50$0.075 (best)
Output$7.50$0.30 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$3.00$0.131 (best)
Long-context rateOver 32K: $2.70 / $13.50Same rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Azure API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)4,096 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDqwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instructphi-4-mini
API providers7 (best)1
ReleasedApr 2025Dec 11, 2024
Knowledge cutoffApr 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.

  • Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct$30.00
  • Phi-4-mini$1.35
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Phi-4-mini?

Phi-4-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 58/100 against Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct (28). It leads on price. Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct wins on context window. 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, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Phi-4-mini?

Phi-4-mini is cheaper at $0.075 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official Azure API price). Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct costs $1.50 input / $7.50 output per million tokens (official Alibaba 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 $3.00 for Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct (23× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct has not been scored yet and Phi-4-mini has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct 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?

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 128,000 for Phi-4-mini. Maximum output per response: Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct up to 65,536, Phi-4-mini up to 4,096 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct accepts text; Phi-4-mini accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is the newest, released Apr 2025. Phi-4-mini came out Dec 11, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct Apr 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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