Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) vs Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 72, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct 72). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)
72/100- ECI—
- Price$0.022 / $0.215
- Context262K
MicrosoftPhi-4-multimodal-instruct
72/100- ECI—
- Price$0.07 / $0.11
- Context131K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
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), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 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 priceQwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)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 tokens
- Widest inputsPhi-4-multimodal-instructQwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud): Text, Images · Phi-4-multimodal-instruct: Text, Images, Audio
- Self-hostingPhi-4-multimodal-instructPublishes downloadable weights (MIT)
| Measure | Weight | Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) | Phi-4-multimodal-instruct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 98 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 50 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 72/100 | 72/100 |
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 | Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)Alibaba (Qwen) | Phi-4-multimodal-instructMicrosoft |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.022 (best) | $0.07 |
| Output | $0.215 | $0.11 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.07 (best) | $0.08 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | Yes |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | OpenMIT |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 1 | 1 |
| Released | Oct 15, 2025 | Feb 26, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Jun 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)$0.65
- Phi-4-multimodal-instruct$0.92
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) or Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 72/100, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct 72/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 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, Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) or Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?
Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) is cheaper at $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 $0.07 per million tokens for Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) versus $0.08 for Phi-4-multimodal-instruct (1.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) has not been scored yet and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct 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 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for Phi-4-multimodal-instruct. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) up to 32,768, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) accepts text and images; Phi-4-multimodal-instruct accepts text, images and audio. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct 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. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct came out Feb 26, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Phi-4-multimodal-instruct Jun 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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