Reka Flash 3 vs Qwen Flash vs Phi-4-mini
Qwen Flash comes out ahead, 69 to 56 and 50 on our weighted score, though Reka Flash 3 is 9% cheaper per token.
Reka AIReka Flash 3
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.20
- Context66K
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Flash
69/100- ECI—
- Price$0.05 / $0.40
- Context1M
MicrosoftPhi-4-mini
56/100- ECI—
- Price$0.075 / $0.30
- Context128K
Qwen Flash is our pick
Qwen Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against Phi-4-mini (56) and Reka Flash 3 (50). It leads on inputs & features and 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 priceReka Flash 3Reka Flash 3 $0.125 · Phi-4-mini $0.131 · Qwen Flash $0.138 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen FlashQwen Flash 1,000,000 · Phi-4-mini 128,000 · Reka Flash 3 65,536 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsReka Flash 3: Text · Qwen Flash: Text · Phi-4-mini: Text
- Self-hostingReka Flash 3 and Phi-4-miniPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Reka Flash 3 | Qwen Flash | Phi-4-mini |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 89 | 87 | 88 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 10 | 45 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 12 | 60 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 50/100 | 69/100 | 56/100 |
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 | Reka Flash 3Reka AI | Qwen FlashAlibaba (Qwen) | Phi-4-miniMicrosoft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.10 | $0.05 (best) | $0.075 |
| Output | $0.20 (best) | $0.40 | $0.30 |
| Cached input | — | $0.01 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.125 (best) | $0.138 | $0.131 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Over 256K: $0.25 / $2.00 | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 3 providers | Official Alibaba API | Official Azure API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 65,536 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 58,982 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens | 4,096 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | No | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | qwen-flash | phi-4-mini |
| API providers | 3 | 6 (best) | 2 |
| Released | Mar 10, 2025 | Jul 28, 2025 | Feb 26, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jan 31, 2025 | Apr 2024 | 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.
- Reka Flash 3$1.40
- Qwen Flash$1.30
- Phi-4-mini$1.35
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Reka Flash 3, Qwen Flash or Phi-4-mini?
Qwen Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against Phi-4-mini (56) and Reka Flash 3 (50). It leads on inputs & features and 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, Reka Flash 3, Qwen Flash or Phi-4-mini?
Reka Flash 3 is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). Phi-4-mini costs $0.075 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official Azure API price); Qwen Flash costs $0.05 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.125 per million tokens for Reka Flash 3 versus $0.131 for Phi-4-mini (1× as much) and $0.138 for Qwen Flash (1.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Reka Flash 3 has not been scored yet, Qwen Flash 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 Reka Flash 3, Qwen Flash and Phi-4-mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Reka Flash 3 does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen Flash has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 128,000 for Phi-4-mini and 65,536 for Reka Flash 3. Maximum output per response: Reka Flash 3 up to 58,982, Qwen Flash up to 32,768, Phi-4-mini up to 4,096 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Reka Flash 3 accepts text; Qwen Flash accepts text; Phi-4-mini accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Reka Flash 3 and Phi-4-mini publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen Flash is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen Flash is the newest, released Jul 28, 2025. Reka Flash 3 came out Mar 10, 2025; Phi-4-mini came out Feb 26, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Reka Flash 3 Jan 31, 2025, Qwen Flash Apr 2024, Phi-4-mini 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.
