solar-mini vs Phi-4-mini
Phi-4-mini comes out ahead, 58 to 52 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Upstage
solar-mini
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context33K
- Our pick
MicrosoftPhi-4-mini
58/100- ECI—
- Price$0.075 / $0.30
- Context128K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Phi-4-mini is our pick
Phi-4-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 58/100 against solar-mini (52). It leads on price 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 pricePhi-4-miniPhi-4-mini $0.131 · solar-mini $0.15 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextPhi-4-miniPhi-4-mini 128,000 · solar-mini 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputssolar-mini: Text · Phi-4-mini: Text
- Self-hostingPhi-4-miniPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | solar-mini | Phi-4-mini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 89 | 92 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 0 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 52/100 | 58/100 |
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 | solar-miniUpstage | Phi-4-miniMicrosoft |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.15 | $0.075 (best) |
| Output | $0.15 (best) | $0.30 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.15 | $0.131 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Upstage API | Official Azure API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 32,768 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 4,096 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | solar-mini | phi-4-mini |
| API providers | 1 | 1 |
| Released | Jun 12, 2024 | Dec 11, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 2024 | Oct 2023 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- solar-mini$1.80
- Phi-4-mini$1.35
Which should you choose?
Which is better: solar-mini or Phi-4-mini?
Phi-4-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 58/100 against solar-mini (52). It leads on price 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, solar-mini or Phi-4-mini?
Phi-4-mini is cheaper at $0.075 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official Azure API price). solar-mini costs $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Upstage 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 $0.15 for solar-mini (1.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. solar-mini 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 solar-mini 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?
Phi-4-mini has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 32,768 for solar-mini. Maximum output per response: solar-mini up to 4,096, Phi-4-mini up to 4,096 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
solar-mini accepts text; Phi-4-mini accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Phi-4-mini publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; solar-mini is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Phi-4-mini is the newest, released Dec 11, 2024. solar-mini came out Jun 12, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: solar-mini Sep 2024, 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.
