phi-4 vs Qwen3.8 Max

At a Glance

Compare
phi-4Microsoft
Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency
IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v2.5UnrankedNot in the 46-model eligible cohort#10 of 4679.2 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing ARC-AGI-2 · full-core range 52.8–86.1
CostLower is better · Published-token output estimateUnrankedNot in the 44-model eligible cohort#23 of 44$0.107 per LiveBench case
EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.5UnrankedNot in the 38-model eligible cohort#6 of 3863.2 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing ARC-AGI-2 · full-core range 50.0–66.7
Pricing and Limits
Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens$0.070Deepinfra · Sep 21, 2026$1.65Deepinfra · Sep 21, 2026
Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens$0.14Deepinfra · Sep 21, 2026$4.951Deepinfra · Sep 21, 2026
Context windowMaximum documented tokens16K1,000K
Model facts checkedAug 28, 2026View model evidence →Aug 29, 2026View model evidence →

Token prices are the lowest available sourced USD rates; input and output may use different providers. Cost ranking estimates output spend on LiveBench, not a full request bill. Ranking methodology →

Available Benchmarks

All benchmark results →
Benchmarkphi-4Qwen3.8-Max
LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader1,216.6082% of row best · rating · phi-4; 95% CI [1212.02298793, 1221.18318193]; votes 24126; rank 3001,480.55100% of row best · rating · qwen3.8-max; 95% CI [1474.79040793, 1486.31846927]; votes 16670; rank 14
Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above0 benchmark winsNo overall winner1 benchmark winNo overall winner

Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.

Side-by-Side Facts

Fieldphi-4Qwen3.8-Max
DeveloperMicrosoftQwen
FamilyPhi 4Qwen3 8 Max
Modelphi-4Qwen3.8-Max
Versionphi-4Qwen3.8-Max
Lifecycleactiveactive
Released2024-12-12Unknown
Knowledge cutoffUnknownUnknown
Input modalitiesTextText, Image, Video
Output modalitiesTextText
Context window16K1,000K
Total parameters14.7B2.4T
Active parametersUnknownUnknown
LicensemitUnknown
Open weightsYesNo
API availableYesYes
Self-hostableYesNo
Provider accessDeepinfra (Standard), Hugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard)Alibaba Cloud Model Studio (Standard), Deepinfra (Standard), Fireworks Ai (Standard), Openrouter (Standard)
Capabilitieschat, generationagents, chat, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools, vision

phi-4 Capabilities

chatgeneration
Serving providers3
Canonical IDmicrosoft/phi-4

Qwen3.8 Max Capabilities

agentschatreasoningstructured outputstoolsvision
Serving providers4
Canonical IDqwen/qwen3.8-max

Primary Evidence

Sources and Freshness

Questions

phi-4 vs Qwen3.8 Max FAQs

Is phi-4 or Qwen3.8 Max better for coding?+

This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both phi-4 and Qwen3.8 Max, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.

Which is cheaper, phi-4 or Qwen3.8 Max?+

phi-4 is $0.070 and Qwen3.8 Max is $1.65 per million tokens, so phi-4 is cheaper on this metric. phi-4 is $0.14 and Qwen3.8 Max is $4.951 per million tokens, so phi-4 is cheaper on this metric.

Which has a larger context window, phi-4 or Qwen3.8 Max?+

Qwen3.8 Max has the larger sourced context window. phi-4 supports 16K and Qwen3.8 Max supports 1,000K.

Which performs better in benchmarks, phi-4 or Qwen3.8 Max?+

There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.

Can phi-4 or Qwen3.8 Max be self-hosted?+

phi-4 is the only model in this pair currently marked as self-hostable. phi-4 is open weight; Qwen3.8 Max is not marked open weight.

Can phi-4 and Qwen3.8 Max understand images?+

phi-4 is not documented with image input; Qwen3.8 Max is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.

Which can generate longer answers, phi-4 or Qwen3.8 Max?+

Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. phi-4 is — and Qwen3.8 Max is 131K.

Do phi-4 and Qwen3.8 Max support reasoning and tool use?+

phi-4: none of these features are definitively sourced. Qwen3.8 Max: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.

Which is available from more inference providers, phi-4 or Qwen3.8 Max?+

phi-4 has 3 sourced provider routes; Qwen3.8 Max has 4, so Qwen3.8 Max has broader tracked availability.

Which offers better value, phi-4 or Qwen3.8 Max?+

There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.

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