Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs phi-4
At a Glance
| Compare | Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic |  phi-4Microsoft |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency | ||
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v2.5 | #24 of 4660.3 score · 3/3 sources · complete | UnrankedNot in the 46-model eligible cohort |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | #31 of 44$0.198 per LiveBench case | UnrankedNot in the 44-model eligible cohort |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.5 | #31 of 3847.3 score · 3/3 sources · complete | UnrankedNot in the 38-model eligible cohort |
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $3.00Anthropic ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 | $0.070Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 22, 2026 |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $15.00Anthropic ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 | $0.14Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 22, 2026 |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 1,000K | 16K |
| Model facts checked | Sep 3, 2026View model evidence → | Aug 28, 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
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | phi-4 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader | 1,458.26100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-6; 95% CI [1454.67519650, 1461.85096774]; votes 66208; rank 35 | 1,216.6083% of row best · rating · phi-4; 95% CI [1212.02298793, 1221.18318193]; votes 24126; rank 300 |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above | 1 benchmark winNo overall winner | 0 benchmark winsNo 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
| Field | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | phi-4 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Anthropic | Microsoft |
| Family | Claude 4 | Phi 4 |
| Model | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | phi-4 |
| Version | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | phi-4 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-02-17 | 2024-12-12 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-08-01 | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 1,000K | 16K |
| Total parameters | Unknown | 14.7B |
| Active parameters | Unknown | Unknown |
| License | Unknown | mit |
| Open weights | No | Yes |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes |
| Provider access | Anthropic (Standard), Deepinfra (Standard) | Deepinfra (Standard), Hugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools | chat, generation |
Claude Sonnet 4.6 Capabilities
phi-4 Capabilities
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Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs | Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs |  Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs phi-4 FAQs
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 or phi-4 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Claude Sonnet 4.6 and phi-4, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or phi-4?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $3.00 and phi-4 is $0.070 per million tokens, so phi-4 is cheaper on this metric. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $15.00 and phi-4 is $0.14 per million tokens, so phi-4 is cheaper on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or phi-4?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the larger sourced context window. Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports 1,000K and phi-4 supports 16K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or phi-4?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.
Can Claude Sonnet 4.6 or phi-4 be self-hosted?+
phi-4 is the only model in this pair currently marked as self-hostable. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is not marked open weight; phi-4 is open weight.
Can Claude Sonnet 4.6 and phi-4 understand images?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is documented with image input; phi-4 is not documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or phi-4?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is 128K and phi-4 is —.
Do Claude Sonnet 4.6 and phi-4 support reasoning and tool use?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. phi-4: none of these features are definitively sourced. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or phi-4?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 has 2 sourced provider routes; phi-4 has 3, so phi-4 has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or phi-4?+
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.