Claude 3 Sonnet vs Phi 4 Reasoning
Phi 4 Reasoning leads the LLM Stats Score 12.3 to 1.9.
Anthropic · Microsoft · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Phi 4 Reasoning leads the overall LLM Stats Score 12.3 to 1.9, ranking #242 overall.
In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Phi 4 Reasoning wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude 3 Sonnet
- you want predictable pricing at $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output
Choose Phi 4 Reasoning
- overall performance matters — it scores 12.3 and ranks #242 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 2 exact shared results
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
11 reported for Claude 3 Sonnet · 11 for Phi 4 Reasoning
Claude 3 Sonnet outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Phi 4 Reasoning is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro).
Phi 4 Reasoning significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Claude 3 Sonnet specifies input context (200,000 tokens). Only Claude 3 Sonnet specifies output context (200,000 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Claude 3 Sonnet supports multimodal inputs, whereas Phi 4 Reasoning does not.
Claude 3 Sonnet can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Claude 3 Sonnet
Phi 4 Reasoning
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude 3 Sonnet is licensed under a proprietary license, while Phi 4 Reasoning uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude 3 Sonnet was released on 2024-02-29, while Phi 4 Reasoning was released on 2025-04-30.
Phi 4 Reasoning is 14 months newer than Claude 3 Sonnet.
Feb 29, 2024
2.5 years ago
Apr 30, 2025
1.4 years ago
1.2yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Phi 4 Reasoning has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-03-01, while Claude 3 Sonnet's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Phi 4 Reasoning's training data extends to 2025-03-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Claude 3 Sonnet's cutoff date.
—
Mar 2025
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude 3 Sonnet and Phi 4 Reasoning side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude 3 Sonnet vs Phi 4 Reasoning.