Model Comparison
Gemma 3 4B vs Phi 4 Reasoning PlusWhich is better in 2026?
Phi 4 Reasoning Plus shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Verdict: Gemma 3 4B vs Phi 4 Reasoning Plus — which is better?
Gemma 3 4B (by Google) and Phi 4 Reasoning Plus (by Microsoft) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
Gemma 3 4B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (IFEval), while Phi 4 Reasoning Plus is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench, MMLU-Pro). Phi 4 Reasoning Plus shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Choose Gemma 3 4B if…
- you want predictable pricing at $0.02/M input and $0.04/M output
Choose Phi 4 Reasoning Plus if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 4 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Gemma 3 4B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (IFEval), while Phi 4 Reasoning Plus is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench, MMLU-Pro).
Phi 4 Reasoning Plus shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Phi 4 Reasoning Plus has 10.0B more parameters than Gemma 3 4B, making it 250.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Gemma 3 4B specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only Gemma 3 4B specifies output context (131,072 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Gemma 3 4B supports multimodal inputs, whereas Phi 4 Reasoning Plus does not.
Gemma 3 4B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Gemma 3 4B
Phi 4 Reasoning Plus
License
Usage and distribution terms
Gemma 3 4B is licensed under Gemma, while Phi 4 Reasoning Plus uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Gemma
Open weights
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Gemma 3 4B was released on 2025-03-12, while Phi 4 Reasoning Plus was released on 2025-04-30.
Phi 4 Reasoning Plus is 2 months newer than Gemma 3 4B.
Mar 12, 2025
1.3 years ago
Apr 30, 2025
1.1 years ago
1mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Gemma 3 4B has a knowledge cutoff of 2024-08-01, while Phi 4 Reasoning Plus has a cutoff of 2025-03-01.
Phi 4 Reasoning Plus has more recent training data (up to 2025-03-01), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Gemma 3 4B (2024-08-01).
Aug 2024
Mar 2025
7 mo newerOutputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Gemma 3 4B
View detailsPhi 4 Reasoning Plus
View detailsMicrosoft
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Gemma 3 4B vs Phi 4 Reasoning Plus.