Model Comparison

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview vs Phi 4Which is better in 2026?

Phi 4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview vs Phi 4 — which is better?

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview (by IBM) and Phi 4 (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.

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Phi 4 is better at 5 benchmarks (Arena Hard, DROP, HumanEval, HumanEval+, MMLU). Phi 4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped May 2025

Choose Phi 4 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 6 of 6 shared benchmarks

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

6 benchmarks

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Phi 4 is better at 5 benchmarks (Arena Hard, DROP, HumanEval, HumanEval+, MMLU).

Phi 4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Mon Jul 20 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

7.7B diff

Phi 4 has 7.7B more parameters than IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview, making it 110.0% larger.

IBM
IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview
7.0Bparameters
Microsoft
Phi 4
14.7Bparameters
7.0B
IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview
14.7B
Phi 4

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Phi 4 specifies input context (16,000 tokens). Only Phi 4 specifies output context (16,000 tokens).

IBM
IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Microsoft
Phi 4
Input16,000 tokens
Output16,000 tokens
Mon Jul 20 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Phi 4 uses MIT.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Phi 4

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview was released on 2025-05-02, while Phi 4 was released on 2024-12-12.

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview is 5 months newer than Phi 4.

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview

May 2, 2025

1.2 years ago

4mo newer
Phi 4

Dec 12, 2024

1.6 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Phi 4 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Phi 4's training data extends to 2024-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview's cutoff date.

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview

—

Phi 4

Jun 2024

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

IBM

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Microsoft
Larger context window (16,000 tokens)
Higher Arena Hard score (75.4% vs 26.7%)
Higher DROP score (75.5% vs 46.2%)
Higher HumanEval score (82.6% vs 82.4%)
Higher HumanEval+ score (82.8% vs 78.3%)
Higher MMLU score (84.8% vs 60.4%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview and Phi 4 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview
✓ Preferred
Phi 4
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
IBM
IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview
Microsoft
Phi 4

FAQ

Common questions about IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview vs Phi 4.

Which is better, IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview or Phi 4?

Phi 4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview is made by IBM and Phi 4 is made by Microsoft. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview compare to Phi 4 in benchmarks?

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview scores AttaQ: 86.1%, HumanEval: 82.4%, HumanEval+: 78.3%, GSM8k: 70.1%, IFEval: 63.0%. Phi 4 scores MMLU: 84.8%, HumanEval+: 82.8%, HumanEval: 82.6%, MGSM: 80.6%, MATH: 80.4%.

What are the context window sizes for IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview and Phi 4?

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview supports an unknown number of tokens and Phi 4 supports 16K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview and Phi 4?

Key differences include licensing (Apache 2.0 vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview and Phi 4?

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview is developed by IBM and Phi 4 is developed by Microsoft.

Related comparisons