Model Comparison

Grok-4 vs Phi 4 MiniWhich is better in 2026?

Grok-4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Grok-4 vs Phi 4 Mini — which is better?

Grok-4 (by xAI) and Phi 4 Mini (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.

Grok-4 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Phi 4 Mini is better at 0 benchmarks. Grok-4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Grok-4 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2025

Choose Phi 4 Mini if…

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Grok-4 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Phi 4 Mini is better at 0 benchmarks.

Grok-4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Mon Jun 15 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Grok-4 specifies input context (256,000 tokens). Only Grok-4 specifies output context (8,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok-4
Input256,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Mon Jun 15 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok-4 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Phi 4 Mini does not.

Grok-4 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok-4

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Phi 4 Mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-4 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Phi 4 Mini uses MIT.

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

Grok-4

Proprietary

Closed source

Phi 4 Mini

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-4 was released on 2025-07-09, while Phi 4 Mini was released on 2025-02-01.

Grok-4 is 5 months newer than Phi 4 Mini.

Grok-4

Jul 9, 2025

11 months ago

5mo newer
Phi 4 Mini

Feb 1, 2025

1.4 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok-4 has a knowledge cutoff of 2024-12-31, while Phi 4 Mini has a cutoff of 2024-06-01.

Grok-4 has more recent training data (up to 2024-12-31), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Phi 4 Mini (2024-06-01).

Grok-4

Dec 2024

6 mo newer
Phi 4 Mini

Jun 2024

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

xAI
Larger context window (256,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (87.5% vs 25.2%)
Microsoft
Has open weights
xAIGrok-4
MicrosoftPhi 4 Mini
Compare in Playground

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-4
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-4 vs Phi 4 Mini.

Which is better, Grok-4 or Phi 4 Mini?

Grok-4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-4 is made by xAI and Phi 4 Mini is made by Microsoft. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Grok-4 compare to Phi 4 Mini in benchmarks?

Grok-4 scores AIME 2025: 91.7%, HMMT25: 90.0%, GPQA: 87.5%, LiveCodeBench: 79.0%, Humanity's Last Exam: 40.0%. Phi 4 Mini scores GSM8k: 88.6%, ARC-C: 83.7%, BoolQ: 81.2%, OpenBookQA: 79.2%, PIQA: 77.6%.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-4 and Phi 4 Mini?

Grok-4 supports 256K tokens and Phi 4 Mini supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Grok-4 and Phi 4 Mini?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok-4 and Phi 4 Mini?

Grok-4 is developed by xAI and Phi 4 Mini is developed by Microsoft.

Related comparisons