Model Comparison

Grok-4.1 vs Phi 4 MiniWhich is better in 2026?

Comparing Grok-4.1 and Phi 4 Mini across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Verdict: Grok-4.1 vs Phi 4 Mini — which is better?

Grok-4.1 (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.

Choose Grok-4.1 if…

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

Choose Phi 4 Mini if…

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Grok-4.1 and Phi 4 Mini don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Grok-4.1 specifies input context (256,000 tokens). Only Grok-4.1 specifies output context (8,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok-4.1
Input256,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sun Jun 07 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok-4.1 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Phi 4 Mini does not.

Grok-4.1 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok-4.1

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Phi 4 Mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-4.1 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-4.1

Proprietary

Closed source

Phi 4 Mini

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-4.1 was released on 2025-11-17, while Phi 4 Mini was released on 2025-02-01.

Grok-4.1 is 10 months newer than Phi 4 Mini.

Grok-4.1

Nov 17, 2025

6 months ago

9mo newer
Phi 4 Mini

Feb 1, 2025

1.3 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Phi 4 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Grok-4.1's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Phi 4 Mini's training data extends to 2024-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Grok-4.1's cutoff date.

Grok-4.1

—

Phi 4 Mini

Jun 2024

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

xAI
Larger context window (256,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Microsoft
Has open weights

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-4.1
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-4.1 vs Phi 4 Mini.

Which is better, Grok-4.1 or Phi 4 Mini?

Grok-4.1 (xAI) and Phi 4 Mini (Microsoft) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Grok-4.1 compare to Phi 4 Mini in benchmarks?

Grok-4.1 scores FActScore: 97.0%, Creative Writing v3: 85.4%, EQ-Bench: 79.3%, LMArena Text Leaderboard: 73.3%. 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-4.1 and Phi 4 Mini?

Grok-4.1 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-4.1 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-4.1 and Phi 4 Mini?

Grok-4.1 is developed by xAI and Phi 4 Mini is developed by Microsoft.

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