Model Comparison

Kimi K3 vs Phi 4 MiniWhich is better in 2026?

Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Kimi K3 vs Phi 4 Mini — which is better?

Kimi K3 (by Moonshot AI) 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.

Kimi K3 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Phi 4 Mini is better at 0 benchmarks. Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Kimi K3 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 2026

Choose Phi 4 Mini if…

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

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Kimi K3 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Phi 4 Mini is better at 0 benchmarks.

Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

2796.2B diff

Kimi K3 has 2796.2B more parameters than Phi 4 Mini, making it 72816.7% larger.

Moonshot AI
Kimi K3
2.8Tparameters
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
3.8Bparameters
2800.0B
Kimi K3
3.8B
Phi 4 Mini

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Kimi K3 specifies input context (1,048,576 tokens). Only Kimi K3 specifies output context (1,048,576 tokens).

Moonshot AI
Kimi K3
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output1,048,576 tokens
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Kimi K3 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Phi 4 Mini does not.

Kimi K3 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Kimi K3

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Phi 4 Mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Kimi K3 was released on 2026-07-16, while Phi 4 Mini was released on 2025-02-01.

Kimi K3 is 18 months newer than Phi 4 Mini.

Kimi K3

Jul 16, 2026

2 days ago

1.5yr newer
Phi 4 Mini

Feb 1, 2025

1.5 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Phi 4 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Kimi K3'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 Kimi K3's cutoff date.

Kimi K3

—

Phi 4 Mini

Jun 2024

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Moonshot AI
Larger context window (1,048,576 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (93.5% vs 25.2%)
Microsoft

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

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Kimi K3 and Phi 4 Mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Kimi K3
✓ Preferred
Phi 4 Mini
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Moonshot AI
Kimi K3
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini

FAQ

Common questions about Kimi K3 vs Phi 4 Mini.

Which is better, Kimi K3 or Phi 4 Mini?

Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Kimi K3 is made by Moonshot AI 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 Kimi K3 compare to Phi 4 Mini in benchmarks?

Kimi K3 scores MathVision: 97.8%, DeepSearchQA: 95.0%, GPQA: 93.5%, CharXiv-R: 91.3%, BrowseComp: 91.2%. 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 Kimi K3 and Phi 4 Mini?

Kimi K3 supports 1.0M 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 Kimi K3 and Phi 4 Mini?

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

Who makes Kimi K3 and Phi 4 Mini?

Kimi K3 is developed by Moonshot AI and Phi 4 Mini is developed by Microsoft.

Related comparisons