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LongCat-2.5 vs Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

LongCat-2.5 leads the LLM Stats Score 50.0 to 2.3. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is 8.4x cheaper per token.

Meituan · Microsoft · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

LongCat-2.5 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 50.0 to 2.3, ranking #20 overall.

In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, LongCat-2.5 wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is roughly 8.4x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

LongCat-2.5 also accepts a larger context window (1,048,576 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose LongCat-2.5

  • overall performance matters — it scores 50.0 and ranks #20 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2026

Choose Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

  • cost matters — it's about 8.4x cheaper per token
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

LongCat-2.5
Meituan
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Microsoft
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
50.0
#20
2.3
#352
Reasoning
48.3
#21
-0.7
#361
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
1 of 1
0 of 1
Input price
$0.30 / M
$0.05 / M
Output price
$1.20 / M
$0.10 / M
Context window
1,048,576
128,000

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

2 shared
Index
LongCat-2.5
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Vision
32.5#29
1.4#202
Multimodal
34.8#15
3.3#164
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

23 reported for LongCat-2.5 · 15 for Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

1 shared

LongCat-2.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (Video-MME), while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

LongCat-2.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Nov 03 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct costs less

For input processing, LongCat-2.5 ($0.30/1M tokens) is 6.0x more expensive than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct ($0.05/1M tokens).

For output processing, LongCat-2.5 ($1.20/1M tokens) is 12.0x more expensive than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).

In conclusion, LongCat-2.5 is more expensive than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Nov 03 2026 • llm-stats.com
Meituan
LongCat-2.5
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$1.20
Best providerMeituan
Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Input tokens$0.05
Output tokens$0.10
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

1594.4B diff

LongCat-2.5 has 1594.4B more parameters than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct, making it 28471.4% larger.

Meituan
LongCat-2.5
1.6Tparameters
Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
5.6Bparameters
1600.0B
LongCat-2.5
5.6B
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

LongCat-2.5 accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to Phi-4-multimodal-instruct's 128,000 tokens. LongCat-2.5 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Meituan
LongCat-2.5
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Tue Nov 03 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both LongCat-2.5 and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

LongCat-2.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

LongCat-2.5 was released on 2026-11-01, while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct was released on 2025-02-01.

LongCat-2.5 is 21 months newer than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct.

LongCat-2.5

Nov 1, 2026

0 days ago

1.7yr newer
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Feb 1, 2025

1.7 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while LongCat-2.5's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Phi-4-multimodal-instruct's training data extends to 2024-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without LongCat-2.5's cutoff date.

LongCat-2.5

—

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Jun 2024

Provider Availability

LongCat-2.5 is available from Meituan. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is available from DeepInfra.

LongCat-2.5

meituan logo
Meituan
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.20/1M

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.05/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.10/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against LongCat-2.5 and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

LongCat-2.5
✓ Preferred
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about LongCat-2.5 vs Phi-4-multimodal-instruct.

Which is better, LongCat-2.5 or Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

LongCat-2.5 leads the LLM Stats Score 50.0 to 2.3. LongCat-2.5 is made by Meituan and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is made by Microsoft. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does LongCat-2.5 compare to Phi-4-multimodal-instruct in benchmarks?

LongCat-2.5 scores MathVision: 96.5%, BrowseComp: 91.9%, CharXiv-R: 90.2%, Terminal-Bench 2.1: 88.4%, Video-MME: 85.2%. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct scores ScienceQA Visual: 97.5%, DocVQA: 93.2%, MMBench: 86.7%, POPE: 85.6%, OCRBench: 84.4%.

Is LongCat-2.5 cheaper than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is 6.0x cheaper for input tokens. LongCat-2.5 costs $0.30/M input and $1.20/M output via meituan. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct costs $0.05/M input and $0.10/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for LongCat-2.5 and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

LongCat-2.5 supports 1.0M tokens and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between LongCat-2.5 and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (50.0 vs 2.3), context window (1.0M vs 128K), input pricing ($0.30 vs $0.05/M), licensing (Unknown vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes LongCat-2.5 and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

LongCat-2.5 is developed by Meituan and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is developed by Microsoft.

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