Model Comparison

Magistral Small 2506 vs Phi-4-multimodal-instructWhich is better in 2026?

Comparing Magistral Small 2506 and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Verdict: Magistral Small 2506 vs Phi-4-multimodal-instruct — which is better?

Magistral Small 2506 (by Mistral AI) and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct (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 Magistral Small 2506 if…

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

Choose Phi-4-multimodal-instruct if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.05/M input and $0.10/M output
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Magistral Small 2506 and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

18.4B diff

Magistral Small 2506 has 18.4B more parameters than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct, making it 328.6% larger.

Mistral AI
Magistral Small 2506
24.0Bparameters
Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
5.6Bparameters
24.0B
Magistral Small 2506
5.6B
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Phi-4-multimodal-instruct specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Phi-4-multimodal-instruct specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

Mistral AI
Magistral Small 2506
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Sun Jun 07 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas Magistral Small 2506 does not.

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

Magistral Small 2506

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Magistral Small 2506 is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct uses MIT.

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

Magistral Small 2506

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Magistral Small 2506 was released on 2025-06-10, while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct was released on 2025-02-01.

Magistral Small 2506 is 4 months newer than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct.

Magistral Small 2506

Jun 10, 2025

12 months ago

4mo newer
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Feb 1, 2025

1.3 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Magistral Small 2506 has a knowledge cutoff of 2025-06-01, while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct has a cutoff of 2024-06-01.

Magistral Small 2506 has more recent training data (up to 2025-06-01), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Phi-4-multimodal-instruct (2024-06-01).

Magistral Small 2506

Jun 2025

1 yr newer
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Jun 2024

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Mistral AI

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

Microsoft
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Mistral AI
Magistral Small 2506
Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Magistral Small 2506 vs Phi-4-multimodal-instruct.

Which is better, Magistral Small 2506 or Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Magistral Small 2506 (Mistral AI) and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct (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 Magistral Small 2506 compare to Phi-4-multimodal-instruct in benchmarks?

Magistral Small 2506 scores AIME 2024: 70.7%, GPQA: 68.2%, AIME 2025: 62.8%, LiveCodeBench: 51.3%. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct scores ScienceQA Visual: 97.5%, DocVQA: 93.2%, MMBench: 86.7%, POPE: 85.6%, OCRBench: 84.4%.

What are the context window sizes for Magistral Small 2506 and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Magistral Small 2506 supports an unknown number of 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 Magistral Small 2506 and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Apache 2.0 vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Magistral Small 2506 and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Magistral Small 2506 is developed by Mistral AI and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is developed by Microsoft.

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