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Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) vs Phi 4 Mini

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) leads the LLM Stats Score 2.2 to -4.1.

Mistral AI · Microsoft · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) leads the overall LLM Stats Score 2.2 to -4.1, ranking #324 overall.

The models split the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models evenly.

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

Choose Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512)

  • overall performance matters — it scores 2.2 and ranks #324 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025

Choose Phi 4 Mini

  • you are already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512)
Mistral AI
Phi 4 Mini
Microsoft
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
2.2
#324
-4.1
#355
Reasoning
2.7
#313
-4.2
#348
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
1 of 2
1 of 2
Input price
— / M
— / M
Output price
— / M
— / M
Context window
—
—

Individual benchmarks

4 reported for Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) · 17 for Phi 4 Mini

2 shared

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MATH), while Phi 4 Mini is better at 1 benchmark (Arena Hard).

Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.

Mon Oct 05 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

840.0M diff

Phi 4 Mini has 0.8B more parameters than Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512), making it 28.0% larger.

Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512)
3.0Bparameters
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
3.8Bparameters
3.0B
Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512)
3.8B
Phi 4 Mini

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) supports multimodal inputs, whereas Phi 4 Mini does not.

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512)

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Phi 4 Mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Phi 4 Mini uses MIT.

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

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512)

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Phi 4 Mini

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) was released on 2025-12-04, while Phi 4 Mini was released on 2025-02-01.

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) is 10 months newer than Phi 4 Mini.

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512)

Dec 4, 2025

10 months ago

10mo newer
Phi 4 Mini

Feb 1, 2025

1.7 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Phi 4 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512)'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 Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512)'s cutoff date.

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512)

—

Phi 4 Mini

Jun 2024

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) and Phi 4 Mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512)
✓ Preferred
Phi 4 Mini
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) vs Phi 4 Mini.

Which is better, Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) or Phi 4 Mini?

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) leads the LLM Stats Score 2.2 to -4.1. Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) is made by Mistral AI and Phi 4 Mini is made by Microsoft. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) compare to Phi 4 Mini in benchmarks?

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) scores MATH: 83.0%, Wild Bench: 56.8%, Arena Hard: 30.5%, MM-MT-Bench: 7.8%. Phi 4 Mini scores GSM8k: 88.6%, ARC-C: 83.7%, BoolQ: 81.2%, OpenBookQA: 79.2%, PIQA: 77.6%.

What are the main differences between Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) and Phi 4 Mini?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (2.2 vs -4.1), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Apache 2.0 vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) and Phi 4 Mini?

Ministral 3 (3B Instruct 2512) is developed by Mistral AI and Phi 4 Mini is developed by Microsoft.

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