Mistral NeMo Instruct vs Phi 4
Phi 4 leads the LLM Stats Score 5.6 to -5.0. Phi 4 is 1.7x cheaper per token.
Mistral AI · Microsoft · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Phi 4 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 5.6 to -5.0, ranking #286 overall.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Phi 4 wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Phi 4 is roughly 1.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Mistral NeMo Instruct also accepts a larger context window (128,000 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 Mistral NeMo Instruct
- you process long inputs — it offers a 128,000 token context window
Choose Phi 4
- overall performance matters — it scores 5.6 and ranks #286 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
- cost matters — it's about 1.7x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2024
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
8 reported for Mistral NeMo Instruct · 13 for Phi 4
Mistral NeMo Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Phi 4 is better at 1 benchmark (MMLU).
Phi 4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Mistral NeMo Instruct ($0.15/1M tokens) is 2.1x more expensive than Phi 4 ($0.07/1M tokens).
For output processing, Mistral NeMo Instruct ($0.15/1M tokens) is 1.1x more expensive than Phi 4 ($0.14/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Mistral NeMo Instruct is more expensive than Phi 4.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Phi 4 has 2.7B more parameters than Mistral NeMo Instruct, making it 22.5% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Mistral NeMo Instruct accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to Phi 4's 16,000 tokens. Mistral NeMo Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Phi 4 is limited to 16,000 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
Mistral NeMo Instruct is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Phi 4 uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Mistral NeMo Instruct was released on 2024-07-18, while Phi 4 was released on 2024-12-12.
Phi 4 is 5 months newer than Mistral NeMo Instruct.
Jul 18, 2024
2.1 years ago
Dec 12, 2024
1.7 years ago
4mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Phi 4 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Mistral NeMo Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Phi 4's training data extends to 2024-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Mistral NeMo Instruct's cutoff date.
—
Jun 2024
Provider Availability
Mistral NeMo Instruct is available from Google, Mistral AI. Phi 4 is available from DeepInfra.
Mistral NeMo Instruct
Phi 4
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Mistral NeMo Instruct and Phi 4 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Mistral NeMo Instruct vs Phi 4.