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Nova Lite vs Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Nova Lite and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct are closely matched at 7.2 and 2.5 on the LLM Stats Score. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is 1.7x cheaper per token.

Amazon · Microsoft · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Nova Lite and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 7.2 and 2.5.

In the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Nova Lite wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is roughly 1.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Nova Lite also accepts a larger context window (300,000 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 Nova Lite

  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 4 exact shared results
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 300,000 token context window

Choose Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

  • cost matters — it's about 1.7x cheaper per token
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Feb 2025
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Nova Lite
Amazon
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Microsoft
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
7.2
#311
2.5
#336
Reasoning
6.8
#308
-0.5
#344
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
3 of 4
1 of 4
Input price
$0.06 / M
$0.05 / M
Output price
$0.24 / M
$0.10 / M
Context window
300,000
128,000

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

2 shared
Index
Nova Lite
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Vision
1.7#189
1.5#191
Multimodal
4.2#157
3.5#160
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

27 reported for Nova Lite · 15 for Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

4 shared

Nova Lite outperforms in 3 benchmarks (ChartQA, MMMU, TextVQA), while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is better at 1 benchmark (DocVQA).

Nova Lite shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Tue Oct 20 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, Nova Lite ($0.06/1M tokens) is 1.2x more expensive than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct ($0.05/1M tokens).

For output processing, Nova Lite ($0.24/1M tokens) is 2.4x more expensive than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Nova Lite 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 Oct 20 2026 • llm-stats.com
Amazon
Nova Lite
Input tokens$0.06
Output tokens$0.24
Best providerAWS Bedrock
Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Input tokens$0.05
Output tokens$0.10
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Nova Lite accepts 300,000 input tokens compared to Phi-4-multimodal-instruct's 128,000 tokens. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Nova Lite is limited to 2,048 tokens.

Amazon
Nova Lite
Input300,000 tokens
Output2,048 tokens
Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Tue Oct 20 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both Nova Lite and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct support multimodal inputs.

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

Nova Lite

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Nova Lite is licensed under a proprietary license, while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct uses MIT.

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

Nova Lite

Proprietary

Closed source

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Nova Lite was released on 2024-11-20, while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct was released on 2025-02-01.

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is 2 months newer than Nova Lite.

Nova Lite

Nov 20, 2024

1.9 years ago

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Feb 1, 2025

1.7 years ago

2mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Nova Lite'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 Nova Lite's cutoff date.

Nova Lite

—

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Jun 2024

Provider Availability

Nova Lite is available from Bedrock. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is available from DeepInfra.

Nova Lite

bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.06/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.24/1M

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 Nova Lite and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Nova Lite
✓ Preferred
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Nova Lite vs Phi-4-multimodal-instruct.

Which is better, Nova Lite or Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Nova Lite and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct are closely matched on the LLM Stats Score at 7.2 and 2.5. Nova Lite is made by Amazon 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 Nova Lite compare to Phi-4-multimodal-instruct in benchmarks?

Nova Lite scores GSM8k: 94.5%, ARC-C: 92.4%, DocVQA: 92.4%, IFEval: 89.7%, Translation en→Set1 COMET22: 88.8%. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct scores ScienceQA Visual: 97.5%, DocVQA: 93.2%, MMBench: 86.7%, POPE: 85.6%, OCRBench: 84.4%.

Is Nova Lite cheaper than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is 1.2x cheaper for input tokens. Nova Lite costs $0.06/M input and $0.24/M output via bedrock. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct costs $0.05/M input and $0.10/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for Nova Lite and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Nova Lite supports 300K 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 Nova Lite and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (7.2 vs 2.5), context window (300K vs 128K), input pricing ($0.06 vs $0.05/M), licensing (Proprietary vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Nova Lite and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Nova Lite is developed by Amazon and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is developed by Microsoft.

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