Model Comparison

Phi 4 Mini vs Qwen2.5 32B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Qwen2.5 32B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Phi 4 Mini vs Qwen2.5 32B Instruct — which is better?

Phi 4 Mini (by Microsoft) and Qwen2.5 32B Instruct (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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.

Phi 4 Mini outperforms in 2 benchmarks (ARC-C, TruthfulQA), while Qwen2.5 32B Instruct is better at 7 benchmarks (GPQA, GSM8k, HellaSwag, MATH, MMLU, MMLU-Pro, Winogrande). Qwen2.5 32B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Phi 4 Mini if…

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

Choose Qwen2.5 32B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 7 of 9 shared benchmarks

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

9 benchmarks

Phi 4 Mini outperforms in 2 benchmarks (ARC-C, TruthfulQA), while Qwen2.5 32B Instruct is better at 7 benchmarks (GPQA, GSM8k, HellaSwag, MATH, MMLU, MMLU-Pro, Winogrande).

Qwen2.5 32B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jul 21 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

28.7B diff

Qwen2.5 32B Instruct has 28.7B more parameters than Phi 4 Mini, making it 746.4% larger.

Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
3.8Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2.5 32B Instruct
32.5Bparameters
3.8B
Phi 4 Mini
32.5B
Qwen2.5 32B Instruct

License

Usage and distribution terms

Phi 4 Mini is licensed under MIT, while Qwen2.5 32B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.

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

Phi 4 Mini

MIT

Open weights

Qwen2.5 32B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Phi 4 Mini was released on 2025-02-01, while Qwen2.5 32B Instruct was released on 2024-09-19.

Phi 4 Mini is 5 months newer than Qwen2.5 32B Instruct.

Phi 4 Mini

Feb 1, 2025

1.5 years ago

4mo newer
Qwen2.5 32B Instruct

Sep 19, 2024

1.8 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Phi 4 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Qwen2.5 32B Instruct'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 Qwen2.5 32B Instruct's cutoff date.

Phi 4 Mini

Jun 2024

Qwen2.5 32B Instruct

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Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Microsoft
Higher ARC-C score (83.7% vs 70.4%)
Higher TruthfulQA score (66.4% vs 57.8%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen2.5 32B Instruct

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Higher GPQA score (49.5% vs 25.2%)
Higher GSM8k score (95.9% vs 88.6%)
Higher HellaSwag score (85.2% vs 69.1%)
Higher MATH score (83.1% vs 64.0%)
Higher MMLU score (83.3% vs 67.3%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (69.0% vs 52.8%)
Higher Winogrande score (82.0% vs 67.0%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Phi 4 Mini and Qwen2.5 32B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Phi 4 Mini
✓ Preferred
Qwen2.5 32B Instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2.5 32B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Phi 4 Mini vs Qwen2.5 32B Instruct.

Which is better, Phi 4 Mini or Qwen2.5 32B Instruct?

Qwen2.5 32B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Phi 4 Mini is made by Microsoft and Qwen2.5 32B Instruct is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Phi 4 Mini compare to Qwen2.5 32B Instruct in benchmarks?

Phi 4 Mini scores GSM8k: 88.6%, ARC-C: 83.7%, BoolQ: 81.2%, OpenBookQA: 79.2%, PIQA: 77.6%. Qwen2.5 32B Instruct scores GSM8k: 95.9%, HumanEval: 88.4%, HellaSwag: 85.2%, BBH: 84.5%, MBPP: 84.0%.

What are the main differences between Phi 4 Mini and Qwen2.5 32B Instruct?

Key differences include licensing (MIT vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Phi 4 Mini and Qwen2.5 32B Instruct?

Phi 4 Mini is developed by Microsoft and Qwen2.5 32B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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