Model Comparison

Phi 4 Mini vs Qwen2 72B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Qwen2 72B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Verdict: Phi 4 Mini vs Qwen2 72B Instruct — which is better?

Phi 4 Mini (by Microsoft) and Qwen2 72B 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 3 benchmarks (ARC-C, MATH, TruthfulQA), while Qwen2 72B Instruct is better at 6 benchmarks (GPQA, GSM8k, HellaSwag, MMLU, MMLU-Pro, Winogrande). Qwen2 72B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Choose Phi 4 Mini if…

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

Choose Qwen2 72B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 6 of 9 shared benchmarks

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

9 benchmarks

Phi 4 Mini outperforms in 3 benchmarks (ARC-C, MATH, TruthfulQA), while Qwen2 72B Instruct is better at 6 benchmarks (GPQA, GSM8k, HellaSwag, MMLU, MMLU-Pro, Winogrande).

Qwen2 72B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

68.2B diff

Qwen2 72B Instruct has 68.2B more parameters than Phi 4 Mini, making it 1775.0% larger.

Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
3.8Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2 72B Instruct
72.0Bparameters
3.8B
Phi 4 Mini
72.0B
Qwen2 72B Instruct

License

Usage and distribution terms

Phi 4 Mini is licensed under MIT, while Qwen2 72B Instruct uses tongyi-qianwen.

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

Phi 4 Mini

MIT

Open weights

Qwen2 72B Instruct

tongyi-qianwen

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Phi 4 Mini was released on 2025-02-01, while Qwen2 72B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.

Phi 4 Mini is 6 months newer than Qwen2 72B Instruct.

Phi 4 Mini

Feb 1, 2025

1.5 years ago

6mo newer
Qwen2 72B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

2.0 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Phi 4 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Qwen2 72B 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 72B Instruct's cutoff date.

Phi 4 Mini

Jun 2024

Qwen2 72B Instruct

—

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Microsoft
Higher ARC-C score (83.7% vs 68.9%)
Higher MATH score (64.0% vs 59.7%)
Higher TruthfulQA score (66.4% vs 54.8%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen2 72B Instruct

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Higher GPQA score (42.4% vs 25.2%)
Higher GSM8k score (91.1% vs 88.6%)
Higher HellaSwag score (87.6% vs 69.1%)
Higher MMLU score (82.3% vs 67.3%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (64.4% vs 52.8%)
Higher Winogrande score (85.1% vs 67.0%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Phi 4 Mini and Qwen2 72B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Phi 4 Mini
✓ Preferred
Qwen2 72B Instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2 72B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Phi 4 Mini vs Qwen2 72B Instruct.

Which is better, Phi 4 Mini or Qwen2 72B Instruct?

Qwen2 72B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Phi 4 Mini is made by Microsoft and Qwen2 72B 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 72B Instruct in benchmarks?

Phi 4 Mini scores GSM8k: 88.6%, ARC-C: 83.7%, BoolQ: 81.2%, OpenBookQA: 79.2%, PIQA: 77.6%. Qwen2 72B Instruct scores GSM8k: 91.1%, CMMLU: 90.1%, HellaSwag: 87.6%, HumanEval: 86.0%, Winogrande: 85.1%.

What are the main differences between Phi 4 Mini and Qwen2 72B Instruct?

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

Who makes Phi 4 Mini and Qwen2 72B Instruct?

Phi 4 Mini is developed by Microsoft and Qwen2 72B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

Related comparisons