Model Comparison

Phi 4 Mini vs Qwen2 7B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Phi 4 Mini has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Verdict: Phi 4 Mini vs Qwen2 7B Instruct — which is better?

Phi 4 Mini (by Microsoft) and Qwen2 7B 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 (GSM8k, MATH, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen2 7B Instruct is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU). Phi 4 Mini has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Choose Phi 4 Mini if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 5 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Feb 2025

Choose Qwen2 7B Instruct if…

  • you are already invested in the Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team ecosystem

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

Phi 4 Mini outperforms in 3 benchmarks (GSM8k, MATH, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen2 7B Instruct is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU).

Phi 4 Mini has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Tue Jul 28 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

3.8B diff

Qwen2 7B Instruct has 3.8B more parameters than Phi 4 Mini, making it 98.4% larger.

Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
3.8Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2 7B Instruct
7.6Bparameters
3.8B
Phi 4 Mini
7.6B
Qwen2 7B Instruct

License

Usage and distribution terms

Phi 4 Mini is licensed under MIT, while Qwen2 7B 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 7B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Phi 4 Mini was released on 2025-02-01, while Qwen2 7B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.

Phi 4 Mini is 6 months newer than Qwen2 7B Instruct.

Phi 4 Mini

Feb 1, 2025

1.5 years ago

6mo newer
Qwen2 7B 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 7B 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 7B Instruct's cutoff date.

Phi 4 Mini

Jun 2024

Qwen2 7B Instruct

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Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Microsoft
Higher GSM8k score (88.6% vs 82.3%)
Higher MATH score (64.0% vs 49.6%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (52.8% vs 44.1%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen2 7B Instruct

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Higher GPQA score (25.3% vs 25.2%)
Higher MMLU score (70.5% vs 67.3%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Phi 4 Mini and Qwen2 7B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Phi 4 Mini
✓ Preferred
Qwen2 7B Instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2 7B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Phi 4 Mini vs Qwen2 7B Instruct.

Which is better, Phi 4 Mini or Qwen2 7B Instruct?

Phi 4 Mini has a slight edge in benchmark performance. Phi 4 Mini is made by Microsoft and Qwen2 7B 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 7B Instruct in benchmarks?

Phi 4 Mini scores GSM8k: 88.6%, ARC-C: 83.7%, BoolQ: 81.2%, OpenBookQA: 79.2%, PIQA: 77.6%. Qwen2 7B Instruct scores MT-Bench: 84.1%, GSM8k: 82.3%, HumanEval: 79.9%, C-Eval: 77.2%, AlignBench: 72.1%.

What are the main differences between Phi 4 Mini and Qwen2 7B 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 7B Instruct?

Phi 4 Mini is developed by Microsoft and Qwen2 7B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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