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Phi 4 Mini vs Qwen3.8-27B

Qwen3.8-27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Microsoft · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Phi 4 Mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8-27B is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA). Qwen3.8-27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Phi 4 Mini

  • you are already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem

Choose Qwen3.8-27B

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Phi 4 Mini
Microsoft
Qwen3.8-27B
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Benchmark wins
0 of 1
1 of 1
Input price
— / M
— / M
Output price
— / M
— / M
Context window
—
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Released
Feb 2025
Aug 2026
License
MIT
Apache 2.0

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Phi 4 Mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8-27B is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).

Qwen3.8-27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Mon Aug 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

23.9B diff

Qwen3.8-27B has 23.9B more parameters than Phi 4 Mini, making it 623.5% larger.

Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
3.8Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.8-27B
27.8Bparameters
3.8B
Phi 4 Mini
27.8B
Qwen3.8-27B

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Qwen3.8-27B supports multimodal inputs, whereas Phi 4 Mini does not.

Qwen3.8-27B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Phi 4 Mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3.8-27B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Phi 4 Mini is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3.8-27B 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

Qwen3.8-27B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Phi 4 Mini was released on 2025-02-01, while Qwen3.8-27B was released on 2026-08-14.

Qwen3.8-27B is 19 months newer than Phi 4 Mini.

Phi 4 Mini

Feb 1, 2025

1.6 years ago

Qwen3.8-27B

Aug 14, 2026

1 weeks ago

1.5yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Phi 4 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Qwen3.8-27B'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 Qwen3.8-27B's cutoff date.

Phi 4 Mini

Jun 2024

Qwen3.8-27B

—

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Phi 4 Mini and Qwen3.8-27B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Phi 4 Mini
✓ Preferred
Qwen3.8-27B
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Phi 4 Mini vs Qwen3.8-27B.

Which is better, Phi 4 Mini or Qwen3.8-27B?

Qwen3.8-27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Phi 4 Mini is made by Microsoft and Qwen3.8-27B 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 Qwen3.8-27B in benchmarks?

Phi 4 Mini scores GSM8k: 88.6%, ARC-C: 83.7%, BoolQ: 81.2%, OpenBookQA: 79.2%, PIQA: 77.6%. Qwen3.8-27B scores MathVision: 94.6%, OmniDocBench 1.5: 91.1%, LiveCodeBench v6: 90.3%, CharXiv-R: 90.2%, GPQA: 89.2%.

What are the main differences between Phi 4 Mini and Qwen3.8-27B?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (MIT vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Phi 4 Mini and Qwen3.8-27B?

Phi 4 Mini is developed by Microsoft and Qwen3.8-27B is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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