Model Comparison

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct vs Qwen2-VL-72B-InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Phi-4-multimodal-instruct vs Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct — which is better?

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct (by Microsoft) and Qwen2-VL-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-multimodal-instruct outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MMBench), while Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct is better at 4 benchmarks (ChartQA, MMMU-Pro, OCRBench, TextVQA). Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Phi-4-multimodal-instruct if…

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

Choose Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 4 of 5 shared benchmarks
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MMBench), while Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct is better at 4 benchmarks (ChartQA, MMMU-Pro, OCRBench, TextVQA).

Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Thu Jun 11 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

67.8B diff

Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct has 67.8B more parameters than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct, making it 1210.7% larger.

Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
5.6Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct
73.4Bparameters
5.6B
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
73.4B
Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Phi-4-multimodal-instruct specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Phi-4-multimodal-instruct specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Thu Jun 11 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Phi-4-multimodal-instruct and Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct support multimodal inputs.

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

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

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

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

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

MIT

Open weights

Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct

tongyi-qianwen

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct was released on 2025-02-01, while Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct was released on 2024-08-29.

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is 5 months newer than Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct.

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Feb 1, 2025

1.4 years ago

5mo newer
Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct

Aug 29, 2024

1.8 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct has a knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct has a cutoff of 2023-06-30.

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct has more recent training data (up to 2024-06-01), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct (2023-06-30).

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Jun 2024

1 yr newer
Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct

Jun 2023

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Microsoft
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Higher MMBench score (86.7% vs 86.5%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Higher ChartQA score (88.3% vs 81.4%)
Higher MMMU-Pro score (46.2% vs 38.5%)
Higher OCRBench score (87.7% vs 84.4%)
Higher TextVQA score (85.5% vs 75.6%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Phi-4-multimodal-instruct vs Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct.

Which is better, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct or Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct?

Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is made by Microsoft and Qwen2-VL-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-multimodal-instruct compare to Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct in benchmarks?

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct scores ScienceQA Visual: 97.5%, DocVQA: 93.2%, MMBench: 86.7%, POPE: 85.6%, OCRBench: 84.4%. Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct scores DocVQAtest: 96.5%, VCR_en_easy: 91.9%, ChartQA: 88.3%, OCRBench: 87.7%, MMBench: 86.5%.

What are the context window sizes for Phi-4-multimodal-instruct and Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct?

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct supports 128K tokens and Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Phi-4-multimodal-instruct and Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct?

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

Who makes Phi-4-multimodal-instruct and Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct?

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is developed by Microsoft and Qwen2-VL-72B-Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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