Phi-4-multimodal-instruct vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking leads the LLM Stats Score 16.3 to 2.9. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is 10.5x cheaper per token.
Microsoft · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking leads the overall LLM Stats Score 16.3 to 2.9, ranking #222 overall.
In the 5 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking wins 4; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is roughly 10.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
- cost matters — it's about 10.5x cheaper per token
Choose Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
- overall performance matters — it scores 16.3 and ranks #222 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 4 of 5 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
15 reported for Phi-4-multimodal-instruct · 50 for Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct outperforms in 1 benchmarks (OCRBench), while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is better at 4 benchmarks (AI2D, BLINK, MMMU-Pro, Video-MME).
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct ($0.05/1M tokens) is 3.6x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ($0.18/1M tokens).
For output processing, Phi-4-multimodal-instruct ($0.10/1M tokens) is 20.9x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ($2.09/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is more expensive than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking has 3.4B more parameters than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct, making it 60.7% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Phi-4-multimodal-instruct's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is limited to 128,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Phi-4-multimodal-instruct and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
License
Usage and distribution terms
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct was released on 2025-02-01, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is 8 months newer than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct.
Feb 1, 2025
1.6 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
11 months ago
7mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Phi-4-multimodal-instruct's training data extends to 2024-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking's cutoff date.
Jun 2024
—
Provider Availability
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is available from DeepInfra. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is available from DeepInfra.
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Phi-4-multimodal-instruct and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Phi-4-multimodal-instruct vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking.