Model Comparison
Phi 4 Reasoning vs Phi 4 Reasoning PlusWhich is better in 2026?
Phi 4 Reasoning Plus significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Verdict: Phi 4 Reasoning vs Phi 4 Reasoning Plus — which is better?
Phi 4 Reasoning (by Microsoft) and Phi 4 Reasoning Plus (by Microsoft) 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 Reasoning outperforms in 2 benchmarks (HumanEval+, LiveCodeBench), while Phi 4 Reasoning Plus is better at 9 benchmarks (AIME 2024, AIME 2025, Arena Hard, FlenQA, GPQA, IFEval, MMLU-Pro, OmniMath, PhiBench). Phi 4 Reasoning Plus significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Choose Phi 4 Reasoning if…
- you are already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem
Choose Phi 4 Reasoning Plus if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 9 of 11 shared benchmarks
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Phi 4 Reasoning outperforms in 2 benchmarks (HumanEval+, LiveCodeBench), while Phi 4 Reasoning Plus is better at 9 benchmarks (AIME 2024, AIME 2025, Arena Hard, FlenQA, GPQA, IFEval, MMLU-Pro, OmniMath, PhiBench).
Phi 4 Reasoning Plus significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Phi 4 Reasoning Plus has 0.0B more parameters than Phi 4 Reasoning, making it 0.0% larger.
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under MIT.
Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.
MIT
Open weights
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Both models were released on 2025-04-30.
They likely represent similar generations of model development.
Apr 30, 2025
1.1 years ago
Apr 30, 2025
1.1 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Both models have the same knowledge cutoff date of 2025-03-01.
They should have similar awareness of historical events and information up to this date.
Mar 2025
Mar 2025
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Phi 4 Reasoning
View detailsMicrosoft
Phi 4 Reasoning Plus
View detailsMicrosoft
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Phi 4 Reasoning vs Phi 4 Reasoning Plus.