Model Comparison

Phi 4 vs Qwen2.5 14B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Phi 4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Phi 4 vs Qwen2.5 14B Instruct — which is better?

Phi 4 (by Microsoft) and Qwen2.5 14B 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 outperforms in 5 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval+, MATH, MMLU, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen2.5 14B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (HumanEval). Phi 4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Phi 4 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 6 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2024

Choose Qwen2.5 14B Instruct if…

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

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

6 benchmarks

Phi 4 outperforms in 5 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval+, MATH, MMLU, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen2.5 14B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (HumanEval).

Phi 4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Thu Jul 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

0.0M diff

Qwen2.5 14B Instruct has 0.0B more parameters than Phi 4, making it 0.0% larger.

Microsoft
Phi 4
14.7Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2.5 14B Instruct
14.7Bparameters
14.7B
Phi 4
14.7B
Qwen2.5 14B Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Phi 4 specifies input context (16,000 tokens). Only Phi 4 specifies output context (16,000 tokens).

Microsoft
Phi 4
Input16,000 tokens
Output16,000 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2.5 14B Instruct
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Thu Jul 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Phi 4 is licensed under MIT, while Qwen2.5 14B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.

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

Phi 4

MIT

Open weights

Qwen2.5 14B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Phi 4 was released on 2024-12-12, while Qwen2.5 14B Instruct was released on 2024-09-19.

Phi 4 is 3 months newer than Qwen2.5 14B Instruct.

Phi 4

Dec 12, 2024

1.6 years ago

2mo newer
Qwen2.5 14B Instruct

Sep 19, 2024

1.8 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Phi 4 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Qwen2.5 14B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Phi 4's training data extends to 2024-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen2.5 14B Instruct's cutoff date.

Phi 4

Jun 2024

Qwen2.5 14B Instruct

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Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Microsoft
Larger context window (16,000 tokens)
Higher GPQA score (56.1% vs 45.5%)
Higher HumanEval+ score (82.8% vs 51.2%)
Higher MATH score (80.4% vs 80.0%)
Higher MMLU score (84.8% vs 79.7%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (70.4% vs 63.7%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen2.5 14B Instruct

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Higher HumanEval score (83.5% vs 82.6%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Phi 4 and Qwen2.5 14B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Phi 4
✓ Preferred
Qwen2.5 14B Instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Microsoft
Phi 4
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2.5 14B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Phi 4 vs Qwen2.5 14B Instruct.

Which is better, Phi 4 or Qwen2.5 14B Instruct?

Phi 4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Phi 4 is made by Microsoft and Qwen2.5 14B 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 compare to Qwen2.5 14B Instruct in benchmarks?

Phi 4 scores MMLU: 84.8%, HumanEval+: 82.8%, HumanEval: 82.6%, MGSM: 80.6%, MATH: 80.4%. Qwen2.5 14B Instruct scores GSM8k: 94.8%, HumanEval: 83.5%, MBPP: 82.0%, MATH: 80.0%, MMLU-Redux: 80.0%.

What are the context window sizes for Phi 4 and Qwen2.5 14B Instruct?

Phi 4 supports 16K tokens and Qwen2.5 14B 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 and Qwen2.5 14B Instruct?

Key differences include licensing (MIT vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Phi 4 and Qwen2.5 14B Instruct?

Phi 4 is developed by Microsoft and Qwen2.5 14B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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