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GPT-4.1 Nano vs Phi-4: Pricing, Benchmarks & Verdict (2026)

Verdict

Phi-4 is significantly cheaper at $0.07/$0.14 per million tokens vs $0.10/$0.40. GPT-4.1 Nano ranks higher overall with an Arena ELO of 1180 vs 1150. GPT-4.1 Nano offers a larger 1048K context window vs 16K.

Side-by-Side Comparison

FeatureGPT-4.1 NanoPhi-4
ProviderOpenAIMicrosoft
Input Price / 1M tokens$0.100$0.065
Output Price / 1M tokens$0.400$0.140
Context Window1.047576M16.384K
Max Output Tokens32,7684,096
Arena ELO1,1801,150
Coding ELO1,1501,130
TTFT (ms)130100
Tokens/sec150160
MultimodalYesNo
JSON ModeYesYes
Function CallingYesNo
VisionYesNo
When to Use GPT-4.1 Nano

Choose GPT-4.1 Nano when you need: ultra-low pricing, 1m context window, very fast inference, ideal for simple tasks at scale. It excels at chatbots, classification, cost-sensitive, high-volume tasks. Its 1048K context window is larger, making it better for long-document processing.

Strengths:

  • Ultra-low pricing
  • 1M context window
  • Very fast inference
  • Ideal for simple tasks at scale

Best for:

chatbotsclassificationcost-sensitivehigh-volume
When to Use Phi-4

Choose Phi-4 when you need: ultra-low cost for a capable model, strong math for its size (14b params), very fast inference, can run on consumer hardware. It excels at cost-sensitive, edge-deployment, math, lightweight-tasks tasks. It is also the more cost-effective option between the two.

Strengths:

  • Ultra-low cost for a capable model
  • Strong math for its size (14B params)
  • Very fast inference
  • Can run on consumer hardware

Best for:

cost-sensitiveedge-deploymentmathlightweight-tasks

Frequently Asked Questions

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