Which is cheaper, Phi-4 or Qwen 2.5 Max?

Phi-4 is cheaper for both input ($0.07/M tokens) and output ($0.14/M tokens), compared to Qwen 2.5 Max at $0.16/$0.64 per million tokens.

Which is faster, Phi-4 or Qwen 2.5 Max?

Phi-4 is faster at 160 tokens/sec with a TTFT of 100ms, compared to Qwen 2.5 Max at 80 tokens/sec and 240ms TTFT.

Which has a bigger context window, Phi-4 or Qwen 2.5 Max?

Qwen 2.5 Max has a 128K token context window, which is larger Phi-4's 16K context window.

Which is better for coding, Phi-4 or Qwen 2.5 Max?

Qwen 2.5 Max has a higher coding ELO of 1250 compared to Phi-4's 1130, making it the stronger choice for code generation and programming tasks.

Phi-4 vs Qwen 2.5 Max: Pricing, Benchmarks & Verdict (2026)

Verdict

Phi-4 is significantly cheaper at $0.07/$0.14 per million tokens vs $0.16/$0.64. Qwen 2.5 Max is stronger for coding with a coding ELO of 1250 vs 1130. Phi-4 is faster at 160 tokens/sec vs 80 tokens/sec. Qwen 2.5 Max ranks higher overall with an Arena ELO of 1260 vs 1150. Qwen 2.5 Max offers a larger 128K context window vs 16K.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Phi-4	Qwen 2.5 Max
Provider	Microsoft	Alibaba
Input Price / 1M tokens	$0.065	$0.160
Output Price / 1M tokens	$0.140	$0.640
Context Window	16.384K	128K
Max Output Tokens	4,096	8,192
Arena ELO	1,150	1,260
Coding ELO	1,130	1,250
TTFT (ms)	100	240
Tokens/sec	160	80
Multimodal	No	No
JSON Mode	Yes	Yes
Function Calling	No	Yes
Vision	No	No

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

When to Use Qwen 2.5 Max

Choose Qwen 2.5 Max when you need: extremely competitive pricing, strong coding and general capabilities, open-source model available, good multilingual support including chinese. It excels at coding, general-purpose, cost-sensitive, open-source tasks. Its 128K context window is larger, making it better for long-document processing.

Strengths:

Extremely competitive pricing
Strong coding and general capabilities
Open-source model available
Good multilingual support including Chinese

Best for:

codinggeneral-purposecost-sensitiveopen-source

Phi-4 vs Qwen 2.5 Max: Pricing, Benchmarks & Verdict (2026)

Side-by-Side Comparison

Frequently Asked Questions

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