LLMversus

Phi-4 vs Sonar: Pricing, Benchmarks & Verdict (2026)

Pricing verified Sep 14, 2026By LLMversusUpdated September 17, 2026View methodology

⚡ Quick Answer

Compare Phi-4 and Sonar across pricing, benchmarks, and capabilities.

Updated: September 14, 2026 · ✓ Pricing verified

Side-by-Side Comparison

FeaturePhi-4Sonar
ProviderMicrosoftPerplexity
Input Price / 1M tokens$0.070$1.00
Output Price / 1M tokens$0.140$1.00
Context Window
16.384K
127K
Max Output Tokens
4,096
4,096
Arena ELO
1,150
1,160
Coding ELO
1,130
1,170
TTFT (ms)
100
150
Tokens/sec
160
100
MultimodalNoNo
JSON ModeYesYes
Function CallingNoYes
VisionNoNo
When to Use Phi-4

Phi-4 excels at cost-sensitive, edge-deployment, math, lightweight-tasks tasks.

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 Sonar

Sonar excels at web-search, cost-effective tasks.

Strengths:

  • Web search built-in
  • Affordable
  • Good quality

Best for:

web-searchcost-effective

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