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

Pricing verified Apr 8, 2026

⚡ Quick Answer

Compare Phi-4 and Yi-Lightning across pricing, benchmarks, and capabilities.

Updated: April 8, 2026 · ✓ Pricing verified

Side-by-Side Comparison

FeaturePhi-4Yi-Lightning
ProviderMicrosoft01.AI
Input Price / 1M tokens$0.065$0.140
Output Price / 1M tokens$0.140$0.140
Context Window
16.384K
16K
Max Output Tokens
4,096
4,096
Arena ELO
1,150
1,165
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 Yi-Lightning

Yi-Lightning excels at cost-effective, fast-inference tasks.

Strengths:

  • Very cheap
  • Very fast
  • Good quality

Best for:

cost-effectivefast-inference

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