Phi-4 vs GPT-4.1 nano

Side-by-side benchmark comparison across knowledge, coding, math, and reasoning.

Phi-4 is clearly ahead on the aggregate, 39 to 23. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

Phi-4's sharpest advantage is in knowledge, where it averages 70.5 against 65.2. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is GPQA, 56.1 to 50.3.

GPT-4.1 nano is also the more expensive model on tokens at $0.10 input / $0.40 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.00 input / $0.00 output per 1M tokens for Phi-4. That is roughly Infinityx on output cost alone. GPT-4.1 nano gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 16K for Phi-4.

Quick Verdict

Pick Phi-4 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. GPT-4.1 nano only becomes the better choice if you need the larger 1M context window.

Knowledge

Phi-4

Phi-4

70.5

GPT-4.1 nano

65.2

84.8
MMLU
80.1
56.1
GPQA
50.3

Coding

Phi-4
82.6
HumanEval
-

Mathematics

GPT-4.1 nano
-
AIME 2024
9.8

Reasoning

Tie

Instruction Following

GPT-4.1 nano
-
IFEval
83.2

Multilingual

Phi-4
80.6
MGSM
-

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Phi-4 or GPT-4.1 nano?

Phi-4 is ahead overall, 39 to 23. The biggest single separator in this matchup is GPQA, where the scores are 56.1 and 50.3.

Which is better for knowledge tasks, Phi-4 or GPT-4.1 nano?

Phi-4 has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 70.5 versus 65.2. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Last updated: March 9, 2026

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